Judge: Dad accused of nearly killing infant son competent for trial (Simsbury, Connecticut)

Once again, a poor widdle "frustrated" daddy who nearly killed the baby for crying...

Dad is identified as CHRISTOPHER R. BERMAN. No mention of a mother in the home.

http://articles.courant.com/2013-04-01/community/hc-simsbury-child-abuse-case-0402-20130401_1_berman-baby-to-death-superior-court-judge

Simsbury Dad Accused Of Nearly Squeezing Baby To Death Is Competent, Judge Says

April 01, 2013

By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY
The Hartford Courant

HARTFORD — A Simsbury father accused of squeezing his baby until the infant went into cardiac arrest has been found competent to stand trial, a Superior Court judge said Monday.

Christopher R. Berman, 29, was evaluated and "is able to assist in his defense," Judge Joan Alexander said. Berman has to decide whether he wants to plead guilty or go to trial, the judge said.

He faces two counts of first-degree assault and risk of injury to a minor for what were described as separate attacks last year that Berman explained had arisen out of anger. According to the warrant, the first attack happened on the night of July 29, when the 8-month-old woke up crying after 90 minutes of sleep. Berman was frustrated, he eventually told police, so he held his son tightly around his torso, "gripping my fingers into his body." The baby was not breathing and had no pulse when the first police officer responded.

Berman was not immediately arrested because police did not know what caused the baby to go into cardiopulmonary arrest.

The second attack happened on Sept. 9, the warrant states. While first saying he didn't know how the baby's leg was broken, Berman eventually admitted to police that he was upset because he was tired from lack of sleep. After keeping Berman up by snoring all night, the baby woke up crying at 6:30 a.m., he said.

Angry, he grabbed the baby's right leg, above the ankle, he told police, and "I bent his leg forward toward his head and heard a popping noise."

The boy will have significant developmental problems, on the level of a child with cerebral palsy, the warrant states, and "has little chance of normalcy."

Berman's next court date was scheduled for May 20. He remains in custody on $500,000 bail.