Dad aquitted in death of infant son (Fairfax County, Virginia)

This is one of those cases where you wonder what the average IQ of this jury must have been.

Dad ELMER J. MIDENCE claims he "was in the shower with the baby, slipped, and fell." That's how the baby died, you see.

I'm no certified genius, but these are the questions that come to my mind:

1) Why would you get into the shower with an 8-month-old infant? Why didn't you just give the child a bath if that's what was needed? The whole notion is just weird.

2) But then it also appears that the whole shower thing was a fabrication, because when the paramedics got there, the FATHER AND THE BABY WERE DRY.

Huh? You want to tell me that you toweled yourself off, did the blow-dry thing on your hair, AND then dried off the baby before the paramedics got there? All while what? The baby was limp and blue or having convulsions or breathing problems? You'd have us believe that you were dabbing mousse on your hair instead of doing CPR? Even is this were true, it's highly suspicious.

It seems quite clear to me that this father was lying his butt off, that he violently shook the baby because he was "frustrated" with the baby's crying or something equally ridiculous like that, but nobody seems to care about getting at the truth.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/fairfax/fairfax-man-acquitted-in-death.html

Fairfax man acquitted in death of infant son

A Fairfax County jury on Monday acquitted a father in the death of his infant son in their Springfield home.

Elmer J. Midence, 39, was found not guilty of murder and child abuse charges. His eight-month-old son Albert died in March 2009. Midence called 911 and told the dispatcher that he was in the shower with the baby, slipped and fell.

Doctors at Inova Fairfax Hospital told police that Albert's brain injuries were not consistent with a fall. Paramedics told investigators the shower, and the father and son, were dry when they arrived.

Fairfax Deputy Public Defender Dawn Butorac lined up Georgetown neurosurgeon Ronald H. Uscinski to testify for the defense. Uscinski is a renowned opponent of doctors who diagnose "shaken baby syndrome." Fairfax prosecutors have lined up their own battery of experts to convince the jury that Albert was fatally shaken.

-- Tom Jackman