Boyfriend found guilty in 2002 death of infant boy (Pensacola, Florida)

Boyfriend ADRIAN SCOTT has finally been found guilty of 2nd-degree murder of his girlfriend's infant son. The baby died of blunt force trauma. Scott has been accused of shaking the baby and throwing him to the floor. The boyfriend had demonstrated a "pattern of violence" towards the baby that wasn't recognized at the time.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20090731/NEWS01/907310333/1006/NEWS01

Man guilty in 2002 baby death
Scott's conviction in '05 overturned
Kris Wernowsky • July 31, 2009

A jury found a 39-year-old Pensacola man guilty of second-degree murder Thursday in the August 2002 death of his then- girlfriend's infant son.

The Escambia County jury deliberated more than three hours before finding Adrian Scott guilty in the death of Michael Moorer, who died of blunt force trauma.

This is the second time Scott was tried on the charge.

The 1st District Court of Appeal overturned a 2005 first-degree murder conviction, saying Circuit Judge Linda Nobles allowed evidence of the child's previous injuries into the first trial.

The defense attorney at the time claimed he wasn't notified about the evidence.

Nobles revoked Scott's bond and ordered him held at Escambia County Jail until sentencing. He faces up to life in prison.

Assistant State Attorney David Rimmer, who prosecuted the original case, said that Scott shook the infant and slammed him on the floor the morning of Aug. 2, 2002, as the child's mother Sandra Turner showered.

Michael was behaving normally when his mother checked on him and changed his diaper.

Turner's shower was interrupted by Scott's screams that something was wrong.

The child was rushed to Sacred Heart Hospital. He was pronounced brain dead Aug. 3 and removed from life support two days later.

"The defense said nobody saw Adrian Scott hurt Michael," Rimmer said. "Sometimes you can determine exactly what happened by using your common sense and looking at the circumstances, and drawing reasonable inferences and logical conclusions."

Rimmer pointed to a pair of incidents that raised suspicions that Scott had a pattern of violence toward the child. A month before the death, Michael was hospitalized with a broken leg while in Scott's care.

Scott said the baby fell off a plastic patio chair, broke his leg and hit his head. It was that head injury the defense cited as the cause of the infant's death, and not a violent shaking.

Also, days after the child broke his leg, his body in a cast, Scott grabbed the boy and pinned him against the steering wheel of his car and told him to "shut up," Turner said in her testimony.

Scott's attorney, Ted Stokes, said the state's case against his client was weak and relied on nothing but circumstantial evidence.

"That man did nothing to hurt that child, and he would never intentionally hurt that child," Stokes said. "Has the state proven its case? No. You can find the defendant not guilty because there is reasonable doubt."

About 20 members of Scott's family sat in the gallery of the courtroom. They diverted all questions to Scott's brother, Lumon Scott Jr., who said he wasn't prepared to speak about his brother's case.

Turner cried as she left the M.C. Blanchard Building in Pensacola, saying she's relieved that the ordeal is behind her.

"I thank God. It's been a long time. It feels good to have closure," she said.