Father Not Guilty in Son's Death
KELLEY HOLMBERG
NEWS-SUN
Pete Hernandez didn’t say much after a jury found him not guilty of all charges resulting from his son’s death in 2007. What he did say came through tears.
“The healing begins today,” he said in a soft voice as he left the courthouse with his longtime girlfriend and her daughter by his side.
After a five-hour deliberation, a jury of five women and seven men issued a verdict of not guilty on the two remaining charges against 39-year-old Hernandez of Lovington after a third was dropped earlier that morning.
Originally on trial for charges of child abuse resulting in death, homicide by motor vehicle and child abuse not resulting in great bodily harm, District Judge William Shoobridge in Lovington told jurors the vehicular homicide charge had been dropped when they returned to court Tuesday morning after hearing the case on Monday.
Assistant District Attorney Vernon Henning said there was an issue with New Mexico’s double jeopardy law. Trying Hernandez for both vehicular homicide and child abuse resulting in death was like charging him twice for the same crime, he said.
Henning said the state chose to prosecute the child abuse charge because it is the more severe of the two charges.
During an emotionally charged two-day trial, jurors were asked to decide if Hernandez was responsible for the death of his 10-year-old son, Adrian.
Adrian was killed in a truck accident on the Denver City Highway in August 2007. Hernandez was driving Adrian and his daughter, Amber, who was 8 years old at the time, home to Lovington after a trip to Seagraves to visit a friend.
The prosecution presented evidence of alcohol consumption in the vehicle before an accident. The defense argued the consumption was minor, and Hernandez was not impaired.
Defense attorney Jon Fredlund cited incomplete police work on the scene as reasonable doubt to the prosecution’s case. Police on the scene did not preserve the vehicle for further investigation, he said, relinquishing what was left of the Ford F-150 back to the owner.
Police also failed to issue a warrant for a blood screening for alcohol, he said.
“Obviously we’re very happy,” Fredlund said after the verdict was announced. “It doesn’t diminish that it’s a horrible tragedy. We just thank the jury for taking the time and listening to the evidence.”
“It’s been a long time,” Hernandez said outside the courtroom. “My son can rest in peace, and I can at least continue to have some kind of relationship with my daughter.”
Hernandez’s daughter, now 10, testified Monday she saw her father drinking before they got in the truck to return to Lovington and in the truck cab.
Witness and expert testimonies ended Monday. Only closing arguments were heard Tuesday.
“I very much regret the outcome,” Henning said after the trial. “But the jury’s decision is the jury’s decision.”
Henning said a guilty verdict on the charge of child abuse resulting in death would have carried a sentence of 18 years. The lesser charge of child abuse not resulting in great bodily harm would have resulted in a three-year sentence.
Man Not Guilty in Baby’s Death
LOVINGTON, NM – Christopher Coronado is a free man. An 11-man
and one-woman jury found the 26-year-old not guilty of abandonment or
abuse of a child resulting in great bodily harm or death after less
than 15 minutes of deliberation. “We are happy, but that in no way
diminishes from this tragic situation,” said Jon Fredlund, Coronado’s
attorney, after the jury’s verdict. Before bringing in the jury to read
its verdict, District Judge Gary Clingman had a few words for family
members from both sides of the case. “No matter what the jury does, it
cannot restore a life,” Clingman said.
~ News-Sun May, 2006
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