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Chester J. Betts, Jr. (above, left) is on trial in Superior Court in Hackensack on charges of severely beating his then-girlfriend last year, causing a fracture to her right orbital bone, among other injuries.
The woman, who continues to suffer double vision and other consequences, testified that the pain to her right eye was so severe that she blacked out and doesn’t know how she received other injuries, incuding a bruised left eye and bloody nose.
Yesterday, public defender Ian Silvera (above right) questioned her in an effort to support his contention that she fell against a rounded corner of a refrigerator before concocting her story to get even with Betts, 45, for leaving her.
A medical expert then told Silvera it’s physically impossible for a flat, smooth surface to cause that type of injury.
“To fracture the orbital bone, you have to force the eyeball backwards, out of its socket, with a great deal of force,” said Dr. Martin Weinberg, an ophthalmologist who is on the staff of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and Hackensack University Medical Center and has a private practice in Teaneck.
“For example,” he said, “you don’t see boxers in a boxing match suffering orbital fractures because the blows are diffused by the glove. To cause a blowout orbital fracture requires a great deal of force, and is usually caused by being struck with a fist.”
“It would be medically impossible” for a blunt object to do it, Weinberg said.
“Show me,” Silvera insisted, handing the doctor a photograph of the injured woman.
“There,” Weinberg said, pointing.
“Oh, that’s a black and blue mark?” the attorney asked.
“In an African American, due to the pigmentation of the skin, it is sometimes impossible to see bruising under the skin even when it’s quite pronounced,” Weinberg explained.
“Are you saying it’s impossible?” Silvera asked.
“The reason it’s not a single impact is there is just too much damage, and there are too many areas that are bruised,” the physician responded. “[Y]ou don’t break an orbital area by hitting it with a flat surface.
“I’ve taken care of dozens and dozens of orbital fractures over 20 years, all different kinds,” Weinberg concluded. “And the vast majority are from fists.”
The trial resumes Tuesday.
Betts is charged with aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a knife for an unlawful purpose, possession of a weapon not appropriate for lawful use, and making terroristic threats to kill.
He remains free on $32,500 bail.
STORY / PHOTO: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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