Father found guilty of murder

PALMER — A jury took less than a day Friday to convict a father of murdering his daughter after a five-week trial, according to attorneys trying the case.

Clayton Allison, 31, was found guilty on second-degree murder, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide in the 2008 death of 15-month-old Jocelynn Allison at the family’s Wasilla home.

Over the course of the trial, defense attorneys had maintained that medical evidence in the trial did not conclusively show evidence of abuse, and could fit Clayton Allison’s claims that Jocelynn fell down some stairs in the family house while he was upstairs unclogging a toilet.

Opthalmologist Khaled Tawansy testified that the retinal hemorrhages he observed on slides taken after an autopsy did not contain all of the characteristics necessary to conclusively determine abuse. The hemorrhages could have been the result of brain surgery undertaken with the intention of saving her life, Tawansy said.

Kenneth Monson, a University of Utah adjunct professor in bioengineering and associate professor in mechanical engineering, testified that based on his measurements of the steps and calculations that a fall from an upright position could have generated between 83 and 139 g’s of force, enough to cause the injuries observed during a medical examination.

Defense witnesses also testified that scans conducted on Jocelynn’s brain showed a subdural hematoma prior to the day of her death, as well as evidence of earlier injuries sustained as a result of an active childhood and an abnormally large head.

Prosecutors argued that medical evidence, as well as accounts of Clayton Allison’s demeanor during first responders’ attempts to save Jocelynn’s life, supported claims of abuse levied by the state medical examiner.

They cited first responder testimony that retinal hemorrhages in both eyes and bruises along Jocelynn’s hairline, on her torso, in her upper lip and on one leg led them to suspect abuse from the first.

Family members and acquaintances wore green ribbons to closing arguments and turned out in large numbers, at times turning to look away from autopsy photos. Clayton Allison and CJ Allison, Jocelynn’s mother, remain married.

The conviction is a milestone in prosecution efforts that have lasted for almost six years. Clayton Allison was first indicted over his daughter’s murder in 2009 after nearly a year of investigation, which included a confession he made to strking Jocelynn during an interview with Wasilla police and Alaska State Troopers investigating the case.

That confession was later ruled inadmissible by Superior Court Judge Vanessa White.

Without the confession, Clayton Allison won dismissal on the charges in 2012, but prosecutors sought and obtained another indictment on identical charges in 2013. Clayton Allison received an out-of-custody arraignment in February 2013, and remained out of custody throughout numerous subsequent hearings and the trial.

He was immediately taken into custody following the verdict and remained in Mat-Su Pretrial detention facility Saturday afternoon, pending sentencing.

Online court records do not contain a sentencing date.