Doctor expounds on Cook’s burn injuries

A doctor at the regional burn center in Augusta, Georgia expounded from the witness stand on the severity of the burns that Katherine Cook suffered in 2014 at her home near Seneca and how those injuries affected her then and now.  Dr. Joseph Shaver was the final prosecution witness of the second day of the trial of Cook’s ex-husband, Jacob Drotning.  Shaver said the kinds of burns that Cook sustained are consistent with blocking blood flow from the carotid artery to the brain and the loss of memory.  The jury was told this week that while Cook believes her husband poured gasoline onto her and set her on fire, she doesn’t remember seeing him do that.  When asked by Lindsey Simmons, assistant solicitor, about Cook’s current prognosis, the doctor said she should live, but she is still recovering from 60% third degree burns of her body.  Earlier yesterday afternoon, Judge Scott Sprouse announced that one juror had been dismissed from the panel and replaced by an alternate after it was learned that the mother of the juror had worked with Cook.  Defense lawyer Lee Cole moved for a mistrial, but his motion was denied and the trial proceeded.