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MATTISYN JOLENE BLAZ - 2 months (8/13) - / Convicted: Father, Matt Blaz- Butte, MT

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MATTISYN JOLENE BLAZ - 2 months (8/13) - / Convicted: Father, Matt Blaz- Butte, MT Empty MATTISYN JOLENE BLAZ - 2 months (8/13) - / Convicted: Father, Matt Blaz- Butte, MT

Post by twinkletoes Thu Dec 18, 2014 4:45 pm

Jury finds Matt Blaz guilty of killing his infant daughter

MATTISYN JOLENE BLAZ - 2 months (8/13) - / Convicted: Father, Matt Blaz- Butte, MT 537e6128628f1.preview-620
Walter Hinick / The Montana Standard
Police officers Tim McMahon, left, and Mark St. Pierre handcuff Matt Blaz in Butte District Court on Thursday after he was convicted of the deliberate homicide of his infant daughter.

May 23, 2014 12:00 am  •  By [url=http://mtstandard.com/users/profile/Angela Brandt]Angela Brandt[/url]



After two hours of deliberation Thursday, a district court jury found a Butte man guilty of beating his infant daughter to death.

Family members of Matthew John Blaz gasped when the court clerk read the verdict.

Right before that, Blaz hugged his loved ones, some already sobbing. He looked fairly calm when he heard the jury’s decision that he murdered his baby daughter last summer.

Minutes later, when a police officer handcuffed Blaz to escort him across the street to jail, Blaz began to cry. Family members screamed and cried as he was lead out of the courtroom.

The scenario culminated a four-day trial that included graphic photographs of a beaten baby, Blaz’s 911 call, and damning testimony by witnesses for the prosecution.

Blaz, 32, could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Judge Kurt Krueger ordered a presentence investigation, and opted to revoke Blaz’s previously posted bond. A sentencing date will be scheduled later.

In closing arguments, prosecutors asked the 12-member jury to find justice for Mattisyn Jolene Blaz, who died after suffering a fractured skull, ripped brain and eye hemorrhages.

Samm Cox, deputy county attorney, told the jurors Blaz and he agreed during testimony that the baby’s murderer is a monster.
“Who is that monster — the 12-year-old or Blaz?” he asked.

Blaz contended a neighborhood boy dropped his child, causing the fatal injuries. Expert testimony regarding the trauma contradicted his claim. The boy Blaz says caused his daughter’s fatal injuries testified Tuesday that he did not pick up the infant and definitely did not drop her. The testimony mirrored the 12-year-old’s original statements to investigators, police said.

Juror No. 6, who spoke to The Montana Standard anonymously, said he found the boy’s testimony compelling and believable.

“We didn’t feel he could take a child and purposely strike her head. And, why would he?”

Prosecutors said Blaz had an alibi already planned when he finally got medical attention for his baby after his wife saw the child, who had suffered from trauma for about six hours at that point. One of the first things out of his mouth when he called 911 was that he thought the boy dropped his baby.

“Matt Blaz wants you to believe that he just couldn’t recognize she was that injured,” Cox said.

Blaz’s attorneys claimed the 12-year-old boy dropped the infant on a glass entertainment center and then put her back onto her blanket on the floor. Later that day, Blaz was with the baby and his wife in a car at a local business parking lot when they called 911 to report the child wasn’t breathing.

Deputy County Attorney Mike Clague told jurors science and the testimony of a state medical examiner disproved that version of the child’s death.

“Every piece of evidence points to Matt Blaz,” he said. “He didn’t want people to see his daughter. He didn’t want people to see what he did.”

In closing arguments, prosecutors showed pictures of Mattisyn Blaz on a respirator at the hospital. Blaz started sobbing when the photo appeared on the screen.

By the time Mattisyn Blaz saw a doctor, she was unresponsive after suffering skull fractures and significant brain bleeding, according to testimony. Blaz and his wife opted to take their baby off a breathing tube, and she died a few minutes later. The emergency room doctor said the infant’s injuries were not consistent with Blaz’s account.

State Medical Examiner Willy Kemp told jurors the infant died from extensive trauma. Kemp said the 10-pound baby’s trauma came from much more than a drop on a carpeted rug. He suspected the child was forcefully slammed against a surface like a wall or floor.

Juror No. 6 said testimony by Blaz’s wife, the mother of Mattisyn, illustrated his history of violence and anger management issues. A month before his daughter’s death, police arrested Blaz for attacking his wife while she was holding the baby. The wife’s testimony about Blaz grabbing her by the hair, pulling her backwards and slamming her head into the floor was similar to what jurors believed happened to Mattisyn Blaz, he said.

A no-contact order stemming from the assault remained in place when he killed his baby.

Prosecutors say Blaz brutally beat his daughter to death in the family’s Arizona Street home on Aug. 16, 2013, and left the wounded infant without medical care for six hours. On Wednesday, Cox asked Blaz why, if he truly believed the boy killed his daughter, he didn’t question the youth. Blaz said that Tuesday in court was the first time he had seen the 12-year-old boy since the day his daughter died.


http://mtstandard.com/news/local/jury-finds-matt-blaz-guilty-of-killing-his-infant-daughter/article_54a4880c-e1f1-11e3-9881-0019bb2963f4.html
twinkletoes
twinkletoes
Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear

Job/hobbies : Trying to keep my sanity. Trying to accept that which I cannot change. It's hard.

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