Michael Merrifield motion for new trial denied

I have previously covered the case of Logan Shane Goodall, a West Virginia toddler who died as a result of extreme abuse. His mother, Pepper Eren, pled guilty to neglect resulting in injury; she is still in prison after receiving a one to ten year sentence. His mother’s boyfriend, Michael Merrifield, was convicted of first degree murder, child neglect, and sexual abuse by a parent or guardian. Merrifield is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1st.

Merrifield’s attorney has argued that he should receive a new trial. The judge, however, has denied his request to overturn the jury verdict.

What follows is an excerpt of the article from the Charleston Gazette:

During the trial, Rebrook and defense lawyer Mike Clifford had argued that prosecutors couldn’t prove their case because three people were in Logan Goodall’s home in Hurricane in the hours before he died: Merrifield, his brother Patrick, and Eren.

The motion denied Friday included a list of reasons the court should overturn Merrifield’s conviction or grant him a new trial.

One is that a medical expert called by prosecutors said the child’s fatal injuries were inflicted between 20 and 90 minutes before he died, meaning Eren could have still been with the boy when they occurred.

It also claimed that Patrick Merrifield tried to kill himself during the trial. Merrifield’s lawyers wrote in the motion that the court should have told jurors about the suicide attempt because it could be construed as a “tacit confession” to his part in the 2-year-old’s death.

Patrick Merrifield was supposed to testify in his brother’s defense during the trial, but he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

The lawyers argued that the court should have made him take the stand.

“Patrick Merrifield’s evidence would have been exculpatory for the defendant in that he would have testified that the morning of the death, he was unable to wake the defendant, and that thereafter Pepper Eren asked him to lie to police about the time that he left the house,” the motion states.

Merrifield’s lawyers also argued in the motion that the judge should have moved the trial to a different county because of media attention to the case.

Merrifield’s parents, Dr. John Merrifield and Diane Merrifield, are expected to face trial on April 14th. Dr. Merrifield allegedly treated Logan’s wounds during separate incidents in which he should reasonably have suspected abuse, including treating burns to his heels and buttocks, and repairing a tear to the child’s scrotum, but failed to report the injuries to the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) as required by law. Diane Merrifield allegedly lied to investigators, saying she had never heard of the child or his mother, and that her son was a fisherman living on a houseboat in off the Carolina coast.

The Merrifields and DHHR have been sued by Logan’s biological father, Jeremy Goodall. Dr. Merrifield settled the suit for $775,000; the case against DHHR and Diane Merrifield is still pending.