Review time requested in Utah County infant-murder case

PROVO — Autopsy reports in a capital murder case are so detailed and intense that attorneys on both sides want more time to review them as well as discuss a resolution.

"We don't want to rush it," said defense attorney Gunda Jarvis. "We'll take our time and make sure we do it right. Someone's life is on the line."

It's the life of Jason Putnam, 23, who stood next to Jarvis while she told 4th District Judge Steven Hansen she would like more time to call the Medical Examiner's Office.

"We both need to ... clear up some issues we have involving the autopsy reports," she said, referring also to Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman and prosecutor Alex Ludlow. "Because we're lawyers and we don't understand some of the issues that are in the report."

She said without medical expertise, it's difficult to know how to read the complicated report.

Putnam stood quietly until he told Hansen that, yes, he understood his rights and that he was OK with waiving his preliminary hearing Tuesday.

Putnam is charged with aggravated murder in the death of his 20-month-old son, Jordan, on June 12.

Police say Putnam called American Fork police in June to report his son wasn't breathing. When medical help arrived, he explained the child had fallen off the bed.

However, a CAT scan at American Fork Hospital revealed internal bruising, a ruptured spleen and a fractured skull.

The child was then taken to Primary Children's Medical Center where the boy died that afternoon.

When arrested, Putnam told police that when his son cried, he beat him and punished him so that he would be "tough" and "grow up to be a man," American Fork Police Chief Lance Call told the Deseret Morning News after Putnam's arrest.

Putnam also told police he squeezed his son hard enough that he felt "he could have shattered an internal organ," according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in 4th District Court.

Putnam and his wife have a 4-year-old daughter who was not abused.

He was arrested first on $250,000 cash-only bail, but that bail has since been revoked after prosecutors argued that Putnam's fatal torture of his son should merit zero bail, so he couldn't get out and hurt anyone else.

The next hearing will be an arraignment on Jan. 15 where Putnam will enter a plea.

Jarvis said talks about a resolution are on-going and have been since the beginning of the case.

"I think we are trying to avoid a trial," she said. "His life is on the line."

The charge of aggravated murder carries the potential of the death penalty.

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E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com