Man Convicted in 2016 of Killing His Infant Son Back in Court Monday

(KNSI) — An Albany man who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the death of his son in 2014 is back in court today.

Robert John Kaiser was convicted in October of 2016 of two counts of second-degree murder without intent after two-month-old William John Polreis-Kaiser was brought to the hospital in August of 2014. The criminal complaint says the child had suffered traumatic brain injuries consistent with being shaken. Old injuries that had begun to heal were also uncovered, leading doctors to believe William had been abused before he was brought in.

Court papers filed in December say that on August 27th, 2014, Kaiser had brought William to his mother’s workplace for lunch, and the baby “appeared pale, sweaty, and in a bad mood.” The filing continues, “Mr. Kaiser noted William had been cranky, preventing him from sleeping. Early that evening, William’s mother became concerned about William’s lack of responsiveness. As Mr. Kaiser and William’s mother drove their son to the hospital, William began having seizures.” The filing says William was transferred to Children’s Hospital in St. Paul, and placed in a medically induced coma.

The filing says there were no signs of recent external trauma, “medical staff observed both old and more recent subdural bleeding, rapidly concluding that such findings meant child abuse. Doctors further observed retinal hemorrhaging, which they immediately concluded must also be the result of child abuse.”

Court papers say there were additional complications with William’s stay. His blood pressure dropped “precipitously” while he was given the anti-seizure medication Propofol and the child was placed on a feeding tube. When the tube was placed, hospital staff allegedly “punctured the child’s duodenum, the portion of the small intestine immediately below the stomach. In addition, William developed necrotizing entercolitis, a serious and often fatal condition involving the disintegration of the bowel. After several days in the hospital and two abdominal surgeries, Mr. Kaiser and William’s mother followed the suggestion of medical staff and decided to take William off life support.”

Doctors who testified at the original trial said they believed Kaiser abused William, causing brain injuries that led to his death. According to the court papers, an expert who testified for the defense blamed the Propofol administered at the hospital caused William’s infection and was the cause of death. The defense also called a pathologist who testified that accidental trauma could potentially account for William’s injuries. Kaiser said he was holding William, and he fell, causing the head trauma.

Kaiser was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

His attorneys are asking for that conviction to be overturned and a new trial ordered on the grounds that William had a serious medical condition known as cerebral venous thrombosis, which causes clotting in the brain’s venous system. Defense attorneys argue that none of the state’s medical witnesses disclosed the presence of CVT and insisted that there was no other explanation for William’s deteriorating condition other than abuse.

They say Kaiser was deprived of his constitutional right to a fair trial, and new evidence supports his claim that he did not kill William.

___