Reduced to Child Abuse (State Charges) Under ARS 13-3623 (with 12 Years and 7 Months Actual BOP) | Federal Felony Second Degree Murder (Per 18 USC § 1111 and § 1153) with Blunt Force Trauma (Dangerous Crimes Against Children), and Felony Aggravated Assault (DCAC)
State v. Mr. L (DMC No. 11261)
United States District Court, District of Arizona (Case No. CR12-0206-PHX-FJM)
Mr. L was a young man who was a member of the Colorado River Nation Indian Tribe. He had a daughter with another tribe member while living in the Reservation. The Mother of the child was a drug and alcohol addict, and did not take care of herself while she was pregnant, nor did she take care of herself or the child after she gave birth. They lived in a motel on Reservation land, and the Mother was often absent.
During the weeks leading up to this child’s death, she was sickly and ill and lethargic. While Mr. L was making a bottle, he left the child on the bed and walked away. At that time, the child rolled over, fell of the bed and struck her head on the carpet. Mr. L heard her crying, picked her back up, consoled her and put her back in the crib. Later, the Maternal Grandmother had been coming by, because she was very concerned that her Daughter was neglecting the child. She stated that the infant looked “dead and limp” and was vomiting all the time. She then insisted that the child be taken to the Hospital.
At the Hospital, the child was deemed to be “septic” with a drug overdose, and severely anemic and dehydrated. Child Protective Services was immediately called in, and took possession of the child, citing the significant history of Neglect with the other children by the birth Mother. The child was then transported to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where the diagnoses progressed, and “blunt force head injury” was also added into the mix. Tragically, the child eventually died.
The Police immediately Arrested Mr. L and began interrogating him over the course of 14 hours. Mr. L did not even have a high school degree, and he was struggling with remorse and was intimidated. Detectives had him write our three different confession letters over the 14-hour period, where it progressively grew from an “accidental” scenario into a “purposeful” blunt force trauma. It was after he was placed in Jail, that the services of DM Cantor were secured by the Colorado River Indian Tribe to defend Mr. L.
We immediately secured the Autopsy Report and began interviewing all of the witnesses on the Reservation. The Maternal Mother’s Aunt stated that the Birth Mother only wanted the infant for the Social Security check. She also stated that her Niece was drunk and using drugs the entire time she was pregnant with the child, and the child was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
We also secured the services of a Forensic Expert who examined the Autopsy Report. During that review, other Medical Records were examined which revealed that the infant was sick for the entire week prior to her ultimate collapse. In addition, we secured the services of a Mitigation Expert who did in-depth interviews with people who knew both Mr. L and the Birth Mother. All of these people agreed that the Birth Mother was uninvolved, and did not care. They said Mr. L was very quiet, and was always caring, and went above and beyond to take care of baby’s Mother, her other children (fathered by other men), and his own infant.
All of this was presented to the Assistant United States Attorney, who offered a plea to Federal Child Abuse, which would involve Mr. L admitting that he “Intentionally” caused the injury. We let the Prosecutor and Judge know that Mr. L would never plea to an Intentional Act, because that would be untrue (as there was never an Intentional Act committed by him). Eventually, the Prosecutor offered the State Charge of Child Abuse, which only involved a “Negligent Act” (that of placing the child on the bed unsupervised, which allowed her to roll of and become injured). The State Charge fell under Arizona Revised Statute 13-3623 (A)(1).
As there was no analogous Offense Guideline within the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge used the ranges allowed within the State Guidelines. Mr. L received a Sentence of 12 Years and 7 Months of Actual BOP (Bureau of Prisons) time. Had he been Convicted of the original Charge, he could have been Sentenced to up to Natural Life in Prison, per the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
