VISTA - The prosecution of a Solana Beach man accused of neglecting his elderly mother's declining health until she died concluded Wednesday with testimony that undercut the defendant's claims of how he treated the woman.

Leo Dunckley is being tried for a second time on a charge of elder neglect for the Aug. 12, 2002, death of his 90-year-old mother, Eleanor, in the apartment the two shared for about nine years.

A paramedic who responded to the apartment late that night said Eleanor Dunckley, whose body was covered with bedsores, appeared to be dead from the time he arrived.

The defendant has claimed he treated the bedsores, on advice from a doctor, by applying an iodine solution and turning his mother frequently.

Michael Macceca, a sheriff's criminalist, said he cut pieces out of a fitted sheet from Eleanor's bed.

"I did not find any iodine on any of the eight samples I tested," Macceca said.

Iodine stains anything it comes in contact with, and is especially persistent on cloth, Macceca said.

Another criminalist testified that the sheet did contain traces of blood, feces and vomit.

An earlier prosecution witness, a doctor who treated Eleanor for a number of years, was supportive of the defendant.

"(Eleanor) just adored (Leo)," said G. Megan Shields, a Los Angeles-based physician who saw the woman once or twice a year. "She always said how lucky she was to have him as a son. He seemed to dote on her."

Eleanor was in good health for a woman of her age the last time she saw her, Shields said.

"Leo was always interested in the minutiae of caring for his mom," the doctor said. "He always brought a notebook and wrote things down."

In July, a jury split 6-6 on Dunckley's guilt. Jurors said they were unable to determine whether the defendant intentionally ignored his mother's health or was simply overwhelmed by the demands of caring for her.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Robert Stein told jurors that Dunckley called Shields in June 2002, for help with the bedsores, but even though the doctor instructed him to take his mother to a physician, he never did so.

Defense attorney Jerry Leahy countered that Dunckley was treating the sores, and planned to take his mother to a doctor if she developed a fever or pain.