UPDATED, 1:48 p.m.: Love must have been alive for two hours after suffering brain injuries, another expert testified Monday.
University of Virginia neuropathologist Dr. Beatriz Lopes said she performed tests on Love’s brain that showed damage to the neurons that wouldn’t have been detected unless the person lived at least two hours after suffering the injuries.
Huguely was seen outside of Love's apartment at about 11:50 p.m. on May 2, 2010. One of Love's roommates returned to the apartment and found her bloodied body shortly after 2:15 a.m., the roommate, Caitlin Whiteley, testified last week.
Lopes also said Love showed swelling in brain as a result of fluid leaking into the brain from a lack of oxygen.
UPDATED, 11:18 a.m.: A neuropathologist who examined Love's brain says the woman suffered injuries to the area of the brain that controls basic life functions and her wounds were not due to resuscitation efforts.
Dr. Christine Fuller of Virginia Commonwealth University testified that Love suffered contusions and hemorrhaging to her brain stem that were visible to the naked eye.
Those injuries are significant, Fuller said, because "that's where the vital structures are." Someone who suffered such bruises would likely suffer respiratory and cardiac arrest quickly — either immediately or within a few hours.
The injuries to the back and side of Love's brain were the result of trauma, Fuller said, refuting the defense's contention that some of the injuries stemmed from paramedics' CPR efforts.
"If you find hemorrhaging in that location, it's trauma, period," she said.
Fuller said such hemorrhages have never been associated with the administration of CPR. She also described brain injuries that can happen when blood flow is restored during CPR — the organ becomes swollen and discolored. Love didn't have any such injuries, she said.
Fuller testified that she found injuries on both sides of Love's brain, meaning her head was likely twisted in more than one direction.
Original post at 9:45 a.m.:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. — More medical experts who examined Yeardley Love's slain body are expected to testify Tuesday at the murder trial for George Huguely V.
The 24-year-old University of Virginia lacrosse player from Chevy Chase is accused of beating Love, 22, to death in May 2010.
Dr. William Gormley, the coroner who performed Love's autopsy, began testifying Monday. He said Love suffered severe bruising to her head and neck that might have led her heart to stop beating.
Two neuropathologists who examined Love's brain are expected to testify Tuesday, and Gormley will also likely give further testimony.
In previous hearings, Gormley has said Love died of blunt force trauma to the head.
The defense has argued that an irregular heartbeat caused by mixing alcohol with Adderall, a medication for Attention-Deficit Disorder, led to Love's death. Several more medical experts are expected to testify when the defense presents its case later this week.
