Woman on trial in child abuse case

Ebonee Bowers said in court Tuesday that she was in an abusive relationship and the only person who could have stomped on her child's face was her boyfriend, Dametrius Freeman.

Bowers, 25, is on trial on charges of child abuse and neglect, accused of slamming her then-17-month-old daughter's head into the floor and then stepping on Imani while wearing white Crocs shoes.

Bowers made the claims about Freeman, 24, while jurors were out of the courtroom, as Judge Lawton McIntosh and attorneys ran through Bowers' expected testimony in an effort to see if her accusations will be allowed to be made in front of the jurors when the trial continues today.

McIntosh dismissed the jury Tuesday afternoon to examine the legal implications of allowing or forbidding Bowers to accuse someone else of the crimes. Freeman faces the same charge of neglect but not the more severe abuse charge. He is on a list of potential witnesses but has not been called to the witness stand, even as prosecutors rested their case Tuesday.

Defense attorney Bruce Byrholdt said investigators neglected to look at Freeman after they had coerced Bowers into signing a confession.

Bowers signed two statements in early August 2010, shortly after Imani was injured and nearly died.

The first was in AnMed Health while her child was being prepared for a medical helicopter flight to Greenville and the second was at the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.

In the first statement, Bowers told investigators Imani had fallen from a counter and a bathtub in the house on separate days. She said it was what Freeman had told her had happened while she was at work.

In the second statement, a confession, Bowers admitted stomping on her daughter's face and slamming Imani's head into the floor.

When jurors were gone, Bowers said on the witness stand that she did not injure Imani in any way.

She said that Freeman had physically harmed her and after Imani was injured she found out he was on probation and could get in trouble for having lived with her instead of his listed address.

Tuesday was the second day of Bowers' trial and began with lead investigator Todd Owens of the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, who detailed how Bowers signed the confession.

Owens testified that he told Bowers she needed to tell the truth or risk 20 years going by without being with her children.

Byrholdt said it was a clear threat, made before she signed the confession.

"Twenty years she wasn't going to see her kids," Byrholdt said. "You don't think that's putting pressure on her?"

Judge McIntosh said jurors would be able to make up their minds but he interpreted Owens' comments as relaying to Bowers the factual penalties of such a crime.

Department of Social Services worker Megan Overton said she witnessed the confession process but her notes had been inadvertently destroyed. She could not recall Owens saying anything about 20 years to Bowers, but Overton told Byrholdt that if Owens had said something to that effect, it could be considered a threat.

Anderson County sheriff's detective Michele Hendrix also witnessed the confession process and she testified that, as sheriff's deputies, she and Owens had no control over the Department of Social Services, which had already taken Bowers' other two children, including Imani's twin, into protective custody.

Another social worker testified that Imani is recovering with grandparents in another state and she still walks with a leg brace while continuing work with physical, speech and occupational therapists.

Owens said he kept a calm demeanor as he begged Bowers to tell the truth in an interview room.

"Did Mr. Freeman do this? Did someone else do this? Did you do this?" Owens recalled asking Bowers.

He said she paused at the last question, as if she had something to get off her chest.

"She puts her head down a bit and turns, she stops sucking her thumb and she starts telling me what happened," Owens said.

Owens then took Bowers to his office to draft a typed confession.

Owens said he typically types out confessions for suspects, to keep the statements focused and factual, but he works with the suspects next to him and reads it as he goes to allow for corrections and changes.

Byrholdt said it was all too convenient.

"It sure would be easier for the jury if we had a video tape," he said.

Owens and Hendrix each said Anderson County Sheriff's Office policy calls for not recording any confessions.

"It makes it hard to challenge (a confession), doesn't it?" Byrholdt said.

Byrholdt said that no physical evidence ties Bowers to the abuse. Shoes taken from her apartment, including a pair of white Crocs, did not have any DNA or blood found after forensic tests, investigators said.

Owens said there may not have been blood because the injuries were internal, to Imani's brain.

Byrholdt said Owens should have asked Bowers if she was afraid of Freeman. The detective said he gave Bowers opportunities to say it was Freeman but he didn't push Bowers to see if she felt intimidated by her boyfriend.The trial continues Wednesday, with Bowers expected to return to the witness stand.