Why does Lacy have a problem prosecuting baby killers? The Midyette Case

Amazing isn't it? I guess if you are an adult with money in Boulder the DA won't prosecute you....as long as you are killing a child.

This is what happens when John Ramsey is allowed to run the Boulder DA's office.

 

Where the HELL do they GET these people!?

 

Exactly. Evil walks the Earth every day. And it comes in many forms.

Heymom :devil:

 

Well, DeMuth is right-- if there is no evidence to convict someone, no charges should be filed.


This case seems pretty simple because the child's whereabouts and whose care he was under are easily accounted for.It's inconceivable to me that the parents have not yet been interviewed and no arrest has been made. Is the D.A. intimidated by the parents' attornies?

Must be a "Boulder thing." I am convinced the air is so thin there that peoples' brains don't work right.

 

Aren't the injuries themselves evidence of foul play??? Here in Texas this would never happen! (However, we do let parents who leave their babies in cars get off with probation or slaps on the wrist...while prosecuting animal abuse to the max.)

Heymom

 

Here is an article I just found at the Daily Camera website - it is how things are done in Boulder.

Sending out the spirits article

 

With that many fractures in an infant, it actually does sound more like osteogenesis imperfecta than abuse.
If the Boulder people are waiting for some further testing to determine whether the child had Osteogenesis Imperfecta, then they are right to wait until the test results are in.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic condition where collagen is not produced correctly by the body and bones break very easily from even simple things like rolling over, changing a diaper or burping a baby. OI is also sometimes called "brittle bone disease". In severe forms of the disease, the baby is born with fractures that occured before birth or just from the process of being born. Most of the fractures are not noticed at the time they break - there isn't a 'snapping sound' or anything that says a bone has been broken. Small breaks are usually not noticed and a lot of times there can be multiple fractures of the same bone (like a rib might have a number of fractures). There is nothing often nothing that tells the doctor the child has the disease until a large bone breaks.

There have been a lot of cases in the past where parents were charged with child abuse and the child was put into foster care because of fractures noticed and later the parents were cleared after the child was diagnosed with more fractures after being in foster care. Here's a link to a page Child abuse or IO? There is enough confusion of OI and abuse that google comes up with 108,000 hits on a search for OI +abuse.
I never took care of anyone with this condition, but when I worked in Public Health, one of my collegues did have a family whose first child was found to have IO (after first being taken away from the family and out into foster care). When their second child was born, she was evaluated for IO right away and found to have it, saving the family from having her put into foster care when her first broken bone was noticed.

Since it is a genetic condition, there are genetic tests that can be used, but they take time to perform and a negative test doesn't always rule OI out. Here's what it said on the IO Foundation website:
It is often, though not always, possible to diagnose OI based solely on clinical features. Clinical geneticists can also perform biochemical (collagen) or molecular (DNA) tests that can help confirm a diagnosis of OI in some situations. These tests generally require several weeks before results are known. Both the collagen biopsy test and DNA test are thought to detect almost 90% of all type I collagen mutations.

A positive type I collagen study confirms the diagnosis of OI, but a negative result leaves open the possibility that either a collagen type 1 mutation is present but was not detected or the patient has a form of the disorder that is not associated with collagen type 1 mutations. Therefore, a negative type I collagen study does not rule out OI."

 

Of course they are.

The parents come from wealthy influential families, the mother is an attorney and they lawyered up immediately. If this child was in day care and the injuries may have been sustained there, you would think the parents would be screaming to arrest someone. Sue, it looks like they ruled out bone disease.

My comment was in reference to DeMuth's quote and was somewhat sarcastic. IF there were no evidence, he is correct. From these few articles, it appears there is a mountain of probable cause to slap handcuffs on both of the parents. Unless of course, there is a daycare provider we don't know about it.

 

Well, I would bet a dollar to a doughnut that this will be the defense used, IF it ever gets to a trial. It has been ruled a homicide, though, so perhaps they have already completed testing for OI.

Heymom

 

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4091176

Infant's death ruled homicide
The 11-week-old baby boy, Jason Midyette of Louisville, showed signs of head trauma and skull fractures. Neither parent has been arrested or charged in the case.
By Joel Grostephan
Denver Post Staff Writer



The March death of an 11-week-old Louisville boy was ruled a homicide Monday by the Boulder County Coroner's Office.

A coroner's report found signs of "blunt force" head trauma and fractures of Jason Midyette's skull, the report said.

The coroner also found that the child had numerous bone fractures that had started to heal before his death.

The parents, Alex and Mollie Midyette , brought Jason to Boulder Community Hospital on Feb. 24, but his injuries were so severe that he was transferred to Denver Children's Hospital.

He died 10 days later.

Louisville police searched the Midyettes' home in March, seizing computers, medical records, personal papers and marijuana paraphernalia. Police also seized records from Boulder Community Hospital and from the Midyettes' family physician.

Neither parent has been arrested or charged with any crime, and Boulder attorney Paul McCormick told 7News that the Midyettes had not mistreated their son.

McCormick did not return repeated calls Monday seeking comment.

The autopsy was released more than four months after Jason's death, but Coroner Thomas Faure said that is not unusual.

"Reports like this take time," Faure said. "We will utilize whatever investigation efforts that are needed for an investigation like this."

Faure would not comment on details about the autopsy because of the homicide investigation.

In February, the boy's parents told doctors that the boy had experienced some seizure-like activity before he was admitted, the autopsy said.

Doctors at Children's Hospital told police that the infant's injuries "were not the result of any pre-existing medical condition or unusual medical pathology, but were instead caused by non-accidental trauma," Louisville police said in March.
The autopsy found numerous injuries.

Jason's face and head had several large scabs. Investigators found evidence of healing fractures in his toes, ribs, collarbone and lower leg bones.

Some of the healing fractures would fit in the two- to three- week time frame leading up to Jason's death, but one rib fracture appeared to be an older injury, according an analysis by a Cornell University pathology professor who consulted on the autopsy.

Investigators worked to rule out that the boy had a pre-existing medical condition that would have contributed to the fractures. One potential disease they investigated extensively before ruling out was osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as "brittle bone" disease, which is characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause.

Boulder County District Attorney investigator Tom Bennett said the investigation is ongoing.

 

Sorry, I didn't see that. But, not knowing how they ruled it out doesn't necessarily mean that they totally ruled it out with genetic testing.

 

It's a hard lesson for a hard world:

Evil wears many masks; none so dangerous as the mask of righteousness.

 

Thank you for the update, Sabrina. Huummmmm wonder who the suspects are? I'm sure Boulder LE will totally ignore the parents. :nervous:

 

It appears that there are a lot of people in Boulder that smoke "funny" cigarettes. That would sure mellow you out and time wouldn't matter much. Hey, this is just a dead baby case so no need to hurry. (LONG inhale)!
xxxxxxxxxoooooooo
mama

 

Maybe you missed this part of the article...
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4091176
Jason's face and head had several large scabs.

Now, how did this baby get these large scabs if this was just a case of brittle bone disease?

 

Pack of pinheads, the lot of 'em.

 

I've heard of three deaths of babies this summer around here because one of the parents left them locked in their car seats all day long - in 100 degree heat. The last one was ruled an accident.

 

Isn't that just awful??? An accident? Hardly - negligent at best.

Heymom

 

Hey now... those nutjob yuppies in Boulder give potheads a bad name. Don't blame it on the pot, when I was in high school... well, story for another time

 

Bump for the baby

Murdered 6 months ago and not a peep out of Keenan/Lacy. that great advocate for children.