Thanks for posting that link, Maikai.

The link that Maikai posted has a very good description of brain injuries. The portion pertinent to this case is:

Begin quote:

What Happens to the Brain When it is Injured?

Initial Events

Three initial events can occur following a traumatic brain injury. The first is immediate damage, which results from the brain's impact against the bony structures of the skull, especially in the area of the forehead (frontal area) and upper cheek and ear (temporal area). This impact can cause tearing, bleeding and bruising of brain tissue.

Second, as the brain turns and twists while affixed to the spinal cord, tearing and stretching of the nerve fibers often occur within the entire brain and brain stem.

Third, additional complications can arise. The brain can suffer diffuse swelling and in 75 percent of the cases will demonstrate an increase in intracranial pressure. The general swelling and increased pressure reduce the blood flow necessary for the undamaged brain tissue. Unconsciousness or coma may result, depending on the severity of these injuries.

Further Changes

Although the types of injuries described thus far occur within hours or days of the accident, further changes will develop over time. As the brain swelling resolves and blood flow to the tissue stabilizes, two things happen.

* The nerve tissue that was not severely damaged, but merely impaired by complications such as swelling, will return to functioning.
* Nerve tissue that was severely injured will continue to degenerate and die.

End quote.

I have added emphasis in some portions which should show up as bold italics .

The first paragraph about initial events is what I referred to as "linear" motion. The second paragraph about twisting is what I referred to as "rotation." The author failed to mention compression and expansion.

The author failed to mention tearing and stretching of blood vessels, although he/she may argue that the discussion was about nerve tissue, not other tissues --- and indeed the scope is very limited.

Note that swelling reduces blood flow, hence can reduce hemorrhaging.

Note "hours or days." Why_Nut and I have repeatedly pointed this fact out and it has been repeatedly ignored. There is no way to determine on the basis of Meyer's autopsy report what the sequence of events of the murder were. Dobersen and the rest of us can speculate all we want, but the information is lacking to make a definite determination as a number of Denver-area pathologists have pointed out. I would be willing to accept that it is more likely that the head blow occurred lastly , but that's not necessarily what actually happened. The order of the injuries doesn't even matter for many of the theories of the crime.