Moments after letting
Nixzmary Brown's stepfather get off on a murder charge, one of his jurors called the panel's verdict of first-degree manslaughter "a compromise."
How shameful.
Many saw these jurors as the people who would finally bring justice for Nixzmary.
Instead, they brought injustice.
How tragic.
After eight weeks of heartbreaking but conclusive testimony that had them in tears, they managed to once again disrespect the little girl whose painfully short life was characterized only by torture, misery and despair.
Barely alive, this 7-year-old child suffered unimaginable torment at the hands of the two "responsible" adults who were supposed to protect her from harm.
In death, lying cold and alone in her white lace dress in
Brooklyn's Cypress Hills Cemetery, Nixzmary Brown has again been deprived of the dignity she deserves.
How could the jurors not interpret
Cesar Rodriguez's behavior - pulverizing his stepdaughter with his fists, whipping her, starving her, banging her skull so hard it caused a massive head injury and waiting hours before calling 911 - as "depraved indifference to human life?"
That his deeds reflected a "wicked, evil or inhuman state of mind," as manifested by "brutal, heinous and despicable acts," is, to me at least, a no-brainer.
Also in line with the count of second-degree murder, he is as much to blame as someone who intentionally killed his victim.
She was little more than a tiny, fragile baby, but he made no concession.
Squared against this broad-shouldered, hot-tempered bully with his deadly arsenal of right and left hooks, duct tape, bungee cords and belts, she didn't stand a chance.
The conviction on a lesser count means Rodriguez could be released in time to cash his Social Security checks. I shudder to think he may be young enough to father another child - or even to meet any grandkids by his two biological sons, both toddlers named Cesar.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_...nixzmary_judge_must_now_see_that_justice.html
