CECILIA GARCIA CORTES CASE; BREAKING NEWS; CHARGES DROPPED; DEATH RULED ACCIDENTAL; INNOCENT MOTHER IS FREED FROM CUSTODY; VENTURA COUNTY STAR;

"(DEFENCE LAWYER) LEWIS CRITICIZED THE STATEMENT OF FACTS FILED BY DUNLEVY TO SUPPORT THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S MOTION TO DISMISS, CRITICIZING HOW POLICE INTERROGATED HER CLIENT FROM 7 P.M. TO 6 A.M., USING TREMENDOUS PRESSURE TO GET A CONFESSION."

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"THE TREATING PHYSICIAN AT CHILDRENS HOSPITAL IN LOS ANGELES CONCLUDED THE BABY HAD SUFFERED FROM SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME AND NOT “NON-ACCIDENTAL INJURIES,” DUNLEVY STATED IN HIS MOTION.

LEWIS ARGUED THAT A DOCTOR’S SUSPICION IS “FAR DIFFERENT THAN CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE.”"

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REPORTER RAUL HERNANDEZ; THE VENTURA COUNTY STAR;

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Background: Cecilia Cortes was charged with assault on a child resulting in death on April 27, 2009; A police report provides the following details: INCIDENT: 273ab PC / Assault on a child resulting in death; DATE/TIME: 04/27/2009; LOCATION: 4800 Block Saviers Rd. Oxnard; VICTIM/S: 4 month old female child; SUSPECT/S: Cecilia Garcia Cortes, 23 years; PREPARED BY: Sergeant Jim Seitz, Homicide Supervisor; DETAILS: On 4-28-2009 a twenty three (23) year old mother of three was arrested for assaulting her 4 month old child who subsequently died as a result of her injuries.The mother identified as 23 year old Cecilia Garcia Cortes, who recently moved to Oxnard from Fillmore, was home with her three children ages 2 years, 1 year and 4 months on Monday when she apparently became upset due to the 4 month old crying continuously. It is believed that the mother began to violently shake the baby in an attempt to get the child to stop crying. Several hours later the child appeared to have stopped breathing. The child was taken to a local hospital and then airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. The child was on life support until she eventually died at 1:00 pm Thursday afternoon. The mother is in custody at the Ventura County Jail. Her bail is set at $500,000. If convicted of the crime she is facing a sentence of 25 years to life. The other two siblings are in custody of Child Protected Services." On July 30, 2009, a local paper reported that the medical examiner had ruled that the baby's death was accidental - yet Ms. Cortes remained in jail pending a further medical report to be obtained by prosecutors;

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Cecilia Garcia Cortes has finally been cleared in the tragic death of her 4-month-old daughter, the Ventura County Star reported earlier today;

"The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office dismissed felony charges today against a woman who was accused of assaulting her 4-month-old daughter who died earlier this year," the story. by reporter Raul Hernandez began, under the heading, DA dismisses charges against mother accused of killing infant.

"Deputy District Attorney Thomas Dunlevy declined to comment about the dismissal of the charges," the story continued;

"However, he stated in a motion to dismiss that the criminal charges were dropped on the grounds that the offense cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt based on conclusions contained in the autopsy report by the Ventura County Medical Examiner.

Chief Medical Examiner Ronald O’Halloran ruled last month that the April 30 death of Guadalupe Cardoza, from blunt-force trauma, was an accident. The death was attributed to an accidental fall.

The 23-year-old mother Cecilia Garcia Cortes of Oxnard has been in jail under a $500,000 bail since her arrest in May.

Ventura County Superior Court Edward Brodie granted the prosecution’s motion to dismiss the charges.

Cortes’ lawyer, Barbara Lewis who works for the Public Defender’s Office, said she was happy that the charges had been dismissed and pleased with the outcome.

“I am very pleased and relieved and I think they came to the right

decision,” Lewis said in an interview.

In the courtroom, relatives of Cortes said they were happy she was being freed.

“I am very happy. We thank God,” said Cortes’ sister, Marisela

Fernandez, adding that Cortes now has to get back her two other children from state child protective services.

Lewis criticized the statement of facts filed by Dunlevy to

support the district attorney’s motion to dismiss, criticizing how

police interrogated her client from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., using tremendous pressure to get a confession.

“In the course of their investigation, they (Oxnard police officers)

interviewed the infant’s mother, Cecilia Cortes. In the course of the

interview, Cortes admitted that on April 27, 2009, she became

frustrated with her baby because she would not stop crying. Cortes

admitted that she raised the infant over her head and shook her

violently for approximately seven minutes. Cortes demonstrated to the detective the manner in which she shook the infant using a stuffed animal,” Dunlevy’s motion states.

Lewis said the entire interrogation is on videotape, and it

contradicts what detectives are saying.

“She never said she shook the baby violently. What they are taking is a statement that was made after hours of questioning,” Lewis said. “During that course of that questioning, they told her repeatedly that she had caused injury to the child and they basically convinced her that she had caused injury to the child. For hours, she insisted that she did not.”

Lewis said Cortes showed police how she held the baby over her head.

“She never described a violent shaking motion. What she described was a rocking back and forth motion that parents are familiar with in order to comfort the child. She cried and said, ‘I didn’t know that could hurt the baby.’”

Lewis said an officer who questioned Cortes said “there is no question that you did this. The question is whether you did this because you were frustrated or you are a monster.”

The medical examiner concluded that the defendant’s “shaking of the baby” was not the cause of death, according to Dunlevy’s motion.

Death was a result of an accidental fall onto the floor of a vehicle in which the baby landed on her head, the motion states.

Cortes’ boyfriend, Victor Hugo, said after the hearing that the baby

slid from his arms and fell inside the truck as he got her out of her

baby seat. He said he admitted to police that he dropped the child,

saying they interviewed him for more than three hours. He said he took a lie-detector test.

“I was telling the truth. I never asked for a lawyer,” Hugo said.


Lewis argued that a doctor’s suspicion is “far different than conclusive evidence.”"

The story can be found at:

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/aug/05/da-dismisses-charges-against-mother-accused-of/

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;