Sacramento judge eviscerates defendant, CPS over girl's death

By Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

Published: Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1A

The court hearing Friday was to sentence 23-year-old Thomas Jerome Martin to prison for beating 3-year-old Valeeya Brazile to death.

But it turned into a public trial of Sacramento County's Child Protective Services, and Superior Court Judge Michael A. Savage found the agency guilty.

In a searing condemnation of CPS, the judge recounted repeated failures to save the little girl from months of beatings that eventually killed her and sent her mother and Martin, the mother's live-in boyfriend, off to prison.

"There is not the slightest evidence in this case that the protection or safety of Valeeya or her brother was ever a priority, or even a significant concern, for the agency or the caseworker charged with their protection," Savage said before he sentenced Martin to prison for the maximum 29 years to life.

Valeeya, a smiling little girl who loved pancakes and was proud of the fact that she could recognize the letter "V," was killed Feb. 5, 2008, in a Fair Oaks apartment. The child had been living with Martin, her 6-year-old brother and her mother, Mia Holmes, who is now serving 12 years.

Martin denies killing Valeeya, and as the judge and three of Valeeya's relatives spoke, he sat quietly at the defense table, yawning, shaking his head and cracking his knuckles.

Savage said the jury that convicted Martin of second-degree murder was the only official body that did anything on Valeeya's behalf.

"The evidence in this case of repeated, systematic, purposeful and brutally inflicted trauma by Mr. Martin on Valeeya is mountainous and undeniable," Savage said. "There is no doubt that this defendant routinely and unmercifully battered this absolutely defenseless 3-year-old, eventually beating her with enough force to end her life.

"And, unlike many others involved in this case, the jury was not fooled, did not shrug and did not shirk their responsibility."

Ann Edwards, director of the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees CPS, said in a statement issued Friday that Valeeya's murder "is tragic and we all mourn her loss.

"Although we cannot comment on the specifics of this case due to confidentiality laws, CPS has made significant practice improvements since 2008."

Valeeya's murder was among a series of high-profile deaths involving children whose families had been known to CPS. The mounting death toll, reported in a series of Bee stories, triggered numerous outside reviews.

Lynn Frank, Edwards' predecessor in the top job, resigned in 2009 as a scathing grand jury report was about to be released.

This month, the county announced that CPS Director Laura Coulthard was resigning under unexplained circumstances.

While CPS advocates say the agency has improved, despite budget cuts, Savage said the agency was more concerned with helping the mother than protecting Valeeya and her brother.

Savage said the social worker's "personal policy" to announce all visits contributed to CPS never discovering that Martin was living in the apartment – or using it as a haven for his marijuana-dealing business.

"With that ludicrous practice in place, the worker showed the ultimate disrespect to the one person she should have been duty bound to protect: Valeeya Brazile," Savage said.

The judge noted that in 2006, when Valeeya was 2 and sitting unrestrained in her mother's car, Holmes tried to run over a boyfriend.

"That behavior was so outrageous that CPS was given the responsibility of providing 'protection' for Valeeya and her sibling," Savage said. "At least, that's what the agency title implied.

"Based on that car assault alone, rational adults might have appropriately concluded that Mia had forever forfeited her right to act as a caretaker for Valeeya or any other child, for that manner."

Instead, CPS returned the children to Holmes after only four months. The social worker assigned to the case, Alexis Hince, protected Holmes' interests over that of the children, Savage said.

"How in the world could such a thing happen while CPS watched … ?" he asked.

"The case worker in this case testified, 'My job was to help her to get her children back, not to take her children away from her, so my job was to work with her in that goal so she didn't have to be worried she was going to lose her kids.'

"Heaven forbid that Mia Holmes would have had to have a moment's worry about losing her kids."

A 2009 Bee investigation found Hince was one of at least 68 individuals out of 969 CPS workers at the time with a criminal record. Savage said Hince made it clear that CPS knew of her convictions for welfare fraud – one while she worked at the agency. However, the judge said, Hince testified her convictions did not become a problem for her until they were reported in The Bee.

A CPS spokeswoman said Hince has not worked for the county since May 2009.

"It should go without saying that having criminals monitor criminals, especially when children are involved, begs for calamity," Savage said.

Martin sat impassively as the judge, a no-nonsense former prosecutor becoming known for his withering comments at sentencings, described how Martin had wasted his life serving as a baby sitter for Holmes, who was 20 years his senior.

"The defendant, 19 years old and unemployed, spent every day of his life devoted to playing video games, selling marijuana and becoming intoxicated," he said. "He completely escaped the notice of CPS, even though he lived in Mia's apartment every day for months on end."

Courtroom seats filled quickly Friday as five sheriff's detectives filed in and were seated among relatives for both Martin and Valeeya. Before the judge's calm, systematic deconstruction of CPS, Deputy District Attorney Rick Miller brought forward three of Valeeya's relatives to express their anger at Martin.

On one side of the courtroom, where Martin's grandmother and other family members were seated, rumblings of discontent began, and two of the five bailiffs present to keep the peace escorted two men out into the hallway, one of them shouting.

Olga Smith, the little girl's aunt, told Martin he was a "monster."

"I don't know what that little baby could have done to you to make you want to torture her on a daily basis," she said, "to make you want to throw her, to make you want to throw her in the air, to feel her heartbeat, punch her in the stomach, man, and on top of her little head.

"I don't know what would make you want do that. What could she have done to you?"

Eventually, Smith's emotions boiled over and she shouted profanities at Martin, something that often will result in expulsion from court.

The judge did not move to stop her, and Martin feigned boredom.

"It makes you angry," prosecutor Miller told The Bee. "Anybody who looks at this just gets angry."

The entire hearing took just over 30 minutes, and bailiffs escorted the emotional relatives out in groups.

Smith stopped one bailiff and told him, "Go hug that judge for me."

As she left the courtroom, with Martin still seated at the defense table, Smith called out one last message:

"Bye, monster."

Source http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/20/3849750/sacramento-judge-eviscerates-defendant.html

Lisa Holland guilty in son's death; prosecutor calls case 'scarring'

Written by
Kevin Grasha
Lansing State Journal

Lisa Holland was found guilty this morning of murder in the July 2005 death of her 7-year-old adopted son Ricky.

An Ingham County jury that had been deliberating since Wednesday afternoon found Holland guilty of both first-degree felony murder and first-degree child abuse. Her sentencing was set for Nov. 28; Holland faces mandatory life in prison on the charges.

Ricky was reported missing from his family’s Williamston home on July 2, 2005, but testimony in the six-week trial revealed he died the previous evening. His remains were found in a marshlike area near Dansville in January.

After the verdict, a deputy immediately led Holland from the courtroom. She had to be brought back to hear her sentencing date and was in tears when she returned.

Assistant Prosecutor Mike Ferency called the case one of the most emotional of his 21-year career. "I will carry this one for a long time," he said.

Ferency reflected upon the afternoon when he and detectives were led to Ricky's remains, saying they were "scarred for life."

Lisa’s husband, Tim Holland, already has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case and testified in her trial. He asked her to accept her role in Ricky’s death.

After the verdict, Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth said he has no sympathy for the two. "There should be a special place in Hell for both Hollands," he said.

Wriggelsworth complimented the jury, saying it wasn't a "smoking gun" kind of case and that they came to a reasonable conclusion.

Lisa Holland's co-counsel Mike Nichols called the verdict "crushing." He said the prosecution's case, which included more than 50 witnesses and 312 exhibits, was likely too much to overcome for the jury.

Tim Holland’s nephew, Rodney Weston, who was in the courtroom for the verdict, said the family is satisfied with the outcome.

“If I had my wish, none of this would ever have happened, but since it did, then this was justice done,” said Weston, a writer and editorial assistant for the State Journal.

Source: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20061027/NEWS01/61027001/Lisa-Holland-guilty-son-s-death-prosecutor-calls-case-scarring-?odyssey=nav%7Chead

State report finds Casey Anthony 'responsible' for daughter's death

By the CNN Wire Staff
August 12, 2011 5:45 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Casey Anthony is responsible for the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, a report released Thursday by Florida's Department of Children and Families concludes.

A month after a jury acquitted Anthony on murder and child neglect charges, the state agency found that Anthony "is the caregiver responsible for the verified maltreatments of death, threatened harm and failure to protect" in her daughter's death.

Carrie Hoeppner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families, said the report was issued this week as a "professional courtesy" after the sheriff's office and prosecutors finished their work on the case.

She added that the state agency is mandated to conduct reviews when there are allegations that a child dies as a result of abuse, abandonment or neglect. The agency had no contact with the Anthonys prior to the girl's disappearance in the summer of 2008, Hoeppner added.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office will not take any further action as a result of the report, Capt. Angelo Nieves said Thursday.

"This closes out the DCF case, and it does not create additional follow-up on our part," he said.

The report said: "The Department of Children and Families concludes that the actions or the lack of actions by the alleged perpetrator ultimately resulted or contributed in the death of the child." The report was signed by officials in the department Wednesday.

Anthony is now free. While she was cleared on murder and aggravated child abuse charges, the 25-year-old Orlando woman was convicted on four counts related to misleading law enforcement authorities. She was sentenced to four years in jail on those convictions, but was given credit for the time she had already served between her arrest and the end of the seven-week trial and was released from jail in mid-July. Prosecutors cannot appeal the acquittals.

The report does not address, or substitute for, judgments regarding the guilt or innocence of the caregiver -- in this case, Casey Anthony -- DCF spokeswoman Hoeppner said.

The state report found that Anthony's "failure to act" in the 31 days between the time the girl was last seen and when police were alerted about the case "delayed and interfered with a law enforcement investigation and best efforts to safely recover the child."

The agency report noted there were "no indicators" that Caylee's death was caused by physical injury, and it was "not substantiated" that she died of asphyxiation -- both points of great contention during the trial.

An autopsy performed in December 2008 by the local medical examiner determined "that the exact cause of death cannot be determined with certainty." Prosecutors tried, unsuccessfully, to convince jurors that Anthony used chloroform to render her daughter unconscious and then duct-taped her mouth and nose to suffocate her.

In its recommendations section, the report said that "the maternal grandfather" -- in this case, George Anthony -- "should have been interviewed for the missing person report." Casey Anthony's defense lawyer had claimed, in the opening argument of the murder trial, that George Anthony knew Caylee had died accidentally and helped cover up her death.

Casey Anthony had been investigated by the agency, when state child welfare investigators determined on September 14, 2008, that there were "verified findings" indicating that Anthony was responsible for "inadequate supervision and threatened harm" of her child, although it found "no indicators of physical injury."

Exactly a month later, a grand jury indicted Anthony on murder and other charges, and the case was eventually reopened by the Department of Children and Families. No further detail was immediately offered as to why or exactly when the department chose to review the case, or why it came out this week.

The report released Thursday officially closes the department's investigation in the case.

Source Article http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/08/11/florida.casey.anthony/index.html?iref=allsearch

Four Arrested In Death Of Ame Deal Locked Inside Box

Here's another horrible story where everyone, including nosey neighbors, ignored a little one getting abused. What is up with that?

While many people who are not abusing their child are being falsely turned in daily by a menacing ex-spouse or ex-friend, nosey neighbor, disgruntled co-worker and etc., the little girl in this story suffered and everyone watched! No one did a thing to help her, from the people in that house, to the neighbors who reported they saw what was going on - but did not say anything to anyone until little Ame was dead, to the school the child went to and yes, the child's doctor (she had to have vaccinations to go to school,) to CPS - Shame On Everyone!

Children who are truly being abuse send off a vibe that is very easy to pick up on. It can be found in their behavior, in things they say (or don't say,) body language and so on. A lot of people knew Ame was being abused - there is no doubt about that.

Police say the family of a 10-year-old Arizona girl who suffocated to death in of a plastic container locked her inside as punishment for stealing a popsicle from the refrigerator.

Police arrested Ame Deal's aunt, Samantha Allen, and her uncle, John Allen, on charges of first-degree murder.

The girl's grandmother, Judith Deal, 62, and her aunt, Cynthia Stoltzmann, 44, were also arrested and charged with child abuse and kidnapping. Cynthia Stoltzmann was the girl's legal guardian. Family members originally told police that the 10-year-old's death was the tragic ending to a game of hide and seek. They claimed Ame must have climbed into the box to hide and accidentally suffocated.

Police said Thursday that Ame Deal had been abused for a long time, and had been locked in a chest as punishment, according to reports.

Authorities say before being locked in, the girl was forced to run and do other exercises in the backyard, despite nearly triple-digit heat.

Police investigators said the girl apparently had been put in the box at least five times in recent months for misbehaving, and had been beaten with a wooden paddle, forced to swallow hot sauce and to eat dog feces.

Police said the girl slept on the floor of a stall shower in the home with no blanket or pillow as a disciplinary measure for bed wetting.

"This child died at the hands of those who were supposed to love and care for her," police spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump said. "This case has turned the stomachs of some of our most seasoned detectives."

A judge set all four suspects' preliminary hearings for Aug. 8.