Bruising In Love's Brain Caused By 'Sheer Force'

In a Charlottesville courtroom, medical examiner William Gormley testified that blunt force injury to the head is likely what caused Yeardley Love’s 2010 death, the Daily Progress reports.

George Huguely V, of Chevy Chase, is standing trial for the murder of Love, his ex-girlfriend. Both Huguely and Love, of Cockeysville, attended the University of Virginia, where they played lacrosse. Prosecutors have said Huguely shook Love until her head banged against a wall.

As the trial stretched into its seventh day Tuesday, complicated medical testimony detailed injuries to Love’s brain, according to the Daily Progress.

Experts testified that bruising in Love’s brain was caused by “sheer force,” The Washington Post reported. The injuries were consistent with a person’s head moving quickly and stopping suddenly, said Christine E. Fuller of Virginia Commonwealth University, who assisted with Love’s autopsy, according to the Post.

Contusions to Love’s brain stem could have caused “respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, loss of consciousness and ‘sudden death,’” Fuller said, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Love’s death could have been immediate or could have taken a couple of hours, Fuller said, the Sun reported.

Experts testified bleeding in Love’s brain was likely not caused by rescue workers' attempts to resuscitate her, which defense attorneys have implied, the Post reported.

Tuesday evening, a fingerprint expert and a DNA expert had taken the stand, the Washington Examiner reported via Twitter.

NBC29 reported via Twitter shortly before 7:30 p.m. that court had adjourned for the day. The Daily Progress reported via its Twitter page that the prosecution hopes to rest its case Wednesday.