Guilty verdict upheld in elderly sex abuse

PROVO — A judge in 4th District Court has denied a motion for arrest of judgment made by a man who was found guilty of 15 counts of felony sex abuse of the elderly in a trial last October.

In arguments before judge Steven Hansen on Tuesday, an attorney for Jesus Partida argued that the state had not sufficiently verified the confession that Partida initially made to American Fork police.

In that confession, Partida told police in graphic detail of ongoing sexual abuse he committed against patients in the elderly care facility where he worked.

He later retracted the confession and said he made it up to get out of a failing marriage, though it was used as a crucial piece of evidence by prosecutors in the trial.

"We're basing (the motion) solely on the uncorroborrated nature of my client's confession," said Joseph Jardine, Partida's attorney.

A motion for arrest of judgment is made after a verdict is reached, and questions the validity of the evidence used in reaching that verdict. If granted, the judgment reached in the trial is not enforced.

Jardine said he and his client have become aware of new cases that set a precedent for the level of corroborration required for any confession before it can be used against the accused — levels he said prosecutors did not reach in the trial.

Prosecutors, however, disagreed with the motion.

"Motions to reconsider (the verdict) are not proper motions, and that's exactly what this is," said prosecutor Chad Grunander.

Partida faces sentencing on Jan. 16.