Coroner sad boy's death is unpunished

As Sharon Schnittker was watching TV from her home in Bloomington, Ill., Wednesday night, she saw the story of Michael Lane, the Utah man acquitted 15 years ago of murder of a 2-year-old boy but who now has confessed his guilt.

Schnittker, now retired, testified on behalf of the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office that the young boy, Paul "PJ" Eugene Watts, died as a result of homicide due to a "forceful blow" to the back of the boy's head.

"I was appalled he hadn't been convicted," she said. "It's a miscarriage of justice. I'm really sad he won't be punished for this."

In 1991, Michael Lane was acquitted by a jury in 3rd District Court of causing Watts' death. But in August 2005, after confessing first to his bishop, Lane confessed to two Salt Lake City police officers in a videotaped interview that he slammed the baby against the floor several times while baby-sitting because the boy wouldn't stop crying.

During the trial, the boy's mother, Jennifer Watts, supported Lane, hurting the prosecution's case.

"That shouldn't really influence the jury," Schnittker said. "Someone had to inflict these injuries."

Despite his confession, Lane will not be charged in district court in connection with the death because of the law of double jeopardy — meaning you can't be prosecuted twice for the same crime.

And because Lane never testified in the original trial, Salt Lake Deputy District Attorney Bob Stott said he can't even be charged with perjury.

Furthermore, under the single criminal episode statute, prosecutors cannot charge Lane with aggravated assault or any lesser charge.

"You get one shot at 'em, basically. If you don't get it, it's over with," he said.

The double jeopardy provision is part of the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"The principal reason is the government has unlimited resources," Salt Lake City attorney Adam Price said. "One of the things the framers of the Constitution were trying to protect against was the case where someone is prosecuted, gets acquitted, and the government re-prosecutes them over and over and over again until they finally get a guilty verdict."

Without this protection, even if the government never got a guilty verdict in a case that was tried repeatedly, the individual who was charged might give up and plead guilty just to avoid the expense, time and stress of another trial, Price said.