Raffy's mom pleads not guilty to manslaughter

Trial set for Sept. 28, could be moved back.

Maribel Gomez uttered one word at her arraignment in Grant County Superior Court Tuesday morning:

"Innocent."

With that, Judge John Antosz let Gomez go on her personal recognizance on charges of first-degree manslaughter in the death of her 2-year old son, Raffy Gomez.

Gomez made her first appearance in court since Prosecutor John Knodell made the decision to charge her with the crime on May 12.

Antosz set Gomez' trial for a tentative date of Sept. 28, though her attorney, Bobby Moser, said the date could be pushed back as far as Dec. 15.

Raffy Gomez died on Sept. 11, 2003, one day after Gomez and the boy's father, Jose Arechiga, brought him to Columbia Basin Hospital. According to police reports, Gomez said her son had fallen from a chair while she was feeding him and hit his head.

The case made headlines across the state when it was revealed that Raffy had been removed and returned from Maribel Gomez' care four times by the Department of Social Health Service because of medical reports pointing to child abuse.

Gomez admitted to using cocaine and meth while pregnant with Raffy, and both drugs were found in his bloodstream when he was born.

Knodell argued that Gomez should not be allowed to be around any children because of the seriousness of the charge. Gomez has been allowed to see her other four children every weekend at supervised visits in her home.

But Moser argued that Gomez has cooperated with the investigation fully, including showing up for her court date though she is not being held in custody.

"She's maintained her innocence through this whole thing," Moser said in an interview after the arraignment.

Antosz ruled that Gomez still be allowed her supervised visits. She was booked into Grant County Jail, then released on personal recognizance.

Denise Griffith, Raffy's foster mother from Royal City, sat in the back of the courtroom with friends and family. She has filed a civil lawsuit against both Gomez and Murray Twelves, the social worker who authorized returning Raffy to his biological mother.

She handed a statement to a reporter describing why she filed the suit.

"No other child should ever have to go through what Raffy went through and no other family should ever have to feel the pain that mine has," she wrote.

"I'm glad that she's not going to be in contact with children unless she's supervised," Griffith said in an interview after the arraignment.

Then, breaking into a sob after being asked whether she thought the proceedings were fair, Griffith added, "I don't think there's anything in my mind that can be fair for what she did."