Dad charged with attempted murder for beating son with baseball bat; gets trial delayed (Redding, California)

Seems dad GEOFFREY SCOTT KELLY has already admitted he did it....yet he pleads "not guilty."

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/aug/26/father-accused-beating-son-baseball-bat-has-trial/

Father accused of beating son with baseball bat has trial delayed
By Jim Schultz
Record Searchlight
Posted August 26, 2011 at 2:55 p.m., updated August 26, 2011 at 2:55 p.m.

A Redding man who was due to stand trial next week on attempted murder charges after he allegedly beat his young son with a baseball bat was postponed Friday in Shasta County Superior Court.

Redding defense attorney Adam Ryan, who represents Geoffrey Scott Kelly, 53, was granted a continuance after he told Superior Court Judge Wilson Curle that he and his investigator have been unable to question Kelly’s wife about the alleged assault because she was recently involved in a serious traffic accident.

A new trial date may be set on Sept. 9, although Ryan expressed optimism that a settlement might be reached on the case.

Kelly, who was arrested on Jan. 5, has reportedly admitted to police that he hit his 8-year-old son with an aluminum baseball bat.
“I lost it,” he was quoted as saying in a Redding police investigative report. “I just lost it.”

Kelly has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of attempted murder and child abuse, as well as a series of special enhancements, including one claiming he caused the boy great bodily injury including brain damage and paralysis.

Kelly, who has been deemed mentally competent to stand trial, potentially faces life in prison if he’s tried and convicted.

Redding police officers were called to Kelly's California Street apartment on Jan. 5 after receiving reports of a bleeding and unconscious boy who had been attacked while he was sleeping.

Police have said that Kelly told them he snapped and twice hit the boy with the bat.

Shasta County Deputy District Attorney Curtis Woods said he’s heard the boy, who was originally listed as being in critical condition at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, continues to improve, but that it could be up to a year before the full effect of his injuries are known.