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Author Topic: Heck (Dad) found guilty in assault of once-conjoined infant son  (Read 1977 times)
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« on: May 12, 2010, 10:57:25 PM »

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=451762
Heck found guilty in assault of once-conjoined infant son
May 11, 2010



Robert Heck held back tears as he was handcuffed and taken into custody late Monday afternoon, minutes after a district judge found him guilty of first-degree assault in causing some 25 fractures to his infant son three years ago.

Judge Kevin Lund, who heard testimony in the two-week trial that ended Friday, said he found the "brutality toward a defenseless 6-week-old, 5-pound baby boy numbing."

Lund read his verdict in open court.

Just minutes before, Bill Wright, one of Heck's defense attorneys, said his client felt he was going to be sick.

"We don't agree with the verdict and anticipate Mr. Heck will appeal the verdict,'' Wright said shortly after Heck was taken into custody. He said Heck "is in a state of shock. He was hoping for an acquittal."

Prosecutor Julie Germann said she was thrilled with the verdict, saying it has been a "long time coming."

Charges in the case were filed in March 2007, just weeks after police were called to Saint Marys Hospital when Jordan James, the twin son of Heck and Valerie James, was brought back to the hospital a week after being released. Jordan and his twin, Jacob, were born conjoined on Nov. 9, 2006. They underwent separation surgery. Jordan was released Jan. 3, and the couple lived at the Ronald McDonald House in order to visit Jacob, who was still recovering in the hospital.

Heck testified that during the week Jordan was out of the hospital, either he or James cared for the infant. He said they brought him back to the hospital, concerned about swollen thighs they thought were the result of his immunization shots. He had 25 fractures to his legs, arms and ribs.

Heck also was charged with aiding an offender. That charge was dismissed by Lund after finding him guilty of the actual assault. Sentencing is set for Aug. 9. Lund revoked release conditions for Heck and ordered him taken into custody immediately.

Prior to announcing his verdict, Lund said that he has dealt with multiple cases involving abuse, violence and death in his 29-year legal career and said the loss and crippling of lives is painfully disturbing. But this case was different because the brutality was toward a 6-week-old baby.

He said that, as a judge, he is not immune from the "visceral emotional responses to violent criminal behavior that has mystified and terrified society and our community for generations." But he said, he also has to separate the visceral response to this assault to objectively analyze the facts to determine if Heck is guilty or not.

In this case, he said there were no eyewitnesses to the abuse and neither parent has admitted to any criminal conduct. He said the medical evidence showed the injuries were not accidental and that they occurred during that one-week time frame. The proof dilemma, he said, was who committed the assaults. But he said prosecutors met that burden of proof.

Lund also found there were aggravating factors, paving the way for an upward departure from state sentencing guidelines.

Heck and James have had their parental rights to the twins and another daughter, who was 11 months old at the time, terminated by a Blue Earth County judge. The children have been in a foster home since then. The foster parents are in the process of adopting the children. The adoptive mother was in the courtroom Monday when the verdict was read and her eyes flooded with tears.

Germann said she will be arguing for a stiffer sentence than the presumptive 110-month prison term called for under sentencing guidelines, based on Heck's prior criminal record.

Valerie James also is charged in this case. She is charged with aiding an offender and is scheduled to go on trial in July.
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« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2010, 11:58:16 PM »

OMG
Will it ever end?
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