LOS ANGELES : Father Acquitted in Death of Infant Son
A Los Angeles man was acquitted this week of abusing and murdering his infant son, after a jury failed to believe the mother’s claims that the defendant repeatedly kicked and smothered his child.
Chester Carter sat motionless Wednesday as a Los Angeles Superior Court clerk read off not-guilty verdicts to single counts of second-degree murder and child abuse and two counts of corporal injury to a child.
The bearded 41-year-old, who had been in jail since his son Daniel died Aug. 18, 1991, thanked the jurors as they filed past him and out of the courtroom.
The jury deliberated five hours Tuesday and Wednesday before reaching a decision in the two-week trial before Judge Morris B. Jones.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Amy Suehiro based her case on the mother accusing Carter of causing the injuries that eventually killed the baby. Jurors said they did not believe her testimony. The unmarried couple and child lived in a Wilshire District apartment building.
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