Gomez denies abusing her son

Claims Raffy hurt himself

EPHRATA — Maribel Gomez told a Grant County judge her version of events leading to little Rafael "Raffy" Gomez's death, denying ever kicking, throwing or burning her son.

Raffy's father, Jose Arechiga of Ephrata, also took the stand Thursday in Grant County Superior Court. Arechiga, who was not home when Raffy sustained head injuries leading to his death in September 2003, is not charged in connection with his son's death.

Gomez was called to the witness stand, wearing her green prison jumpsuit, by Moses Lake defense lawyer Bobby Moser during her non-jury trial. She's charged with homicide by abuse and first-degree manslaughter, stemming from what prosecutors contend was an escalating pattern of abuse leading to 2-year-old Raffy's death.

Gomez, 32, of Ephrata, maintains she's innocent and because she waived her right to a jury, Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz is going to decide if she's right. Gomez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, faces up to 26 years in prison if found guilty of homicide by abuse. The manslaughter charge carries an eight-year sentence.

Gomez has five other children, all in foster care.

Raffy spent more than half his life in foster care with Bruce and Denise Griffith in Royal City and never suffered an injury requiring medical attention.

While living with Gomez, Raffy suffered broken bones, serious, repeated injury of his shoulders, numerous bruises and abrasions.

Grant County Deputy Prosecutor Carolyn Fair told Antosz Thursday the prosecution rests its case. The trial started Feb. 12.

Antosz denied a motion brought by Moser seeking dismissal of the charges against his client after the state completed its presentation of evidence.

Moser argued prosecutors did not show enough to prove Gomez is responsible for Raffy's death.

"The timing of the injuries is so unclear," Moser said.

He questioned whether his client was present when they occurred.

Prosecutors claim there's no question Gomez is the perpetrator, arguing against Moser's motion to dismiss.

According to Gomez's testimony Thursday, a broken femur Raffy sustained in December 2002 was an accident, the boy slipped on a wet floor.

Gomez, through Spanish interpreter Jeremy Chambers of Ephrata, said the blistering burns dotting Raffy's left hand were sustained when he pulled a hot bowl of chicken soup off the kitchen table.

The couple never took Raffy to a doctor to treat the burns, opting to "cure" them at home.

Gomez claimed Raffy exhibited abnormal behaviors, pinching himself, pulling his hair and throwing himself down. Raffy ate too much and didn't seem to experience pain normally, she said.

"He was aggressive with the other children," Gomez said. "He'd hit me, slap me."

"Did you do anything about his behaviors?" Moser asked his client.

Gomez claimed she frequently reported the self-destructive behaviors to doctors and social workers.

"I wanted to hold him in my arms all the time so I could avoid him hurting himself," Gomez said.

The mother began crying as she described how he received his final head injury. Raffy threw himself backward, twice, as he stood and ate in the kitchen, hitting his head on the kitchen floor each time.

"He would always eat and eat and eat … then he would throw himself down," she said. "This happened the majority of the time."

Arechiga, who testified before Gomez through an interpreter, said he told his son not to throw himself backward. He claimed Raffy picked scabs and pinched himself. Arechiga saw the behaviors with his own eyes, he said.

Fair asked Arechiga how Raffy could suffer an injury as serious as a skull fracture — Raffy had four — while in his birth parents' care.

"An accident can happen to anyone," Arechiga said.

A fractured tibia — the bigger bone of two in the lower leg — Raffy suffered was the result of an accidental fall off the porch, Arechiga testified. But Arechiga wasn't there when it happened, he said.

Fair accused Arechiga of changing his story about the tibia injury, after speaking with Gomez at Samaritan Hospital. The prosecutor said Arechiga and Gomez kicked a Spanish interpreter out of a hospital room to discuss the injury, before answering questions from medical staff.

One doctor after another during the last three weeks, prosecution witnesses, testified it's very unlikely a child could accidentally break either their tibia or femur. A child with both injuries is suspicious, they said.

Neither doctors treating Raffy, social workers monitoring him nor his foster parents ever witnessed the abnormal or self-destructive behaviors his birth parents described.

Key defense witness Dr. Janice Ophoven, of Minnesota, told the court by phone Thursday, Raffy was the victim of chronic child abuse. Ophoven, a pediatric forensic pathologist, is scheduled to testify Monday. Gomez's trial was delayed to ensure she testified. Her opinion of Raffy's death is crucial to Gomez's defense, Moser said.

Ophoven said Raffy's death is an unusual case.

"The autopsy findings are unique," she said.

She said the manner of death is undetermined.

In addition to Ophoven's testimony next week, prosecutors plan to begin cross-examining Gomez.