Crime, Kids, Media and Journalism

Criminally Yours: The 'Baby Hope' Case And Freedom Of The Press

Will this reporter be forced to give up the details of her conversation with the defendant?

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justice-handcuffs-e1372182679824-300x286A fascinating case focusing on the 1991 murder of a child once known only as “Baby Hope” is revving up in New York criminal court.

Her small corpse was discovered tucked into an ice cooler off the Henry Hudson parkway more than two decades ago, but it wasn’t until 2013 that police were able to arrest someone alleged to have done the killing.  The man charged with the crime is Conrado Juarez, the child’s second cousin.  Juarez was identified with the help of a DNA match of the child’s badly decomposed body to DNA deposited on an envelope from the girl’s mother. This led police to identifying her and other family members who gave them information about Juarez.  It’s a fascinating example of how small clues can lead to big results in a cold case.

Upon his arrest, Juarez gave a videotaped confession to police admitting the crime.  His criminal defense attorney, Michael Croce, asserts the confession was involuntary.

Details of the case are lurid.  Baby Hope (now known to be Anjelica Castillo) and her sister were left by their father, a Mexican immigrant, in the care of cousins in Astoria, Queens.  Juarez was among those relatives.

After leaving the children, the father never returned. The children’s mother in Mexico also never contacted the family.

Meanwhile, money and time were scarce for the cousins in Queens.  Juarez’s sister, Balvina Juarez Ramirez, is said to have cared for the children; however, corporal punishment, like tying Angelica to a chair if she misbehaved, was not uncommon.

Upon finding her body, police determined that Angelica had been asphyxiated and sexually assaulted.  She was found naked in a fetal position, undernourished, hands tied together in prayer position.

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Juarez made two statements when arrested.  The statement he made to police will be the subject of a fierce suppression hearing to determine whether it was voluntarily given, post-Miranda warnings.  The other statement was made to a New York Times reporter, Frances Robles.

The statements differ in relevant ways.  While in both statements Juarez acknowledged his involvement with the disposal of the body, in the police statement, he admitted smothering the child, while in statements to Robles, he said his sister had told him the girl fell down the stairs and that she needed his help disposing of the body.

The case is in the news this week because Judge Bonnie Wittner ruled that Robles could be compelled to testify at the murder trial about the full details of her interview with Juarez.

Robles is protesting the decision.  Through her lawyer, she claims the conversation she had with Juarez is subject to “shield law” protection, which, to varying extent, protects a journalist from revealing sources and other information gained through interviews.

While New York has a blanket shield law or “absolute protection” for information acquired “off the record,” also known as “confidential news,” Robles is subject only to “qualified immunity” because the source of her information is known and the information was not per se confidential (N.Y. Civil Rights Law 79-h(c)).

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Qualified protection means she could be compelled to testify, but only if the prosecutor convinced the judge that the reporter’s testimony was “critical or necessary” to prove its case.

The judge ruled in the People’s favor this week.

There is absolutely no forensic evidence linking Juarez to the murder.  All the prosecutor has to prove its case are Juarez’s two statements — one to police, the other to the reporter.  (Juarez’s sister is now deceased and there may be no other witnesses available.)

Even though the two statements don’t jibe on several issues, the court ruled they are “critical and necessary” to judge Mr. Juarez’s credibility in general.

“This case virtually rises and falls on evidence surrounding all of the statements Juarez made,” said lead prosecutor Melissa Mourges in court papers.  The judge agreed.

The attorney for Frances Robles will seek an interlocutory appeal from the Appellate Division, but if the trial court’s ruling is upheld, the case could be tried as early as the fall and Ms. Robles will be made to answer “questions directly relevant to her reporting the defendant’s statements including those testing her memory and fluency in Spanish,” Judge Wittner wrote.

If Robles still refuses to appear or testify, she could be held in contempt of court and potentially jailed until she changes her mind.

Toni Messina has been practicing criminal defense law since 1990, although during law school she spent one summer as an intern in a large Boston law firm and realized quickly it wasn’t for her. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a journalist from Rome, Italy, reporting stories of international interest for CBS News and NPR. She keeps sane by balancing her law practice with a family of three children, playing in a BossaNova band, and dancing flamenco. She can be reached at tonimessinalw@gmail.com or tonimessinalaw.com.

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