Philadelphia Inquirer
Saturday, February 14, 2004

Expert testifies Schieber was still alive

By Joseph A. Slobodzian,
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A noted medical examiner told a federal jury yesterday that he believed that Shannon Schieber was unconscious - but still alive - when Philadelphia police officers banged on her door in the early morning of Sept. 7, 1998, after a neighbor reported sounds of a struggle and screams for help.

Michael Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police, testified as a witness for Schieber's parents in their lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia over the death of the 23-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate student, who was raped and strangled by serial rapist Troy Graves.

Baden's testimony was crucial to the Schiebers' lawsuit. The couple need to prove that their daughter was still alive when the two officers left her second-floor apartment in the 200 block of South 23d Street. They left five minutes after arriving at 2:11 a.m., knocking and getting no answer, and choosing not to force the door.

Baden - a consultant to the congressional investigations of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who is featured on the HBO series Autopsy - testified that he reviewed photographs, reports, tissue samples and other data from Schieber's autopsy.

Under questioning by Schieber attorney Anne L. Milem, Baden used the 2:04 a.m. 911 call by Schieber's neighbor, Parmatma "Parm" Greeley, as the moment when Graves began strangling Schieber. Baden said she could have remained conscious for three minutes to five minutes before passing out.

Baden said that after an additional five minutes to six minutes, that Schieber began sustaining irreversible brain damage. Without resuscitation, he added, Schieber's heart would have stopped, and she would have died after 10 minutes more.

Baden's conclusion is in conflict with one reached by a pathologist hired for the city to review Schieber's death. According to court documents, Vincent DiMaio, a Texas forensic pathologist, concluded Schieber would have been rendered unconscious in 10 seconds to 15 seconds and dead in five minutes.

In questioning Baden, Jeffrey M. Scott, a divisional deputy city solicitor, stressed that Baden's testimony was his expert opinion, not undisputed fact.

Baden acknowledged to Scott that even if she had been revived, Schieber, a brilliant doctoral candidate at Penn's Wharton School, would likely have had brain damage.

Scott also tried to undercut Baden's testimony while questioning Greeley. Greeley testified about several moments during which he discussed the screams he heard with his girlfriend, knocked on Schieber's door, and then came back and called 911 - possibly adding several crucial minutes to the time framework used by Baden.

Greeley testified that he was sure he heard the sounds of a struggle, choking sounds, and Schieber screaming for help. He said he was "shocked" when the two officers would not force open her door.

Schieber's brother discovered her body the next day when he and Greeley forced their way into her apartment.

The Schiebers are seeking $3.8 million in damages from the city, contending that a police practice of "downgrading" and not vigorously investigating rape complaints led police to miss the pattern of rapes in 1997 committed by Graves.

Graves, who was arrested in 2002 and confessed to a series of rapes in Philadelphia and Colorado, and to Schieber's rape and murder, is now serving a life sentence in Colorado.

Yesterday's testimony ended the trial's third day. Testimony resumes Tuesday, after the Presidents' Day holiday. U.S. District Judge Norma L. Shapiro told the jury the Schiebers' attorneys expected to finish their case then.