Convicted baby sitter wants guilty verdict dismissed

AMERICAN FORK — An attorney for a baby sitter convicted of child abuse homicide wants the jury's decision thrown out, arguing that a key witness may have misspoken about a potentially exculpating medical exam.

Daniella Ruiz, 27, and the mother of four, was convicted by a jury in November of child abuse homicide, a second-degree felony, after a week of testimony about 5-month Brandon Zamora and Ruiz's role as his baby sitter on Jan. 4, 2006.

Prosecutors presented medical experts who testified that when Brandon was brought to Primary Children's Medical Center he had retinal and cranial hemorrhaging, a dent in his skull and injuries to his spinal cord and kidneys.

"The death of Brandon Zamora had nothing to do with a bleeding disorder or natural causes," said prosecutor Chad Grunander. "It was due to a shaking, a violent episode."

Ruiz's attorney, Shelden Carter disagrees. With no outer signs of abuse, Carter argues that Brandon very likely had a fatal bleeding disorder.

In his recent motion to arrest judgment, Carter argued that several tests were not conducted, which would have indicated a bleeding disorder.

"I think there is a controversy about what testing was done at Primary Children's Medical Center," Carter told 4th District Court Judge David Mortensen Tuesday.

He said the state's key witness indicated that the hospital normally conducts four tests, which would "be required to exclude a bleeding disorder as the cause of death," he said in his motion.

Carter believes that Dr. Lori Frazier testified the tests were done, but said today he has no information about some of the results.

Grunander disagreed and denied prosecutors haven't provided all the test results.

In Grunander's motion, he included a small snippet of an unofficial transcript where Frazier testified all the tests are done only if the clinical scenario warrants them, and Brandon's didn't.

Plus, after all the testimony about internal injuries, Grunander called the bleeding disorder a "red herring," meant to distract the jury from the abuse that occurred.

"It wasn't the bleeding on the brain that killed him," Grunander said. "It was the swelling of the brain that killed him."