In a surprising twist, a mistrial was declared Wednesday in the case of a Maine man accused of murder in connection with the 2022 Christmas Day death of a 3-year-old girl.
Tyler Witham-Jordan, 30, of Edgecomb, was on trial in the homicide of Makinzlee Handrahan, but things took an unexpected and dramatic turn when the little girl's mom was on the stand Wednesday in Lincoln Superior Court.
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Faith Lewis was testifying when prosecutors showed her images taken by the medical examiner of her daughter's bruised and badly beaten body, leading to a visceral reaction from her in the courtroom, according to NBC10 Boston affiliate News Center Maine.
"I can't, I can't! Please turn it off, I need to leave," Lewis screamed. "I need my mom. I need Henry. What did he do to my baby?"
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The screams were reportedly followed by tears, as Lewis broke down and left the witness stand, followed by the judge dismissing everyone early for lunch.
News Center Maine reports that Witham-Jordan's defense counsel then moved for a mistrial due to Lewis' emotional response, saying it paved a clear pathway for a "manifest necessity" mistrial, which is when a situation arises that makes it impossible for the jury to conduct a fair trial or reach a just result.
"Everybody in this trial knows that those pictures are dynamite," Dan Dube' said, according to News Center Maine. "You have to show it. It's how you manage it. And when you have experienced counsel, they should have known better."
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According to News Center Maine, the defense also argued for mistrial with prejudice, saying they believed the state tried to purposely evoke an emotional reaction from the witness for the jury to see, creating a prejudice or bias among the jury against the defendant.
State prosecutor Jennifer Ackerman argued that she believed the photo was a critical piece of evidence that was necessary to show to Lewis during her testimony, but the presiding judge disagreed, saying other pictures of evidence that had been admitted to court could have been shown in its place.
Ultimately Superior Justice Daniel Billings granted the request for mistrial on the grounds of manifest necessity, but denied the request for mistrial with prejudice, News Center Maine reports. A mistrial with prejudice would have prevented a retrial in this case on the same charges.
The judge said he had never seen a witness react in the extreme way that Lewis reacted and said he didn't believe anything could have been done to make this a fair trial. He explained however that he did not believe that state prosecutors showed misconduct, shooting down the defense's accusations of prosecutorial misconduct, according to News Center Maine.
Witham-Jordan, who was the boyfriend of Makinzlee's mother at the time, pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the toddler's death back in January.
Police have said they received a 911 call the morning of Dec. 25, 2022, in Edgecomb, saying that a child was not breathing. Makinzlee was later pronounced dead at a hospital, and the medical examiner’s office ruled her death a homicide, determining she died by non-accidental blunt force trauma, noting she had bruising to her face, right ear, head, back and stomach.
Citing court documents, News Center Maine reports that the Chief Medical Examiner's Office found Witham-Jordan's DNA under the toddler's fingertips and on a broken hairbrush that had her hair in it. An affidavit in the case noted that there was a Maine Department of Health and Human Services investigation into the child's wellbeing two months before she died, in which Witham-Jordan was suspected of child abuse, after Makinzlee's day care had contacted DHHS with concerns over a scratch and bruises she had on her body.
