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Jurors spent just 20 minutes this morning concluding that a 19-year-old man was guilty of child abuse through violent shaking, which caused substantial bodily harm to his 11-week-old daughter.
Gerardo Espinosa was scheduled an Aug. 25 sentencing, where he faces a minimum of probation and maximum of 20 years in prison.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Greco said the verdict was one of the swiftest he's aware of in the county.
Greco said that on Oct. 29, Espinosa was baby-sitting baby Areli Rubi while his 20-year-old wife and her mother were at work. Areli's crying was frustrating Espinosa, whose video game playing was being disrupted. Unable to comfort the girl, Espinosa shook the infant whose brain slammed back and forth against her skull, causing near fatal injuries, Greco said.
Espinosa drove his daughter to Renown Regional Medical Center after she stopped breathing and went limp. He told investigators that after he shook her she became "disabled" because her head became loose and her body went limp. Next, he said he fell while carrying the baby, who then accidentally struck the back of her head on a wooden entertainment system.
Greco said medical personnel said if he waited any longer to get medical treatment, Areli would have died.
Espinosa told sheriff's investigators that Areli's crying angered him, and that he was frustrated he could not quiet the girl.
Greco said Espinosa's explanation of the injuries did not support the medical evidence.
Doctors testified that Areli has significant and permanent brain injuries that will cause her to be monitored the rest of her life my medical personnel. They concluded her injuries were the result of shaking, and/or inflicted traumatic head trauma.
Areli has significant vision and hearing loss, and her gross motor skills are very impaired, doctors said. She has no reaction to faces, voices or objects. She is reliant on a feeding tube. Doctors testified Areli's condition will never improve.
Espinosa's court-appointed attorney, Robert Bruce Lindsay, told jurors that if the girl hadn't struck her head on the entertainment system, "we wouldn't be here." He claimed the shaking was not enough to cause the brain injuries. Greco said outside of court he doubts Espinosa fell.
"One minute she was a happy and healthy baby, and the next she is a brain damaged victim inside a shell of a body," Greco told jurors. ". . .all because the defendant was angry because she was crying louder than before and interrupting his video game playing.
"He took out his anger on a helpless, fragile girl."
Espinosa is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who authorities said snuck into the country five years ago. At the time his daughter was injured, he was unemployed. Greco said his job was to care for his daughter.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a hold on Espinosa.
Trial began Tuesday with Washoe District Court Judge Patrick Flanagan presiding. Espinosa declined to testify on his own behalf.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20100708/NEWS01/100708022/1321/news
Answer
Poor little baby... Espinosa`s lawyer is a liar !!!
Abusive head trauma/inflicted traumatic brain injury or AHT (also called shaken baby/shaken impact syndrome or SBS) is a form of inflicted head trauma.
AHT can be caused by direct blows to the head, dropping or throwing a child, or shaking a child. Head trauma is the leading cause of death in child abuse cases in the United States.
How These Injuries Happen
Unlike other forms of inflicted head trauma, abusive head trauma results from injuries caused by someone vigorously shaking a child. Because the anatomy of infants puts them at particular risk for injury from this kind of action, the vast majority of victims are infants younger than 1 year old. The average age of victims is between 3 and 8 months, although these injuries are occasionally seen in children up to 4 years old.
The perpetrators in these cases are most often parents or caregivers. Common triggers are frustration or stress when the child is crying. Unfortunately, the shaking may have the desired effect: although at first the baby cries more, he or she may stop crying as the brain is damaged.
Approximately 60% of identified victims of shaking injury are male, and children of families who live at or below the poverty level are at an increased risk for these injuries as well as any type of child abuse. It is estimated that the perpetrators in 65% to 90% of cases are males â usually either the baby's father or the mother's boyfriend, often someone in his early twenties.
When someone forcefully shakes a baby, the child's head rotates about the neck uncontrollably because infants' neck muscles aren't well developed and provide little support for their heads. This violent movement pitches the infant's brain back and forth within the skull, sometimes rupturing blood vessels and nerves throughout the brain and tearing the brain tissue. The brain may strike the inside of the skull, causing bruising and bleeding to the brain.
The damage can be even greater when a shaking episode ends with an impact (hitting a wall or a crib mattress, for example), because the forces of acceleration and deceleration associated with an impact are so strong. After the shaking, swelling in the brain can cause enormous pressure within the skull, compressing blood vessels and increasing overall injury to its delicate structure.
Poor little baby... Espinosa`s lawyer is a liar !!!
Abusive head trauma/inflicted traumatic brain injury or AHT (also called shaken baby/shaken impact syndrome or SBS) is a form of inflicted head trauma.
AHT can be caused by direct blows to the head, dropping or throwing a child, or shaking a child. Head trauma is the leading cause of death in child abuse cases in the United States.
How These Injuries Happen
Unlike other forms of inflicted head trauma, abusive head trauma results from injuries caused by someone vigorously shaking a child. Because the anatomy of infants puts them at particular risk for injury from this kind of action, the vast majority of victims are infants younger than 1 year old. The average age of victims is between 3 and 8 months, although these injuries are occasionally seen in children up to 4 years old.
The perpetrators in these cases are most often parents or caregivers. Common triggers are frustration or stress when the child is crying. Unfortunately, the shaking may have the desired effect: although at first the baby cries more, he or she may stop crying as the brain is damaged.
Approximately 60% of identified victims of shaking injury are male, and children of families who live at or below the poverty level are at an increased risk for these injuries as well as any type of child abuse. It is estimated that the perpetrators in 65% to 90% of cases are males â usually either the baby's father or the mother's boyfriend, often someone in his early twenties.
When someone forcefully shakes a baby, the child's head rotates about the neck uncontrollably because infants' neck muscles aren't well developed and provide little support for their heads. This violent movement pitches the infant's brain back and forth within the skull, sometimes rupturing blood vessels and nerves throughout the brain and tearing the brain tissue. The brain may strike the inside of the skull, causing bruising and bleeding to the brain.
The damage can be even greater when a shaking episode ends with an impact (hitting a wall or a crib mattress, for example), because the forces of acceleration and deceleration associated with an impact are so strong. After the shaking, swelling in the brain can cause enormous pressure within the skull, compressing blood vessels and increasing overall injury to its delicate structure.
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