Father to be tried in death of 4-year-old girl

SALT LAKE CITY — A Kearns man was ordered Monday to stand trial for murder in the death of his 4-year-old daughter.

A hearing on the evidence against Clinton Joseph Hart was held in August, but Judge Ann Boyden granted an "unusual request" to hold arguments on the charges against Hart in a separate hearing — a request that was made to allow attorneys to research how to proceed with a murder charge that was filed despite the fact that Hart wasn't home when his daughter sustained the injuries that led to her death.

Hart, 21, was charged with murder, a first-degree felony, two counts of child abuse and one count of obstructing justice, all second-degree felonies, in connection with the June 13 death of his daughter, Vanessa. Boyden bound him over to stand trial on three of the four charges, dismissing the obstruction of justice charge.

Despite the fact that there is no question that Clinton Hart was at work when his daughter was beaten, the 3rd District judge found that there was enough evidence to suggest that there was a pattern of abuse that led up to the girl's death.

In her argument to support the murder charge, prosecutor Cristina Ortega laid out a laundry list of the girl's extensive injuries, Hart's explanations for the various injuries and how they were not only inconsistent with a hospital pediatrician's opinion, but also differed from interview to interview.

"(Hart) gave two different stories," Ortega said. "The defendant admitted to prior abuse of Vanessa. … This sheds light to this ongoing pattern of abuse, this joint abuse with Marina," Ortega said.

Marina Navarro — Hart's live-in girlfriend who cared for Vanessa and her 2-year-old brother Anthony — has been charged with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and three counts of child abuse, a second-degree felony. Ortega pointed out that Navarro had once gone so far in her discipline that Hart made her leave the home, but that he let her return to live with them again soon after.

"He was aware of the abuse," Ortega said. "He directed the discipline, admitted to being present for all of (Vanessa's) injuries and was able to date them. … (Hart and Navarro) were the only ones with access to Vanessa and this was his failure to protect her."

Hart's defense attorney, Steven Shapiro, said Hart did direct the discipline of his children and reiterated that it was consistently "hands-off." He said that his client's explanations for the bruises that covered his daughter's body were those given by a man in "despair" seeking to help and provide answers, but without photos to help him identify the injuries.