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'Waterboard' Stepdad Appeals Conviction for Reckless Endangerment

The lawyer for Melvin Morse, convicted of reckless endangerment for 'waterboarding' his stepdaughter, said in his appeal that the trial judge made several reversible errors.
Image: Dr. Melvin Morse seen in this booking photo released by Delaware State Police
Dr. Melvin Morse, 58, is seen in this booking photo released by the Delaware State Police August 9, 2012. A Delaware jury on Thursday found Morse guilty of child endangerment charges for waterboarding his 11-year-old stepdaughter as a way to punish her.HANDOUT / Reuters

DOVER, Del. — A former pediatrician imprisoned for abusing his female companion's daughter, including "waterboarding" the girl by holding her head under a faucet, didn't get a fair trial, his lawyer argued on appeal Wednesday to a Delaware Supreme Court panel.

Melvin Morse, 61, is challenging his February 2014 conviction and three-year prison sentence on several grounds, defense attorney Joseph Hurley told the three-justice panel. Hurley said issues included a judge's decision to allow jurors — in their deliberations — to review videotapes of unsworn statements the victim and her younger sister gave investigators.

Hurley argued that a prosecutor invited jurors in her closing trial arguments to ask for permission to review the tapes if they thought those would help their deliberations. But jurors weren't given in that same opportunity the defense evidence challenging those statements, Morse's attorney said.

The Supreme Court previously has held that such recordings should not be given to jurors unless they make such a request on their own, or unless attorneys agree to that ahead of time.

"I would say it was not a best practice," deputy attorney general Kathryn Garrison conceded when Chief Justice Leo Strine Jr. pressed her about the prosecutor's invitation to the jury to review the videotapes.

Morse was convicted of felony reckless endangerment for a bathtub waterboarding, along with five misdemeanors. Jurors reduced a second felony waterboarding charge to a misdemeanor and acquitted Morse on a felony suffocation charge.

In addition to improperly allowing the jury to review the videotapes, the judge erred in allowing jurors to consider evidence of several other "bad acts" for which Morse was not charged, Hurley argued. The defense claims the cumulative evidence inflamed jurors and unfairly prejudiced Morse.

"It was just layer after layer after layer.... It wasn't necessary," Hurley said.

Morse, whose medical license was suspended after his arrest, has denied police claims that he may have used waterboarding to experiment on the girl.

Morse has written several books and articles on paranormal science and near-death experiences involving children. He has appeared on shows such as "Larry King Live" and the "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to discuss his research, which also has been featured on an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" and in an article in "Rolling Stone" magazine.

Image: Dr. Melvin Morse seen in this booking photo released by Delaware State Police
Dr. Melvin Morse, 58, is seen in this booking photo released by the Delaware State Police August 9, 2012. A Delaware jury on Thursday found Morse guilty of child endangerment charges for waterboarding his 11-year-old stepdaughter as a way to punish her.HANDOUT / Reuters

IN-DEPTH

— The Associated Press