Mistrial called for "primary caretaker" dad charged with killing 20-month-old daughter (Newark, New Jersey)

Sorry, but too many so-called stay-at-home dads are nothing but short-tempered, violent deadbeats who would rather mooch off Mom and play video games than care for a child or get a job.

The dad is TRAVIS HARTSFIELD JR.

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2013/04/mistrial_declared_in_case_of_f.html

Mistrial declared in case of father charged with killing baby daughter

By Julia Terruso/The Star-Ledger on April 16, 2013 at 6:01 PM, updated April 17, 2013 at 11:30 AM

NEWARK — Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Michele Miller stared incredulously at the empty yellow seats in the jury box as eight men, four women and two alternates filed out of the courtroom, their faces drawn and tired.

After 2 1/2 days of deliberations, the jury in Newark was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the murder trial of Travis Hartsfield Jr., 25, who was charged with killing his 20-month old daughter Asiyah Hartsfield on March 14, 2011. The jury was also deadlocked on a second count of child endangerment.

As a result, Judge Peter Vazquez declared a mistrial.

"We just couldn't agree," one male juror who declined to give his name said afterward. The juror said the panel was divided 11-1, with the majority in favor of the top murder charge while one holdout argued for a lesser conviction.

A new trial date has been set for July 8.

"We respect the process. We will now prepare for a new trial," said Katherine Carter, spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Miller said nothing in court after the mistrial was declared and, through Carter, declined to comment later.

Hartsfield admitted to detectives that he punched his daughter twice in the stomach when she wouldn't eat. The child vomited, cried and crawled away from him to lie down but he said she appeared fine. When he went to change her diaper hours later, Hartsfield said, the girl was cold and wasn't breathing.

A medical examiner determined the cause of death to be a severed liver caused by the two blows.

The two-week trial included testimony from the girl's mother, Darshelle Joseph, who described her happy, carefree little girl the morning she dropped her off with her father and the unimaginable horror of getting a phone call later that night telling her her daughter had stopped breathing.

Neither Joseph nor any other family members were in court for the judge's declaration.

Jurors also watched the tape in which Hartsfield admits to hitting the child, who was underweight and frequently resisted eating solid foods.

To return a guilty verdict on the murder charge, the jury had to find the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Hartsfield intended to kill or intended to seriously injure the child and that those injuries resulted in her death. They also could have found him guilty of the lesser aggravated or reckless manslaughter charges.

Defense attorney Susan Freedman argued Hartsfield hit the child in a blind moment of frustration and that it was out of character for the father, who had never been accused of striking the girl before. He was her primary caregiver since the girl's mother worked, Freedman said.

But Miller, the assistant prosecutor, described Hartsfield as a neglectful and violent father more interested in playing video games than caring for his daughter. Autopsy photos of the girl showed two lines of dark knuckle bruises across her chest where he admitted to hitting her and minor bruising on her arms and legs.

"He wanted to hurt her. He was hurting her all day," Miller said in her summation last week. "No wonder she was sleeping all day. She was recovering."

Freedman said the less severe markings could have come from typical childhood falls or the CPR administered to the girl.

Jurors sent two notes to Judge Vazquez today saying they were unable to reach a verdict. He returned a note to them earlier this afternoon asking if it was possible they could reach one with more time. When they responded 'no,' he declared a mistrial and released them.

Hartsfield stood stone-faced as the jurors left the courtroom. Two female jurors wiped their eyes and clutched tissues in their hands, declining to talk to the press.

"It's too upsetting," one of the women said.