15802: (Hermantin)Palm Beach Post-Mom's gamble on abuse trial pays off (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Wednesday, June  4

Mom's gamble on abuse trial pays off


By Bill Cooper, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 4, 2003



WEST PALM BEACH -- Rosemanine Saimplice admitted she hit her 4-year-old son
three times with an open hand on his arm. But prosecutors depicted an
out-of-control mother hitting the boy repeatedly with a belt.

After deliberating for 2 1/2 hours, a jury decided Tuesday that Saimplice
disciplined -- not abused -- her son when she punished him publicly for
dropping canned goods in a grocery store and running around a busy parking
lot last September.

Saimplice, who is Haitian and speaks very little English, was found not
guilty of aggravated child abuse and a single count of child abuse.
Saimplice faced up to 35 years in prison if convicted of both charges.

"I'm so happy. Thank you, Jesus," said a teary-eyed Saimplice following the
verdict by a jury of six women. "I would never hurt my baby."

The two-day trial was unusual in that a sheriff's deputy and a Department of
Children and Families investigator testified they found no evidence of child
abuse, yet state prosecutors built their case on four witnesses who claimed
Saimplice hit the boy with a belt hard enough to constitute abuse.

The six-woman jury was unswayed by their testimony.

"I don't know what they were thinking," said Assistant State Attorney Craig
Williams, one of two prosecutors who tried the case.

The two-day trial left jurors to determine whether Saimplice exceeded her
parental right to punish her son by striking him in a Publix parking lot on
Sept. 23. Four prosecution witnesses testified that Saimplice was out of
control and hitting the boy repeatedly with a belt.

But jury foreman Nancy Jackson said the lack of bruises and confusion about
whether Saimplice used a belt left jurors with doubt. It also helped the
defense that investigations by sheriff's deputy Robert Buchanan and
Department of Children and Families investigator Deborah Edwards found no
evidence of child abuse.

"We thought since most of the witnesses indicated there was a lot of force
used, there should have been some marks," said Jackson, who has been a
teacher for 26 years. "The state didn't prove the charges."


Witnesses criticize deputy

State witnesses criticized the investigation by Buchanan, the first officer
to arrive at the Publix at 374 Northlake Blvd. in North Palm Beach. Buchanan
was nonchalant, rude and unconcerned about the safety of the boy, according
to the witnesses, two of whom were Publix clerks.

Buchanan testified Tuesday that he conducted a thorough investigation. He
let Saimplice go home because he found no belt or any bruises on the boy to
suggest he had been abused.

"They were arrogant toward me because I wouldn't arrest Mrs. Saimplice,"
testified Buchanan, referring to the two Publix clerks, Kristen Plunkett and
Kristina Hess.

Later that night, Buchanan inspected the boy and his siblings a second time
at the family's Lake Park home along with Edwards, the DCF investigator.
Both concluded there were no verifiable signs of child abuse.

Oddly, although a sheriff's deputy eventually helped Saimplice beat the
charges, the saga began with Saimplice accusing sheriff's deputies of
leaving her children alone for hours when she was arrested and charged with
child abuse in January. The sheriff's office has denied the accusations.

Prosectors eventually offered Saimplice a deal. If she pleaded guilty, she
could enter a pretrial intervention program that would erase her record if
she stayed free of trouble for 18 months.

She rejected the offer, opting to exercise her right to a jury trial. That's
when the state upped her charges to include aggravated child abuse, a
first-degree felony.

Saimplice's attorney, Robert Guerrier, has said the state attorney's
decision to up the charges was "retaliation" for her wanting to go to trial.

Jurors ultimately believed Saimplice's version of events: That after being
asked to leave Publix because her son was dropping canned foods in the
aisle, she took him outside, along with her two other children, a 2-year-old
and 6-month-old. Romanes, her 4-year-old, then bolted into traffic, forcing
Saimplice, with children in tow, to run after him.

Minutes later, while she was putting her baby into the car seat, the boy ran
into traffic again, where a truck almost hit him. Following this incident,
Saimplice, who testified in her defense, showed jurors how she hit the boy
three times with an open hand on his arm for running away from her.

"All I know is that justice was served," Guerrier said.

bill_cooper@pbpost.com

Mom's gamble on abuse trial pays off


By Bill Cooper, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 4, 2003



WEST PALM BEACH -- Rosemanine Saimplice admitted she hit her 4-year-old son
three times with an open hand on his arm. But prosecutors depicted an
out-of-control mother hitting the boy repeatedly with a belt.

After deliberating for 2 1/2 hours, a jury decided Tuesday that Saimplice
disciplined -- not abused -- her son when she punished him publicly for
dropping canned goods in a grocery store and running around a busy parking
lot last September.

Saimplice, who is Haitian and speaks very little English, was found not
guilty of aggravated child abuse and a single count of child abuse.
Saimplice faced up to 35 years in prison if convicted of both charges.

"I'm so happy. Thank you, Jesus," said a teary-eyed Saimplice following the
verdict by a jury of six women. "I would never hurt my baby."

The two-day trial was unusual in that a sheriff's deputy and a Department of
Children and Families investigator testified they found no evidence of child
abuse, yet state prosecutors built their case on four witnesses who claimed
Saimplice hit the boy with a belt hard enough to constitute abuse.

The six-woman jury was unswayed by their testimony.

"I don't know what they were thinking," said Assistant State Attorney Craig
Williams, one of two prosecutors who tried the case.

The two-day trial left jurors to determine whether Saimplice exceeded her
parental right to punish her son by striking him in a Publix parking lot on
Sept. 23. Four prosecution witnesses testified that Saimplice was out of
control and hitting the boy repeatedly with a belt.

But jury foreman Nancy Jackson said the lack of bruises and confusion about
whether Saimplice used a belt left jurors with doubt. It also helped the
defense that investigations by sheriff's deputy Robert Buchanan and
Department of Children and Families investigator Deborah Edwards found no
evidence of child abuse.

"We thought since most of the witnesses indicated there was a lot of force
used, there should have been some marks," said Jackson, who has been a
teacher for 26 years. "The state didn't prove the charges."


Witnesses criticize deputy

State witnesses criticized the investigation by Buchanan, the first officer
to arrive at the Publix at 374 Northlake Blvd. in North Palm Beach. Buchanan
was nonchalant, rude and unconcerned about the safety of the boy, according
to the witnesses, two of whom were Publix clerks.

Buchanan testified Tuesday that he conducted a thorough investigation. He
let Saimplice go home because he found no belt or any bruises on the boy to
suggest he had been abused.

"They were arrogant toward me because I wouldn't arrest Mrs. Saimplice,"
testified Buchanan, referring to the two Publix clerks, Kristen Plunkett and
Kristina Hess.

Later that night, Buchanan inspected the boy and his siblings a second time
at the family's Lake Park home along with Edwards, the DCF investigator.
Both concluded there were no verifiable signs of child abuse.

Oddly, although a sheriff's deputy eventually helped Saimplice beat the
charges, the saga began with Saimplice accusing sheriff's deputies of
leaving her children alone for hours when she was arrested and charged with
child abuse in January. The sheriff's office has denied the accusations.

Prosectors eventually offered Saimplice a deal. If she pleaded guilty, she
could enter a pretrial intervention program that would erase her record if
she stayed free of trouble for 18 months.

She rejected the offer, opting to exercise her right to a jury trial. That's
when the state upped her charges to include aggravated child abuse, a
first-degree felony.

Saimplice's attorney, Robert Guerrier, has said the state attorney's
decision to up the charges was "retaliation" for her wanting to go to trial.

Jurors ultimately believed Saimplice's version of events: That after being
asked to leave Publix because her son was dropping canned foods in the
aisle, she took him outside, along with her two other children, a 2-year-old
and 6-month-old. Romanes, her 4-year-old, then bolted into traffic, forcing
Saimplice, with children in tow, to run after him.

Minutes later, while she was putting her baby into the car seat, the boy ran
into traffic again, where a truck almost hit him. Following this incident,
Saimplice, who testified in her defense, showed jurors how she hit the boy
three times with an open hand on his arm for running away from her.

"All I know is that justice was served," Guerrier said.

bill_cooper@pbpost.com

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