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The lawyer relied on the fact that a 4-year-old boy was starved to death at home, and his father was acquitted??!
On August 17, 2021, a children's hospital in San Antonio, Texas, United States, urgently admitted a young patient.
His name was Benjamin Cervera, he was not yet five years old and had lost consciousness when he arrived at the hospital.
Strangely, he was covered in bruises of varying degrees, looked very haggard, and was extremely thin. In addition, he was wearing diapers, which is unusual for a child who is just over a month away from his fifth birthday.
(Photo of Benjamin before his death)
The paramedics immediately performed CPR on him, but unfortunately, Benjamin died a few minutes later.
At the same time, a nurse suspected that he had been abused during his lifetime and reported the situation to the police.
The local police department immediately sent investigators to the scene, and after a preliminary understanding of the situation, they named the child's father, Brandon Cervera, as a suspect.
But Brandon said that all the injuries on his son's body were caused by his son's self-harm, and claimed that the family had videos on their mobile phones as evidence.
(Brandon, father of the child)
However, the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office, which conducted an autopsy on Benjamin, gave a report that showed that Benjamin's injuries were not self-inflicted injuries but were the result of physical abuse.
However, these injuries were not the cause of his death.
The medical examiner eventually concluded that Benjamin had been starved to death.
Kimberley Molina, the chief medical examiner, confirmed that Benjamin weighed only 12.7 kilograms at the time ·of his death and that he had not grown in height for 10 months. He died with almost no fat in his body and no food found in his digestive tract.
The police immediately launched an investigation into Brandon, and indeed found a series of brutal evidence of Benjamin's mistreatment in his apartment......
(Benjamin's photo)
The police first discovered that the refrigerator, kitchen cupboards, and pantry doors in Brandon's apartment were locked, and later determined that this was to prevent Benjamin from coming into contact with the food. In addition, Benjamin's bedroom door had a lock on the outside, apparently to lock him in the house.
To keep an eye on him, the family also installed cameras in the kitchen as well as in his bedroom.
(The food storage area at home is locked)
The poor child also lived in a terrible environment, he shared a bedroom with his brother, but he was the only one in the family who did not have a bed and could only sleep on a broken mattress soaked with urine at night.
(Benjamin's bedroom)
And that's not even the most worrying.
Suspected of abusing Benjamin with Brandon was his 25-year-old stepmother, Miranda Casarez, ·.
The police pulled up the video from Miranda's phone, as well as the surveillance footage in the apartment, and found a lot of evidence of Benjamin's humble begging.
A video shot in early 2021 shows Benjamin going to the kitchen in the middle of the night to look for food, but after the locks were placed on his home, it became increasingly difficult for him to find food.
(Benjamin hunts for food late at night)
Another video shows Benjamin tearfully begging for bread and water, his body shaking uncontrollably, but Brandon threatens him with punishment for continuing to do so. Helpless, Benjamin sat in the back seat of the car and punched himself in the face......
(Benjamin cries for bread)
Other videos also show Benjamin crying in his bedroom begging for water and milk, but the door is locked tightly. Sometimes he would rummage through the apartment for leftovers and pick up food from the trash cans.
He was forced to use his hands, eat bread crumbs from the bathroom floor, and drink hand sanitizer before crying for water and saying he had a burning sensation in his body.
(Benjamin picks up leftover food)
In addition, the police also found some text messages exchanged between Brandon and Miranda on their mobile phones, which also indicated that they were abusive.
At one point, Brandon informed Milan that Benjamin "didn't need to finish eating". When Miranda said that Benjamin had been begging for food all day, he only asked her to give Benjamin some bread to eat.
(Benjamin picks up leftover food)
Among the many pieces of evidence, there is one that is particularly poignant.
One video was filmed a few days before Benjamin starved to death, with his baggy clothes hanging over his body, his hands clasped tightly to his chest, and asking with humble taste: "Daddy, can I eat bread?" ”
It's a pity that he didn't get his father's mercy......
(Benjamin)
There is real evidence in front of them, and Brandon and Miranda are to blame for the child's death, and they are all accused.
Miranda's case was first concluded in April this year: she was sentenced to 25 years in prison for negligently causing serious bodily harm to a child.
(Stepmom Miranda)
During the trial, Miranda repeatedly found reasons to excuse herself, saying that she only made those videos to seek Brandon's help, and later asked for leniency, tearfully expressing remorse for her actions, and saying that she was in great pain after the child's death and had suicidal thoughts at one point......
But her miserable sale failed to win a trace of sympathy.
Benjamin's brother testified that Miranda had indeed abused his brother, forcing him to eat hot sauce and hand sanitizer and throwing his body in the air without catching him. Prosecutors also found that Miranda had exchanged text messages with her mother about refusing to provide Benjamin with food.
These all played a key role in securing the conviction, and in the end, the jury reached a guilty verdict after only an hour of deliberation.
Today, Miranda has been imprisoned to atone for her sins. She tried to appeal, but failed......
(Miranda was sentenced to 25 years)
After Miranda was imprisoned, the spotlight naturally turned to her father, Brandon.
He was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to a child, a felony of the first degree. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
Finally, on September 24 this year, his case began to be heard. It had been three years since Benjamin's death.
However, to everyone's disbelief, after a seven-day trial and nearly seven hours of deliberation, he was acquitted......
(After being acquitted, Brandon was moved to tears)
This brings us to the surprise "defense strategy" of Brandon and his lawyers, Jody · Jodi Soyars, who tried to overturn the autopsy report from three years ago and categorically denied that Benjamin had starved to death.
Lawyer Soyers first explained Benjamin's size, saying that he was born prematurely and had always been skinny. He also said that he had seen more than 10 professional doctors before his death, but none of them recommended that he see a dietitian, implying that he was not malnourished.
As for the cause of death, Soyas claimed that Benjamin was suffering from an underlying disease, and blamed the autopsy results given by the medical examiner Kimberly · Molina for not being complete enough to rule out other causes of death.
In order to prove her case, she also invited two medical experts to testify in court.
（图右：律师Jodi Soyars）
第一位是来自犹他州的退休法医:埃里克·克里斯滕森(Erik Christensen)。
He reviewed Benjamin's emergency room records and the autopsy report from medical examiner Kimberly · Molina, concluded that Benjamin did not die of starvation, and suggested other possible causes of death, including asphyxiation, seizures, heart problems, and untreated diabetes.
The second was Dr. Daniel ·Gebhard from the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the University of Texas Health San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio).
He also denied that Benjamin died of starvation, saying that he did not appear to be a "very sick" or "cachexia" child (an extremely low amount of fat and muscle) as described in the autopsy report. "The boy had some degree of dehydration and weight loss, but none of it was fatal."
He also suggested other possible causes of death, such as swollen brains.
In addition, Gebhard showed photographs of his two sons and his nephew playing football, with several of the children's ribs visible, arguing that some children are born thin and that not all underweight children are malnourished.
(Brandon)
Taken together, lawyer Soyers argues that "Benjamin was starved to death" is not a fact, and accuses the forensic medical examiner, Kimberly · Molina, who came to this conclusion, of only reviewing the items that the local police "handpicked" for her.
"The law enforcement system is just trying to find someone to blame. They deliberately seek out abusive behavior. ”
The reason for this is that on July 20, 2021, a few weeks before Benjamin's death, the police had visited their home for a welfare check.
According to the police footage, Benjamin was already in a very bad state at that time, with a shriveled body and clearly visible bones, and he kept asking Brandon for cookies, but Brandon just told him to wait until the end and didn't give it to him.
In addition, there were obvious bruises on his body, especially at the moment, which took on a terrifying purple color.
But when questioned by the police, Brandon and Miranda said that Benjamin had a problem with his own behavior, often self-harming, and poking his eyes and ears.
(Benjamin has bruises under his eyes)
The police really didn't pursue it further, didn't ask Benjamin and his brother for their opinions alone, and didn't take any action afterwards, missing the precious opportunity to save the poor boy.
(One of the police officers attended the trial as a witness and expressed great remorse.)
Many of those who follow the case have blamed the local law enforcement system for partly being responsible, and attorney Soyers has seized on the lever to try to portray Brandon's accusations as a "premeditated."
In addition, she has repeatedly hinted that Miranda is to blame for all this, questioning that the unexplained bruises on Benjamin's body were caused by her while Brandon was not at home. It is also suspected that she had done something to Benjamin on August 17, 21, before he was taken to the hospital. "And Brandon has no way of knowing, so it's not his fault."
As for Brandon's text message telling Miranda not to give Benjamin dinner, lawyer Soyers interpreted it out of context, saying that he said he wouldn't give dinner to the child because the child had already eaten a whole loaf of bread.
However, all of these were dismissed by Michael Villarreal, a ·prosecutor from the Beale County District Attorney's Office, especially a series of statements that "Benjamin Bin did not die of starvation."
Villarreal first denied Daniel · Gebhard's arguments, saying that although he was a medical expert, he was not a forensic doctor and was not qualified to comment on Benjamin's autopsy.
Another Christensen, a former medical examiner, is not reliable in his judgment. One is that the Utah Medical Board was not certified when he was a medical examiner, and the other is because he was paid for his involvement in the case.
Christensen also admitted that he had worked 30 hours on the case and had been paid $18,000, not including the cost of testifying. Villariel said bluntly: "This guy is in it for the money." The implication is that his testimony is not credible.
(Michael Villarea)
Villarreal then reiterated the horrific experience of Benjamin at home, including being watched by cameras, being forbidden to touch food, and his apparent weight loss, all indicating that he was deliberately starved to death. "As a father, Brandon deserves to be held responsible."
But lawyer Soyas disagreed, and the two sides insisted on their own words and argued.
Eventually, the scales tipped in Brandon's side. On Wednesday night, 12 jurors were acquitted after nearly seven hours of difficult deliberation.
The moment he was acquitted, the 31-year-old Brandon burst into tears, and lawyer Soyas put his hand on his back as a comforting note.
(Brandon can't hold back his tears)
However, this look of injustice did not impress the people who paid attention to the case.
The vast majority of people disagreed with this result, feeling that Brandon should be punished:
"The stepmother was sentenced to 25 years for failing to protect the child, and the father who starved the child was punished nothing? If the way he treats his children does not involve crime, then how can a stepmother be guilty? It doesn't make sense at all, this kid will never wait for justice. How could anyone think he was innocent after watching those videos and photos? ”
(From Dailymail comment section)
Some people also said that even if Benjamin really died of other diseases and ignored the health of his children, as a father, Brandon still has an unshirkable responsibility and should not be acquitted.
But that's it. As for why he and Miranda treated Ben Mingjie like that, I'm afraid it will never be known...... (Shishijun)