Contrast this to a recent Long Island, New York case, where Mom will be doing jail time for what is essentially bad attitude, or perceived to be a bad attitude. (Since when is your attitude a crime worthy of incarceration? And nobody is worried about the consitutional implications involved in handing out jail sentences for thought crimes?)
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/lauren.libbe.ted.2.1740554.html
Double standard, much?
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4192516
Man accused in death of infant daughter gets trial date
Wednesday, June 09, 2010 4:02 AM
Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
By Ashley Meeks, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.
Jun. 9--LAS CRUCES -- A Las Cruces man accused of causing the death of his infant daughter by leaving her in a clothes hamper in 2007 has been scheduled for trial.
The six-day trial will begin Sept. 2 in Albuquerque District Court before 3rd Judicial District Court Judge Stephen Bridgforth and a jury of Albuquerque-area residents.
Robert Flores, 25, is accused of causing the death of 4-month-old Kalynne Flores by putting her in a clothes hamper and then putting the hamper in a closet, according to court records. He allegedly left to purchase beer and later found the infant unresponsive. Kalynne's mother, respiratory therapist Deserii Cortez, was working at a hospital until 3:30 a.m. the night her daughter died, according to authorities.
Flores has pleaded not guilty to charges of intentional child abuse resulting in death, a first-degree felony punishable by life in prison, one count of abandonment or abuse of a child and two counts of tampering with evidence. He remains free on $150,000 bond.
Five previous court dates were scrapped, in three instances due to defense attorneys successfully asking for trial dates to be postponed, in one as the defense moved to dismiss Flores' grand jury indictment and in another as they moved to suppress Flores' morning-after statements and deny a motion from the prosecution.
However, Deputy District Attorney Susan Riedel said Tuesday she expects September's trial date to hold.
The case was moved after Flores' attorneys argued news coverage of the case had improperly influenced potential jurors. Bridgforth had denied an initial request for a venue change, but subsequent results from a survey of an additional 116 jury pool members indicated a majority were already prejudiced in the case.
In January, Bridgforth denied the defense's motion to suppress Flores' statements made the morning after the Dec. 6, 2007, death. Bridgforth found Flores' statements "to have been made voluntarily" and cleared them to be admitted as evidence at trial. Bridgforth has also cleared Dr. Eric Westfried, a forensic neuropsychologist, to testify as a defense expert witness.
Westfried testified recently in a Santa Fe double murder, in which a 23-year-old man admitted to shooting his teenage girlfriend three times and killing her father, arguing the defendant suffered mentally from a violent upbringing.
