William Page Shouts Answers During Testimony
POSTED: 11:36 am EDT March 18, 2010
UPDATED: 5:48 pm EDT March 18, 2010
PITTSBURGH -- Both sides have now rested in the homicide trial of William Page.
Channel 4 Action News' Bob Mayo reported it started out as an eventful day, when medical crews were called to the courthouse to help a sick juror.
Paramedics rushed to the courtroom when alternate juror No. 13 became ill with flu-like symptoms and was excused, Mayo reported.
On the stand, Page was combative, shouting some of his answers during cross-examination, Mayo reported.
Page is accused of assaulting his 23-month-old daughter and leaving her to die in the cold.
Page previously testified that he's innocent and said he only confessed to the crime after being pressured by police.
Prosecutor Mark Tranquilli challenged Page about his reaction when police told him his missing daughter, Nyia, had been found dead.
"Weren't you the least bit curious about how your daughter died? Isn't the reason you didn't ask is because you already knew? Because you left her out there?" Tranquilli asked.
Page answered, "No."
Tranquilli also asked the defendant about the confession he now denies.
"Where did you get so many details, Mr. Page?" Tranquilli asked.
Page answered, "I made them up."
"You just made it up and you happened to be right?" Tranquilli continued in his cross-examination.
Page replied with, "I put two and two together."
Nyia's mother, Darlene Robinson, took the stand again as one of four prosecution rebuttal witnesses.
She wept as she described the final times she saw her baby before the little girl disappeared, Mayo reported.
Mayo also reported Page muttered something as he passed prosecutor Mark Tranquilli while leaving the witness stand at one point on Thursday.
Tranquilli told Page to "Keep your comments to yourself." Defense Attorney Chris Patarini told Page, "Don't say anything."
Page, of Braddock, could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Nyia Page, whose body was found in a wooded area of Rankin in February 2007.
Judge David Cashman said Page had expressed uncertainty late Tuesday about testifying. The judge asked for his decision on Wednesday, and Page said yes, acknowledging that it would also expose him to cross-examination by prosecutors.
Page told the court that he fell asleep the night before Nyia went missing and didn't wake up until the next morning. He also said she was in her room when he went to bed and he didn't know she was gone until he was told about it the next morning.
In a recorded confession that was played for the jury earlier in the trial, Page admitted to drinking heavily on the night of his daughter's death and kicking her in frustration over the toddler repeatedly taking off her diaper before taking her outside and leaving her there.
Listen:William Page Taped Confession (Warning: Contains Some Profanity)Defense Attorney Chris Patarini has told the jury that they shouldn't believe what they hear on the recording of Page's confession because of circumstances that Page was under at the time he said those things to police.
Page testified that police pressured him for days, not letting him see a lawyer and threatening that he'd never see his children if he didn't confess.
Dr. Howard Reibbord, a forensic pathologist, was the first defense witness to take the stand. He disputed a prosecution expert's opinion that the child's autopsy photos showed visible blood evidence of a sex assault. He suggested that she may have fallen and was injured.
On Tuesday morning, the prosecution's DNA expert testified that Nyia Page's blood was found on items including underwear, a T-shirt, a bed sheet and a Terrible Towel. The expert also said both Nyia and William Page's DNA, but no blood, was found on the girl's diaper.
Mayo reported closing arguments will begin on Friday.
Previous Stories: - March 17, 2010: Dead Toddler's Dad Takes Witness Stand, Claims Innocence
- March 15, 2010: Court Sees Autopsy Photos, Hears Confession In Frozen Toddler Case
- March 12, 2010: Testimony Details Frozen Toddler's Death In Rankin
- March 11, 2010: Jury Hears About Dad's 'Strange' Crying In Frozen Toddler Trial
- February 22, 2010: Jury Selection Continues In Frozen Toddler Death Trial
- May 3, 2008: Volunteers Finish Memorial Garden For 2-Year-Old Girl
- May 3, 2008: Volunteers Finish Memorial Garden
- February 9, 2007: Funeral Held For Accused Father's Little Girl
- February 5, 2007: Missing Toddler's Death Ruled Homicide
Copyright 2010 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 
Email
Print
Comments
