ANNIE LI-BIN - 2 months - / Charged: Father, Hang Bin - Queens, NY

Charges dismissed against mom accused of not getting help for shaken baby

Posted: 2:28 PM, January 2, 2013

Even though she was negligent, she couldn't have saved her shaken baby's life, prosecutors said in dismissing charges today against a Queens mother who was held in Riker's Island jail for four years after failing to get help for her infant who suffered "severe brain injuries," allegedly at the hands of her husband.

Ying Li was facing up to 25 years in prison in the death of her two-month-old daughter, Annie, who died from brain damage which doctors found were sustained from Shaken Baby Syndrome on Oct 22, 2007.

Li, 27, and her husband, Hang Bin, 28 were arrested months later.

Prosecutors dismissed Ying Li's manslaughter case with prejudice based on medical records obtained from doctors at Flushing Hospital who determined that the baby's injuries were "so severe that if immediate medical attention were give it wouldn't have helped save Annie's life."

"The people believe that they could sustain the endangering the welfare of a child charge, but since she spent four years in jail already, it would exceed the maximum sentence of one year if she was convicted," said prosecutor Leigh Bishop.

"In the interest of justice, its best to dismiss all the charges on the indictment."

Ying's attorney Murray Singer said, "Ms. Li's position is and always was that she did nothing to cause injury to her baby Annie Li...she didn't shake, bang or slam Annie accidentally, she did nothing to lead to or result in her death."

Through a Mandarin interpreter, Li had said in court, "I did not do anything to harm my baby, nor did my husband." Sherefused to swear under oath about her innocence.

Ying Li posted $10,000 bail last year when it was reduced from $250,000 after the medical evidence first surfaced, yet, Hang Bin remained in jail without bail for the murder charges.

"The people's case has gone down the sewer," said Hang Bin's attorney, Cedric Ashley. "There's substantial
evidence that other medical injuries were involved...this is a medical case, not a murder case and there was no case against either of them."

Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter exonerated Ying Li's bail.

Ying, who gave birth to their now 4-year-old daughter Angela in jail, was advised not to come to her husband’s pending trial in case she is called as a defense witness.

Jury selection for Hang Bin's murder trial is expected to begin on Thursday.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/charges_dismissed_against_baby_accused_zUcnJV8xWgbPxFdEJhg3PL

FEBRUARY 6, 2013 · 5:29 PM

Quick Hang Bin Li Verdict Devastates



While attorneys on both sides claim partial victories, supporters of Hang Bin Li say they are “devastated” by the mixed verdict delivered last Friday, when a New York jury found Li innocent of murder but guilty of manslaughter in the 2007 death of his infant daughter Annie. The news was especially shocking because no one had expected a verdict so soon.

During nine days of testimony over three weeks, the jurors heard from nine medical experts for the prosecution, including the local medical examiner, a child-protection pediatrician, a pediatric ophthalmologist, a pediatric radiologist, two pediatric critical-care physicians, and a specialist in osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a disease of the bones. All agreed that Annie had died from abusive head trauma. Many said shaking was involved.

Defense attorney Cedric Ashley opened his case last week by calling Dr. Zhongxue Hua, a respected medical examiner from a neighboring jurisdiction. I can’t find coverage of Dr. Hua’s testimony in the English-language press, but I’m told he said that Annie had signs of mild OI and unusual heart findings.

Ashley also called the Lis’ landlady Mrs. Zhou, wrapping up his case in a day and a half. Both sides made closing arguments on Thursday afternoon, and the jury returned its verdict the next day. An outspoken supporter of Hang Bin Li at the time—who has since removed her material from the web—wrote in an email:

Put yourself in the Jury’s shoes. If 9 Medical witnesses for the Prosecution kept denying something, but only 1 Defense Medical witness saying something else. Your mind is unsure, but common sense tells you, “How could all 9 people be wrong, and only 1 person is sober and correct?”

In a telephone interview after the trial, Ashley said his decision to call only one expert witness was not based on limited resources but on his opinion that, among the witnesses in this case, “only two persons had the expertise to determine the manner of death, and those were the forensic experts, the medical examiners.”

Ashley cautioned against drawing any lessons or conclusions from this “nuanced” case, which he said was not about shaken baby syndrome. “The prosecution threw shaken baby syndrome at this couple,” he said, “Our case was about accidental, non-intentional head trauma exacerbated by OI.”

The Li case has received daily coverage in three Chinese-language newspapers in New York, and periodic coverage in the English-language press. The New York Times quoted prosecutor Leigh Bishop’s saying after the trial that the verdict was “perfectly reasonable,” because “we didn’t have enough information about his mind-set at the time he inflicted the injuries” to prove murder.

Reporters Corey Kilgannon and Jeffrey E. Singer wrote about their conversations with the jurors:

Several jurors said that they felt an obligation to see Mr. Li punished for Annie’s death, but that they could not arrive at a guilty verdict on the murder charge because they lacked the evidence to decide that her injuries resulted from a depraved mental state on Mr. Li’s part, a finding required for guilt on that charge.

“We spoke up for the baby and said, ‘You can’t do this,’ ” one juror, Luisito Castro, said.
Ashley characterized the outcome as a partial victory. “He’s not facing 25 years to life,” Ashley told reporters. The manslaughter charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison, and a minimum of 1 to 3 years. Li has already spent nearly 5 years in custody—4 years and 10 months—while waiting for trial.

The Lis have both denied that either of them did anything to harm Annie—and their community agrees. Their defense was paid for by donations from supporters, many of them other Chinese immigrants.

read more:
http://onsbs.com/2013/02/06/quick-hang-bin-li-verdict-disappoints/

MARCH 10, 2013 / NEWS / CRIME & COURTS / FLUSHING
Dad gets max sentence for shaken baby death

The father convicted of killing his 2-month-old daughter in 2007 by shaking her and fracturing her skull inside a Flushing apartment was sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison Monday, the Queens district attorney said.

Hang Bin Li, 28, was acquitted on murder chargers, but was found guilty of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child last month. This week Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter imposed the maximum sentence of five to 15 years on Li. After five years, Li can apply for parole, but if his requests are denied he could serve the maximum time, according to the DA’s office.

“The sentence imposed today is a measure of justice for the defendant’s 10-week-old daughter who was senselessly killed by the person who was supposed to protect and nurture her: her very own father,” District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement. “Instead, she suffered a violent attack and death at his hands. It can’t be stated too often that infants are fragile and must be handled with care. Never shake a child.”

http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2013/10/shakenbabysentence_ne_2013_03_08_q.html

5 years in exchange for an innocent infant's life.  This isn't very just to me.