Thread: Gomez jailed to keep her in Ephrata

http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/arti ... news01.txt

Gomez jailed to keep her in Ephrata
Posted: Wednesday, Feb 21, 2007 - 04:25:24 pm PST
By David Cole
Herald staff writer

EPHRATA -- Maribel Gomez was jailed Tuesday by a judge to keep U.S. immigration officials from seizing her and disrupting her trial for allegedly fatally abusing her 2-year-old son.

Gomez is charged with homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter in the September 2003 death of her son, Rafael "Raffy" Gomez. The 32-year-old mother pleaded innocent in Grant County Superior Court and, until Tuesday, remained free and was living in Ephrata.

Grant County Deputy Prosecutor Carolyn Fair said if Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz didn't have Gomez booked into jail now, immigration officials would take her to Seattle for deportation hearings.

Prosecutors filed a motion asking Antosz, who is hearing the non-jury trial, to revoke the conditions of Gomez's release.

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Fair recommended setting bail at $250,000, to ensure Gomez is not seized and the trial interrupted.

Antosz ordered Gomez held, without bail, for the next 48 hours. Her bail then jumps to $250,000.

Gomez is from Mexico and not a legal U.S. citizen, said Bobby Moser, her Moses Lake-based defense lawyer.

Moser argued there's no basis to revoke the original conditions of her release, saying she has not violated the terms of her conditional release during the previous three years and tried to leave the county.

"Putting her in jail at this point is inappropriate," Moser told Antosz.

"I have a lot of questions about the timing of this," Moser said in an interview, following Tuesday's proceedings. "I don't think this is going to impact the defense of the case."

Gomez arrived Tuesday at the Grant County courthouse in street clothes. During a morning recess, she was booked into Grant County Jail. She spent the rest of the day shackled at the ankles and dressed in a green prison jumpsuit.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ordered Gomez detained, saying an investigation was recently initiated to determine whether she is subject to removal from the country.

An ICE public affairs official in Washington D.C. referred questions to agency spokeswoman Lorie Dankers in Seattle, who did not return messages seeking comment.

Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell said immigration officials in Spokane ran a check on Gomez, following her case's recent publicity. They discovered she's an illegal immigrant.

Gomez was charged when Raffy died after suffering a serious brain injury while in Gomez's care. During his short life, he had four skull fractures, two fractured legs, both shoulders broken, numerous abrasions, bruises and burns to his hand and tongue.

Prosecutors argue the injuries all occurred while he was living with his birth mother. During more than a year living with foster parents in Royal City, he was not injured.

Moser told the court Raffy was a clumsy kid who behaved abnormally. Raffy engaged in self-destructive behaviors, Moser said. He became increasingly fragile and eventually died after a minor, accidental fall while Gomez was feeding him, he said.

Prosecutors called Hollie Halliday, a former Royal City resident, to the witness stand Tuesday. Halliday was a daycare provider for Raffy from late January 2003 to late March 2003, hired by the boy's foster parents Bruce and Denise Griffith.

Halliday said Raffy did not exhibit self-destructive behaviors and was never accidentally injured while in her care. Raffy loved to dance and play games with her other kids, she said.

Halliday testified that Raffy would cry when Denise Griffith, Royal City, would leave him at the in-home daycare.

It took six weeks before Halliday earned Raffy's trust, she testified.

Halliday said Raffy was generally fearful of adult females.

The trial resumes today with more prosecution witnesses. They plan to call their final witnesses Monday.

http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/03/02/ ... k58mg0.txt
Mother testifies in Ephrata homicide by abuse trial
Mar 02, 2007 - 08:37:07 am PST

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EPHRATA, Wash. - The woman accused of killing her 2-year-old son, Rafael "Raffy" Gomez, has testified that she never kicked, strangled or abused the boy.

Maribel Gomez, 32, testified assertively in Spanish through an interpreter that she never picked the boy up by the ankle and threw him, never bathed him in the sink with cold water, and never threw him down the stairs.

Gomez is on trial in Grant County Superior Court on charges of homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter in her son's Sept. 10, 2003, death.

Gomez's testimony Thursday contradicted the earlier testimony of the her former houseguest, Alicia Estrada, who said she saw Gomez abuse Raffy.

Before Raffy's death, doctors in several north central Washington hospitals treated him for two broken legs and detected as many as four skull fractures, plus burns, bruises and scrapes that occurred while he was in Gomez's care.

Taking the stand for the first time in her trial, Gomez denied committing any of the abuses Estrada said she saw.

Gomez also testified that she had reported what she said was her son's self-destructive behavior to social workers who were monitoring the family.

She said she reported that her son pinched himself, pulled his hair, gorged on food, banged his head in fits of anger and was aggressive to her and her other children.

Her final case worker, Murray Twelves, testified Wednesday that he never personally witnessed Raffy behaving abnormally, but said another case worker had mentioned in an earlier report that she'd observed the boy gorge himself.

The trial is set to resume Monday in front of Judge John Antosz, who is hearing the case because Gomez, an illegal immigrant, waived her right to a trial by jury. Gomez is expected to finish testifying late Monday or Tuesday.

Next up for the defense is Janice Ophoven, a Minnesota forensic pathologist. Antosz told Prosecutor John Knodell that he will decide after Ophoven testifies whether Knodell will be given more time to prepare to cross-examine the doctor, who has been the subject of several delays.

Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenworld.com

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

Closing arguments made in abuse homicide case

EPHRATA, Wash. - The homicide by abuse case of Maribel Gomez drew to a close today in Ephrata. Lawyers argued the significance of autopsy findings in the death of Gomez's 25-month-old son, Raffy, who spent half his life in foster care while recovering from injuries.

Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz said he will take as long as two weeks to render a decision. He heard the case from the bench because Gomez waived her right to a trial by jury.

The 29-year-old Gomez was tried on charges of homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter in her son's death. If convicted of homicide by abuse, she faces 20 years to 26 years in prison. A manslaughter conviction carries a sentence of about half that length.

Gomez is an illegal alien. She faces deportation to Mexico if she's acquitted and would face removal after her sentence ends if convicted.

In closing arguments today, both sides tried to persuade Antosz to accept their interpretation of testimony from physicians and medical examiners during the trial that started on February 14th.

http://www.khq.com/global/story.asp?s=6240024