Attorney mistakes set baby-killer free
At 14, Jorge Bucio of Hamilton entered a state youth prison, judged an adolescent baby killer and designated as Butler County's first ...
At 14, Jorge Bucio of Hamilton entered a state youth prison, judged an adolescent baby killer and designated as Butler County's first "serious youthful offender."
Prosecutors said he hit his brother so hard that the toddler's heart exploded. He was supposed to be incarcerated until he turned 21.
However, a defense attorney's mistakes sent him home early.
On Monday, the 20-year-old man now known as George walked out of Butler County Juvenile Court a free man and without the heinous label.
"You are going to be able to take those cuffs off today and walk out of here a free man," Judge Ronald Craft told the tall, stocky Bucio, who sported a soul patch and faint sideburns. "Hopefully you can put most of this behind you. And make something of yourself."
In December, a federal appeals court in Cincinnati ordered that Bucio be resentenced because his lawyer, Brad Carmella, of Hamilton, didn't do his job in 2004.
Appeals judges ruled that among other things, Carmella had rejected a plea agreement from prosecutors in April 2004 without telling his client that the deal was offered. They ordered Bucio to be tried again in March unless he accepted the original plea agreement.
Bucio took that deal on Monday, exchanging a charge of murder for involuntary manslaughter and a reduced charge of child endangering.
Classification as a serious youthful offender - one that was supposed to keep Bucio in state youth detention until age 21 and hold a life prison sentence over his head if he should ever break the law again - was eliminated as part of the deal.
Ohio's Serious Youth Offender law took effect in 2002 in an attempt to hold violent juvenile offenders accountable for a longer period of time.
In essence, Judge Ronald Craft sentenced Bucio Monday to the time he had served. Officially, Craft ordered Bucio held for at least 18 months and possibly up to his 21st birthday. His release Monday was 10 months shy of that.
A probation officer told Craft that officials with the Ohio Department of Youth Services had recommended Bucio's release. Craft noted that Bucio had graduated from high school with good grades while in youth prison, performed community service, and for the most part had stayed out of trouble.
"Everybody at (state youth services) seems to like you a whole lot. I think you've improved yourself a lot," Craft said.
Bucio said little except for a quick "thank you" to the judge before he left the courtroom.
He was scheduled to board a plane Monday night for a trip to Homestead, Fla., where he would live with an aunt.
Bucio's mother did not attend the hearing. A letter notifying her about the court hearing went unanswered, a victim's advocate told the judge.
She also was charged in the case for leaving her children - age 10, 3, 2 and 13 months - in Bucio's care, knowing the teen had a history of violence.
The Butler County coroner ruled the youngest had died June 16, 2003 after a powerful blow that ruptured his heart. Bucio, who spoke primarily Spanish at the time, first told police the toddler had fallen down the stairs but later said he hit the child with a piece of metal bed frame.
Carmella contended the heart damage was caused when Bucio and his brother tried to revive the boy by violent but unsure attempts at CPR before their mother returned home. Carmella could not be reached Monday.
Federal appeals judges said Carmella's defense of Bucio also was lacking because he failed to hire an expert to refute the coroner's finding. Bucio's statement to Hamilton police also should have been suppressed as evidence, the court ruled, because he was in custody without a lawyer present.
