ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Buffalo man who appealed his conviction for the death of his girlfriend's child has had that decision overturned.
The Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department ruled the evidence was not strong enough for retired State Supreme Court Justice Penny Wolfgang to find Raymond Gonzalez guilty during his non-jury trial back in 2016.
Court papers say Gonzalez was not arrested until March 2015 for the death of his girlfriend's 13-month-old son who died in May 2010. Gonzalez had spent some time alone with the toddler on May 2 when the child became unresponsive. He was rushed to the hospital and declared brain dead and taken off life support the next day. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head.
His attorney says the evidence didn't really change when the case went cold and that there were just some small inconsistencies in his statements.
"There wasn't any breakthrough. It just was the same evidence that existed at the time of the incident, and it just wasn't enough," says attorney Erin Kulesus.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn is not happy with the decision. Flynn and the Buffalo Police Department had to call the baby's mother to tell her the news.
"When I see someone who is going to walk out of jail now for killing a 13-month-old baby, I can only say to myself that, and ask the question, how was justice done here?" says Flynn.
"The police, at the time who followed the medical examiner's findings and only investigated the day of the death, now turns out that they did not investigate the day before, and that really like a C.S.I. episode, really came to unravel the credibility of the case in the eyes of the majority of the Appellate Division," says attorney Barry Covert.
D.A. Flynn says his office is reviewing all possible options, but Covert, who was not involved with this case, says he doesn't have any.
"For very technical sound reasons, there is no chance the Appellate Division will take this case. This case is gonna go back down to the Supreme Court, it will be dismissed, there are no other options that the District Attorney has, this criminal case is dead," says Covert.
The defense attorney says in the coming weeks, once they get a certified order from the court, Gonzales will be released from prison. He can't be tried for this crime again. Gonzales was in the middle of serving a ten-year sentence.
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