Jury deliberates shaken baby case in Minnesota
Published 9:59 am Tuesday, November 23, 2010
HASTINGS, Minn. — Jurors in southeastern Minnesota are deciding whether a 24-year-old man caused the injuries that led to the death of his young stepson.
Tylar Hokanson has pleaded not guilty to accusations he repeatedly shook the 17-month-old boy, then refused to get him medical treatment. A 12-member jury in Dakota County District Court began deliberating the case Monday.
Prosecutors allege Hokanson shook his stepson in June 2009, causing bleeding in his brain, a broken back, blunt force trauma and other injuries. Nicholas Miller died several days later at a relative’s house in Pierce County, Wis.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports defense attorney Lauri Traub says the prosecution didn’t prove that Hokanson’s actions caused the child’s death.