Judge rules experiments out of murder case

DAYTON, Ohio, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- An Ohio judge says tests meant to replicate the harm a baby endured when her mother allegedly killed her by putting her in a microwave can not be used in court.

The judge ruled Tuesday the experiments, which used young cow brains and torsos of chickens to replicate the effects of microwave heat on a human baby, would not be useful to a jury because the length of time the infant victim, Paris Talley, was subjected to microwave heat is undetermined, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Wednesday.

Officials suspect China Arnold, 27, murdered her month-old baby by putting her into a microwave oven in August 2005.

Arnold, who faces aggravated murder charges, could be sentenced to death if convicted. Her trial is to start Monday in Dayton.

Robert Schiffman, who designed the experiments, told the court in a pretrial hearing that the infant's injuries resembled results of being inside a microwave for a minimum of two minutes.

The defense argued Schiffman's claims were unreliable because chickens and babies have dissimilar body compositions.

The defense testimony of Robert Belloto supported that Arnold was too drunk at the time to microwave her infant.