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Melissa Calusinski Case Takes New Turn After Doctor's Report Is Allegedly Inaccurate

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The case of a north suburban woman currently serving a 31-year sentence for the murder of a 16-month-old child at the daycare where she once worked, has taken an unexpected turn.

A doctor who previously told jurors that Melissa Calusinski was responsible for what he called the child's violent death, may have never even examined the body.

A deputy coroner told the court that Dr. Maneul Montez -- who testified at trial that he examined the boy and manipulated the skull fracture -- wasn't telling the truth.

Calusinski's father says she's waited years for this day. "Going to use the word like I did earlier she was framed for murder that she didn't do."

"He testified that he held it in his hands that he touched it that he felt it and that's not an accurate statement," former deputy coroner Paul Forman said.

"Montez made it all up," defense attorney Kathleen Zellner said. "He said 'I don't need to look at an x-ray to see if there's a skull fracture 'cause I felt it.' Well, he didn't feel it."

A local pediatric nueroradiologist says Montez couldn't have felt the skull, because the x-rays show there was no skull fracture.

When asked if it could be a wrongful conviction since the x-rays show there was no skull fracture, Dr. Robert Allen Zimmerman, a pediatric radiologist, said Calusinski's confession couldn't be true, because her description of what happened simply doesn't match the injuries.

Asked whether Calusinski deserves a new trial, Zimmerman says, "I'm no lawyer I guess the answer is yes."

CBS2 reached out to Montez for a comment and got no response.

Meanwhile, the hearing to determine whether Calusinski gets a new trial continues Friday.

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