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Judge to rule on prior acts in baby murder case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A judge in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court said she will rule on a defense attorney’s motion as soon as possible to exclude two previous cases of injuries to an infant his client is accused of killing.
Judge Shirley J. Christian said Wednesday she wants to get the motion out of the way so attorneys can prepare for the June 22 trial against Larry Dawson, 26, of Wesley Avenue. Dawson is charged with murder and two counts of child endangering in the December 2012 death of his 15-month-old son.
Dawson’s attorney, Joseph Gardner, filed motions asking that prosecutors be barred from mentioning incidents on Nov. 30, 2012, and Dec. 6, 2012, when the baby reportedly had injuries.
Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer McLaughlin said the state wants jurors to know of those two instances because it shows a pattern that when the baby was with Dawson, he was injured in the face and head. The baby died of blunt-force trauma to the back of his head, according to an autopsy.
The first incident was Nov. 30, when a neighbor said she thought Dawson may have been handling the child roughly by putting the child in a car seat by the collar of his coat, and the second one was Dec. 6 when the child purportedly had scratches on his face.
Gardner said there is no proof that his client inflicted any injuries on the child on any of those dates. He said a police officer who was called for a Dec. 6 incident took no photographs of the child, and when another officer was sent from the department’s Crime Lab later to take pictures of the baby, the child was not there.
Gardner said both incidents would prejudice jurors against his client.
“There is no evidence Larry did anything,” Gardner said.
McLaughlin said both incidents can be handled during a trial by cross-examination by Gardner. She said the state does not have to prove those incidents beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the legal standard jurors need to convict someone of a crime.