"Newborn John" DUBAS - 7 Weeks - York (W of Lincoln/ N of McCool Junction) NE

The child-abuse case of a 23-year-old York man has been forwarded to a trial court.Court records say Dustin Dubas
(DOO'-buhs) is charged with intentional child abuse resulting in
injury. Authorities say Dubas injured his then-7-week-old son in
late January.
Records say Dubas had been alone with the child on Jan. 21 when the boy began projectile vomiting.
The
vomiting began again on Jan. 30 and the boy had seizures. He was taken
to an Omaha hospital. Court records say a doctor there determined the
boy had head injuries that were suffered from one to three weeks earlier
and were not the result of an accident.
Dubas has no publicly listed phone number. His attorney did not immediately return a call Tuesday.
Dubas' next court hearing is set for Monday.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/York-man-headed-for-trial-on-child-abuse-charge-1594218.php#ixzz1TETPppDI

Plea in abatement held in child assault case

By News-Times Staff
Published: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 1:12 AM CDT

YORK — An attorney for a 23-year-old York man argued on Monday that his client’s case should have never been bound over to District Court, in which he is accused of seriously injuring his 7-week-old son.

Dustin Dubas appeared in York County District Court for a plea in abatement hearing.

Dubas was arrested in March and charged with child abuse resulting in serious injury, after the infant was hospitalized in January.

Local police were contacted by a social worker at Children’s Hospital in Omaha where the baby was an emergency patient.

Doctors said the infant’s “condition was caused by something other than seizures and that the seizures in fact were a result of non-accidental head trauma.

The child was found to have bilateral subacute subdural hematomas, as well as areas of hypoxic ischemic injury to his brain.

“In addition, he was found to have bilateral retinal hemorrhages and a possible healing rib fracture. (Doctors) estimated the injuries sustained by the child to be subacute (approximately 1-3 weeks old), concluding that this constellation of findings is most consistent with abusive head trauma and not the result of an accident.”

It’s alleged that Dubas was alone with the baby when acute vomiting had first started. After a trip to a local medical clinic, the baby seemed to improve, according to the child’s mother.

However, after the baby had been allegedly alone with Dubas, again the vomiting started and when the mother returned home after a night of work, the baby was seizing.

The mother of the child also told police that during the ride to Omaha, Dubas allegedly told her that “if they find anything that it will come back on us,” and that he discussed the possibility of brain damage to the child.”

Omaha doctors said “the swelling brain and fluid in (the baby’s) head, along with the seizure activity, could be consistent with head trauma occurring 1-3 weeks prior to being transported to Children’s Hospital.”

Dubas has been formally charged with a Class 2 felony, which carries a possible maximum sentence of 1-50 years in prison, if convicted.

Dubas’ attorney, Douglas Stratton, told the court that “there was insufficient evidence to make a proper bind over.

The evidence during the preliminary hearing, from the pediatrician, centers on four symptoms. If you go through the time frame for each, you will realize there’s no exclusivity that he was the only one who could have caused them.

The doctor couldn’t say if this was a result of shaken baby or one blow. And if you go over the time frame, you will see there were four individuals who cared for the child and the most care came from the child’s mother.

“My client recognizes that everyone is pointing their guns at him and he didn’t talk to officers,” Stratton continued.

“The police department says they interviewed the other people who said they didn’t do it — so they eliminated them. He’s made no admission to it.

To me, it would seem the prime suspect would be the mother. And at no point did the mother says she saw (Dubas) hurt the child in any way. There isn’t sufficient evidence to bind this case over.”

York County Attorney Bill Sutter disagreed. “I invite you to look closely (at the transcripts from the preliminary hearing).

We had to show there was a crime committed and there was sufficient evidence to bind him over (as the suspect). We more than adequately did that.

The county court judge was correct in binding this case over.”

The matter was taken under advisement.

http://www.yorknewstimes.com/articles/2011/10/04/news/doc4e8a8a52bbdf4849658821.txt