PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The Court of Appeals typically does not reweigh the evidence or judge witness credibility when it reviews criminal convictions on appeal. But Pyle said in this case there's no evidence Woodworth knowingly placed Moor in a situation that endangered her life — contrary to the charge that Woodworth "failed to provide immediate medical attention upon injury." Pyle specifically noted Woodworth's 9-minute delay in calling 911, during which Woodworth contacted the child's mother and Woodworth's own mother and sister tended to Moor by applying a cold rag to the child's head and taking her outside for fresh air, was not a failure to provide immediate medical attention to the child. In fact, Pyle said prosecutors presented no evidence at trial to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Moor's death would not have occurred but for Woodworth's alleged failure to obtain immediate medical car "Based on these facts and circumstances, we conclude that Woodworth's actions were those of a reasonable caregiver who finds that a child in her care is having difficulty waking up from a nap and does not 'look right,'" Pyle said. "Thus, the evidence presented at trial is insufficient to support her conviction of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death. Accordingly, we reverse Woodworth's conviction." (Appeals Judge Rudolph Pyle III on behalf of the court.)
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GIST: An unusual ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals last week is the latest twist in a topsy-turvy criminal case following the death of an 8-month-old Hammond girl nearly 8 years ago.
Maci Moor died at a Chicago hospital April 19, 2016, after the infant struggled to wake up from a nap four days prior at the Calumet Township home of her caregiver, according to court records.
Records show the caregiver, Trisha Woodworth, 33, promptly contacted the baby's mother when the child wouldn't wake up, and then called 911 for emergency assistance at the mother's direction less than 10 minutes later.
Woodworth eventually was charged with one count of neglect of a dependent, a level 1 felony; aggravated battery, a level 1 felony; and battery resulting in the death of a person younger than 14, a level 2 felony, according to court records.
Records show experts disagreed on the cause of Moor's death. Prosecutors claimed it was due to a violent shaking incident at Woodworth's home, while doctors supporting Woodworth attributed it to Moor falling at her own home a few days earlier, which resulted in a blood clot growing in her brain that caused her brain to swell and block her blood flow, triggering a stroke.
In 2022, a Lake County jury convicted Woodworth of neglect of a dependent, but acquitted her on the other charges of aggravated battery and battery resulting in the death of a person younger than 14, according to court records.
However, records show Lake Superior Judge Samuel Cappas took the rare step of setting aside the jury's verdict on his own initiative after he concluded it would be a manifest injustice to sentence Woodworth to a minimum of 20 years in prison for Woodworth waiting less than 10 minutes to call an ambulance after she found the child unresponsive.
Cappas justified his decision to vacate the conviction and release Woodworth by finding that her attorney, who was participating in his first felony trial, made a number of errors and thereby provided ineffective counsel to Woodworth — even though the judge previously praised the quality of her attorney's advocacy, according to court records.
Records show Cappas then ordered a new trial for Woodworth and recused himself from presiding over it.
The second trial has been on hold while the Indiana attorney general's office urged the Court of Appeals to reinstate Woodworth's original conviction, according to court records.
The appellate court did just that. In a 3-0 ruling, it determined Cappas abused his discretion by vacating Woodworth's conviction on his own motion and granting her a new trial due to the alleged ineffectiveness of her attorney.
"We caution trial courts against sua sponte making an ineffective assistance of counsel determination and conclude that the trial court abused its discretion when it granted its own motion to correct error based on a finding that Woodworth’s counsel was ineffective," wrote Appeals Judge Rudolph Pyle III on behalf of the court.
At the same time, the appeals court granted Woodworth's cross-appeal and reversed the conviction it just reinstated by finding insufficient evidence to support her conviction for neglect of a dependent.
The Court of Appeals typically does not reweigh the evidence or judge witness credibility when it reviews criminal convictions on appeal.
But Pyle said in this case there's no evidence Woodworth knowingly placed Moor in a situation that endangered her life — contrary to the charge that Woodworth "failed to provide immediate medical attention upon injury."
Pyle specifically noted Woodworth's 9-minute delay in calling 911, during which Woodworth contacted the child's mother and Woodworth's own mother and sister tended to Moor by applying a cold rag to the child's head and taking her outside for fresh air, was not a failure to provide immediate medical attention to the child.
In fact, Pyle said prosecutors presented no evidence at trial to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Moor's death would not have occurred but for Woodworth's alleged failure to obtain immediate medical care
"Based on these facts and circumstances, we conclude that Woodworth's actions were those of a reasonable caregiver who finds that a child in her care is having difficulty waking up from a nap and does not 'look right,'" Pyle said.
"Thus, the evidence presented at trial is insufficient to support her conviction of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death. Accordingly, we reverse Woodworth's conviction."
The attorney general's office still can ask the Indiana Supreme Court to review the case and consider reinstating Woodworth's conviction.
Otherwise, Woodworth likely cannot be retried on the same charge of neglect of a dependent since the appellate court found the evidence insufficient to sustain the jury's verdict."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-regional/crime-courts/indiana-appeals-court-child-neglect/article_530296c8-be15-11ee-aa1a-9bc974d7a06f.htmlPUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog; |
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan;
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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