Man convicted in infant's death
Posted on 07/19/2002 6:55:13 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Man convicted in infant's death
Capital murder verdict could bring death sentence for beating
07/19/2002
A West Dallas man who confessed to police that he "exploded after a bad day" was convicted of capital murder Thursday in the beating death of a 10-month-old boy.
Jurors returned a guilty verdict for Jesse Joe Hernandez, 37, after nearly two hours of deliberations. They'll begin hearing testimony Friday to determine if Mr. Hernandez should get life in prison or death by injection for the April 2001 killing of Karlos Borja.
During three days of testimony, prosecutors introduced a voluntary statement in which Mr. Hernandez admitted to striking Karlos and his sister while baby sitting them in a West Dallas house while their mother waited tables at a Mesquite restaurant.
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In the statement, Mr. Hernandez said his ill temper was made worse by a crying jag from the child and his sister.
Prosecutor Howard Blackmon also tied Mr. Hernandez to the fatal beating through traces of his DNA mixed with his boy's blood on a pillowcase and a jumper. Testimony from Mary Jessie Rojas, Mr. Hernandez's wife of six years, showed he was the only adult home at the time of the beating. She also testified that her husband wouldn't let her check on the children when she returned home from an errand.
Defense attorneys Richard Franklin and Rick Harrison said Dallas police detectives coerced the confession from their client. But the detectives testified Mr. Hernandez confessed voluntarily and also admitted that he might have beaten the children with a flashlight.
Mr. Harrison also told jurors that police did not thoroughly investigate another man who lived in the three-bedroom house.
Karlos died shortly after his mother, Misty Leverett, decided to take him off life support at Children's Medical Center. The boy had a severe skull fracture and bruises on his forehead, temple, abdomen and genitalia, according to autopsy records.
His sister, Melodi, suffered injuries to her head, ear and right eye.
In deciding whether Mr. Hernandez poses a continuing threat to society, jurors will hear testimony that he served prison time for fondling a 12-year-old relative in 1991.
E-mail twyatt@dallasnews.com
I say the jury should come back with the microwave death penalty. That way he can feel what it's like to explode - literally!
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