Father Accused by the State of Child Abuse Causing Death Found Innocent of All Charges
Stockton, California (PRWEB) January 23, 2014 -- A father accused of beating his two year old son to death in Stockton was found not guilty November 27 on all five counts, including child abuse resulting in death, by a jury in the San Joaquin Superior Court. Peter and Carin Johnson of The Law Offices of Johnson & Johnson in Walnut Creek, California represented the father, Mr. Tushambi Evans, during a grueling three-month trial that began in September 2013, and saw testimony from 30 witnesses.
The jury heard sworn testimony during the months-long prosecution that law enforcement only considered the mother’s unreliable statements, as well as an admission that the San Joaquin County Medical examiner had failed to review the child’s medical history in reaching a faulty conclusion the father had somehow caused the injuries to Tushambi Evans, Jr., aged 2.
“Only after we had presented to the jury medical records documenting the pre-existing condition of young Tushambi Jr., did the jury hear facts that law enforcement and the Medical Examiner had incompetently ignored,” said defense attorney Peter Johnson. “Sadly, it was the child’s undiagnosed health issues, and not abuse to a son Mr. Evans loved very much that resulted in his death.”
“We’re gratified that the jury took their duty seriously, waited to hear all of the evidence and soundly rejected the DA’s accusation Mr. Evans had deliberately harmed his own son,” said Mr. Johnson. “It was a failure of medical experts in their rush to ignore the truth of this little boy’s condition that was the real injustice,” said attorney Carin Johnson. “But it would have been an even greater injustice if Mr. Evans had been found guilty of a crime he didn’t commit,” added Ms. Johnson.
“We feel that in the wake of the jury’s decision, the San Joaquin District Attorney’s office needs to seriously reconsider their reliance on the type of medical professionals they use, and a practice of ignoring evidence that contradicts their case,” said Mr. Johnson.
Following the jury’s verdict in the People v. Evans, case number SF119970A, San Joaquin Superior Court Judge Terrance Van Oss ordered Mr. Evans released. After spending over a year in state custody, Mr. Evans rejoined his family as a free man.
Peter Johnson, Law Offices of Johnson & Johnson, http://www.jjlaw2.com, +1 (925) 952-8900, [email protected]
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