Expert discounts multiple sclerosis in victim

Published 9:00 pm Monday, May 7, 2001

By Jim Haley

Herald Writer

Neither clinical reports nor scans of Linda David’s brain indicate that she suffers from the degenerative disease multiple sclerosis, an expert testified Monday in Snohomish County Superior Court.

In fact, damage to her brain is similar to that of a retired boxer who had been repeatedly punched through the years, Dr. Craig Smith of Seattle said.

The testimony came in the trial of her husband, Victor David, 61, who has been accused of assault after state health care workers found her in 1997 living on a sailboat near Marysville wearing soiled clothing. She also was unable to move her limbs, which had been affected by untreated fractures. She was blind and brain damaged, and her face was covered with scars.

The defense is expected to present testimony that Linda David, 52, was uncoordinated and had neurological problems, and that her injuries occurred when she fell. Victor David also allegedly told doctors and others through the years that his wife suffered from multiple sclerosis.

The couple lived on the filthy sailboat at waterfront locations ranging from Tacoma to Marysville. Victor David was being paid by the state to be his wife’s caregiver.

The state charge is that David abused his wife for years, not getting her treatment for such things as broken bones.

On Monday, Smith, who directs a center for multiple sclerosis in Seattle, said the disease attacks the nervous system, causing sight and coordination problems, fatigue and numbness in the legs.

Those are some of the same symptoms experienced by Linda David, Smith said after reading doctors’ reports dating back decades. But the symptoms of the disease typically come and go, especially in the early stages. In Linda David’s situation, all of a sudden she has problems and "she’s worse, she’s worse, she’s worse," Smith said.

Multiple sclerosis was first mentioned as a possible problem for Linda David in physicians’ reports dating to the mid-1980s, he said.

Smith also explained magnetic resonance imaging scans projected on a large screen for the jury. One was of a person with multiple sclerosis, the second a normal person and the third Linda David’s.

David’s scan showed no signs of the disease, which has a definite signature, Smith said. But Linda David’s brain contains a lot of fluid, he added.

"She has more water in fluid sacs because the brain has shrunken to half its normal size," Smith said. Her brain stem is likely damaged causing balance problems and jerky eye movement, Smith said.

David’s brain scan would be one you’d expect to see with someone who had been beaten frequently, or a retired boxer, he said.

Smith said he didn’t know when Linda David was injured, but "her head is a massive trauma," he said. "I have never seen anybody traumatized as much."

This is the second trial for Victor David. In September, a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Deputy prosecutors Mark Roe and Kathy Webber expect to finish with their witnesses today in Judge Thomas Wynne’s courtroom. Defense lawyer Bryan Hershman of Tacoma then is expected to begin presenting evidence.

You can call Herald Writer Jim Haley at 425-339-3447

or send e-mail to haley@heraldnet.com.