Dad accused of abusing 3 infant children wants courts statements squelched (Plaistow, New Hampshire)

Dad THOMAS CAMPO is accused of severely beating and breaking the bones of his three infant children (including a skull fracture). He apparently admitted the same to police. But now that he's going to trial, he wants those statements tossed out of court. Mom is not charged, but Daddy and his attorney seem to think she should have done a better job of stopping him. How come these guys are never responsible for their own actions?

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Child+abuse+suspect+wants+statements+squelched&articleId=9aae133f-5a57-4330-8e4c-35acc9d721cc

Child abuse suspect wants statements squelched
By JAMES A. KIMBLE
Union Leader Correspondent
Saturday, May. 1, 2010

BRENTWOOD – A Plaistow father accused of severely beating and breaking the bones of his three infant children wants a judge to toss out of court statements he made to police while being arrested.

A lawyer for Thomas Campo, 44, is also questioning whether Campo's wife, Zoya, has a right not to testify if her husband goes to trial.

Zoya Campo may have known her husband was hurting their children, but took no action, according to court documents filed by defense lawyer Adam Bernstein.

Bernstein asked for a hearing to determine whether Campo's wife might assert her right to not incriminate herself if she testifies at trial.

Both issues will be argued June 16 in Rockingham County Superior Court before Judge Tina Nadeau. Prosecutors have objected to one of the statements being thrown out -- when Campo allegedly told a police officer, "I did a horrible thing," -- arguing that it was a spontaneous utterance, not an answer to a question by police, according to court papers.

Assistant County Attorney Jerome Blanchard argued that Zoya Campo should simply be appointed a lawyer for now to determine whether she has any right to assert her Fifth Amendment privilege "" the right not to incriminate herself.

She has not been charged in the case.

Thomas Campo was arrested Sept. 12, 2009, and later indicted on 17 counts of first-degree assault and 20 counts of second-degree assault for abusing his three children.

Court documents allege the abuse began from when the triplets were born April 6, 2009, until Campo's arrest in September. The couple had two boys and a girl.

Campo is accused of breaking about 10 ribs of one of his sons and fracturing the skull of another, according to indictments and a police affidavit.

Police first learned of the abuse on Sept. 12 when Zoya Campo went to Lawrence (Mass.) General Hospital to have one of her sons examined for an unrelated medical concern, a police affidavit says.

"At the hospital emergency room, staff noticed multiple bruises on the body of (the baby)," wrote Plaistow police Sgt. Pat Caggiano.

After the injuries on the baby boy were discovered, the hospital staff then notified Massachusetts child services workers.

A court order by Nadeau suggested Campo's case could be settled in a plea agreement before trial. She ordered that probation officials conduct a pre-sentence investigation -- a step usually taken to help determine jail and prison sentences -- before Campo's next court appearance.