BROOKE LEIGH HART - 4 Months -(2010)/ Convicted: Father; Brian Hart - Lexington Park MD

St. Mary's County authorities have charged a Lexington Park man in the death of his 4-month-old daughter.

The St. Mary's County Bureau of Criminal Investigations said Sunday
that Brian Hart, 21, has been charged with child abuse resulting in death.



Authorities say Brooke Hart was flown to Georgetown University
Hospital last weekend with critical injuries. Doctors were concerned
that her injuries were the result of child abuse.

Brooke died Thursday, and officials say injuries consistent with child abuse were noted during a postmortem examination.

Officials say the investigation is continuing.

A 4-month-old baby girl suffered head injuries and fractured ribs during
multiple incidents before she died last week, police alleged as they
charged her father with child abuse causing her death.
Brian Thomas Hart Jr., a 21-year-old sailor at Patuxent River Naval Air
Station, bowed his head and closed his eyes at a court hearing Monday,
where a judge ordered that he remain jailed in lieu of $300,000 bond.
The dead child's teenage mother pleaded that he be released.
"Brian should be home, grieving with us," Jessica St. Clair, 19, said. "We can't do this without him."
Brooke Leigh Hart was born prematurely March 26, and remained at Johns
Hopkins' neonatal intensive care unit until July 11, when she was
released to her parents at their home in the Glenn Forrest housing area,
according to St. Mary's detectives.
The child was taken to St. Mary's Hospital on Aug. 7, court papers
state, after her mother got home and was told that Hart had attempted
CPR on the child.
The child was transferred to the Georgetown University Medical Center,
where doctors told detectives that the infant "had injuries consistent
with child abuse," according to a statement of probable cause filed by
Cpl. William Raddatz of the St. Mary's Bureau of Criminal
Investigations.
The child died last Thursday, Aug. 12, court papers state, and an
autopsy the next day found seven rib fractures on her left side, three
rib fractures on her right side and head injuries including a subdural
hematoma.
St. Mary's Assistant State's Attorney Julie White said at Monday's court
hearing that the alleged abuse "resulted in massive brain
hemorrhaging."
The progress of the child's healing from the rib injuries showed they
had been inflicted during two separate incidents, at least a week apart,
Raddatz wrote in the charging document, and he questioned Hart at the
hospital.
"He provided a number of bogus stories as to how the injuries might have
occurred," the charging papers state, but the suspect later
acknowledged that the injuries occurred on two separate occasions when
he was caring for the child, beginning with an incident about two weeks
before her death.
"The defendant stated the victim would not sleep, so he picked her up
with great force and he shook her in order to get her to go to sleep,"
the detective wrote in the statement of probable cause. "He stated he
shouldn't have done it, but he shook her and she stopped crying so he
laid her down."
The detective wrote in the charging document that Hart said that on
another occasion, when he hadn't slept and the baby was crying, "he
picked her up forcefully and her head snapped back," and that on Aug. 7,
"he picked the baby up with force, which likely caused the baby to
sustain the most recent injuries." Hart told investigators that he
didn't want to hurt his daughter, according to the charging document.
Hart enlisted in the Navy in late 2008 and has been at Pax River since
April of last year, defense lawyer Megan E. Green of Greenbelt said at
Monday's court proceeding.
The baby, born 24 weeks into her mother's pregnancy, was unable to
receive food and breathe at the same time, the lawyer said, and the
newborn's parents received 48 hours of training on how to care for her.
"The baby was extremely fragile," Green said, adding that her client was
cooperative with police at the hospital and when they later visited him
at his home.
"He knew he was going to be the subject of an investigation. He did not
flee at that time," she said. "He's devastated by this. There is nothing
worse than losing a child."
The lawyer said a Navy lieutenant commander in the courtroom could
ensure that Hart was confined to a barracks at the base until his trial,
and she noted that the child's mother, also in the Navy, and Hart's
paternal grandparents from Pennsylvania also were in the courtroom.
St. Clair said in court that she met Hart last year. "I've never known
him to be a violent or aggressive person," she said. "When [the baby]
was born, he was nothing but attentive. Brian did nothing but take care
of her."
St. Clair collapsed in the arms of Hart's grandmother on the bench where
they sat, as his grandfather also spoke to St. Mary's District Judge
Christy Holt Chesser.
"When it's all said and done, you'll see he's a good boy," the grandfather said.
The judge imposed the $300,000 bond requirement, with a condition that
Hart stay on base if released, after she noted that the immediate issues
were public safety and ensuring the suspect's appearance at trial.
"The court is not going to decide this case today," Chesser said.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month.

A St. Mary's judge slashed the bond requirement Thursday for a child
abuse suspect's pretrial release from $300,000 to $5,000 cash.
"I have no worry about the defendant being here when he's supposed to be
here, … [or] causing any harm to any other member of the community,"
St. Mary's Circuit Judge C. Clarke Raley said at the bond review hearing
for Brian Thomas Hart Jr., a 21-year-old sailor at Patuxent River Naval
Air Station.
St. Mary's detectives allege that Hart's 4-month-old baby girl suffered
head injuries and fractured ribs during multiple incidents before she
died earlier this month.
Brooke Leigh Hart was born prematurely last March, the investigators
report, and she remained at a Baltimore hospital's neonatal intensive
care unit for more than three months before she was released to her
parents at their home in the Glenn Forrest housing area.
The child was taken to St. Mary's Hospital on Aug. 7, court papers
state, and she was transferred to the Georgetown University Medical
Center, where doctors told detectives that the infant had injuries
consistent with child abuse.
The child died on Aug. 12, and an autopsy the next day found seven rib
fractures on her left side, three rib fractures on her right side and
head injuries including a subdural hematoma, according to a statement of
probable cause filed by Cpl. William Raddatz of the St. Mary's Bureau
of Criminal Investigations.
The detective wrote in charging papers that Brian Hart admitted picking
the baby up "with great force" and shaking her to get her to go to
sleep, and in a separate incident, again picking her up forcefully,
allowing her head to snap back.
A court commissioner originally jailed Hart this month in lieu of
$500,000 bond on the charge of first-degree child abuse resulting in
death, reduced last week in district court to a $300,000 bond
requirement.
At Thursday's court hearing, defense lawyer Robert C. Bonsib asked that Hart be released on personal recognizance.
"Under the state's best theory, this was an accident out of an instant
frustration," Bonsib said in court. "It was a unique situation that the
defendant was faced with."
St. Mary's Assistant State's Attorney Julie White said doctors found
evidence of shaken-baby syndrome from the onset when they received the
injured child, including dead brain tissue on one side of her head and
injuries in "different stages of healing."
The prosecutor said the absence thus far of a completed autopsy report does not negate the evidence of what happened.
"We don't need an autopsy report," White said, in light of the other
doctors' reports. "We also have the defendant's confession," she said.
The judge said the case would involve complex medical evidence.
"There is no way that we as judges or lawyers can predict the outcome of this case," Raley said.
The judge noted Hart's "very successful military career," and his
family's willingness to bear the expense of hiring a private attorney.
"That tells me that this man isn't going anywhere," the judge said,
noting that the defense also will have to pay for expert opinions from
its own pathologists. "It's going to cost a small fortune," the judge
said.

Event Type:	Criminal Jury TrialNotice Date:
Event Date:	11/07/2011Event Time:09:30 AM
Result:	Result Date:

http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiryDetail.jis?caseId=18K11000115&loc=66&detailLoc=K

What pisses me off about this guy is if you look at his facebook, he never mentions anything about this baby girl after he killed her.. And yet, now he's having another baby with the mother of the baby he killed..

St. Mary’s baby death case transfered to Navy
County charges dropped at court hearing

Wednesday, Aug. 03, 2011

St. Mary’s criminal charges against the father of an infant who died last year were dropped Monday at a court hearing where a prosecutor said the U.S. Navy has requested that the matter be transferred to its authority.

The father’s lawyer said that afternoon that the military thus far has not filed any charges against his client, and the lawyer expressed hope that none would be filed once Navy officials have completed their review of the matter.

St. Mary's grand jurors indicted Brian T. Hart, now 22, of Lexington Park in April on charges including second-degree murder from his infant daughter’s death last summer, renewing a case that had been dismissed last fall by county prosecutors as they awaited an autopsy report. Both Hart and his wife, Jessica Hart, are in the Navy, according to a letter by the commander of Brian Hart’s squadron.

Detectives alleged in August of last year that the couple’s 4-month-old baby girl suffered head injuries and fractured ribs during multiple incidents before she died that month.

Brooke Leigh Hart was born prematurely in March 2010, the county investigators reported, and she remained at a Baltimore hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit for more than three months before she was released to her parents at their home in the Glenn Forest housing area of Patuxent River Naval Air Station. The child was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in early August of last year, court papers state, and she was transferred to a Washington, D.C., hospital, where she died five days later.

An autopsy on the baby’s body found seven rib fractures on her left side, three rib fractures on her right side and head injuries including a subdural hematoma, according to a statement of probable cause filed by Cpl. William Raddatz of the St. Mary's Bureau of Criminal Investigations. The detective wrote in charging papers that Brian Hart admitted picking the baby up “with great force” and shaking her to get her to go to sleep, and in a separate incident, again picking her up forcefully, allowing her head to snap back.

Hart, originally jailed in lieu of $500,000 bond, was released on a $5,000 cash bond after a court hearing held about 10 days after his arrest, where his lawyer argued that the child's death was at worst “an accident out of an instant frustration.”

On Monday, St. Mary’s Assistant State’s Attorney Julie White presented a judge with the letter written in June by the commanding officer of Hart’s squadron in Oklahoma, which has a detachment at Pax River.

Cmdr. Michael Black wrote to the St. Mary’s state’s attorney that Brian Hart, a master-at-arms seaman, was charged in the civilian court with offenses that could be handled through a court-martial, and that findings in a report by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service indicated “it is in the best interest of the Navy” for the matter to be transferred to its jurisdiction.

The commander’s letter makes a specific reference to the charge of manslaughter, and states that a violation of that offense under the uniform code of military justice carries a maximum punishment of a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and confinement for 15 years. Black’s letter also states that if jurisdiction in the case were not transferred to the Navy, Brian Hart could be “processed for administrative separation” and leave the Navy with no worse than an “other than honorable” discharge.

St. Mary’s State’s Attorney Richard Fritz agreed to the transfer of the case in a return letter last month to the squadron commander, and White revealed that decision at Monday’s court proceeding.

“The Navy very rarely asks us to transfer jurisdiction,” the prosecutor said in court. “The state’s attorney’s office has decided to grant that request in order to continue our good relationship with the Navy.”

Robert C. Bonsib, Hart’s lawyer, said later that day, “I really don’t know what the plans are by the military. My hope would be that they would take a look at this case and decide that Mr. Hart and his wife have been through enough.”

http://www.gazette.net/article/20110803/NEWS/708039669/st-mary-s-baby-death-case-transfered-to-navy&template=southernMaryland

snipped from above article:

Robert C. Bonsib, Hart’s lawyer, said later that day, “I really don’t know what the plans are by the military. My hope would be that they would take a look at this case and decide that Mr. Hart and his wife have been through enough.”


WHAT THE H@LL???? Mr. Hart (the murderer of the dead baby) and his wife have been through enough???!!!! What about the poor baby that was tortured and shook or beaten to death. My god! If they let this guy go, he'll have another baby and shake it to death too. The Navy better prosecute this guy. He admitted what he did so what's the problem?

Sailor sentenced to 12 years for infant daughter’s death
Court-martial ends with guilty verdicts

Tuesday, November 20, 2012
John Wharton, Staff Writer

A sailor from Patuxent River Naval Air Station has been sentenced to 12 years of confinement and a dishonorable discharge, Navy authorities report, at the close of a two-week court-martial following the death of his infant daughter.

Brian Hart, a 23-year-old master-at-arms seaman, also will forfeit all pay and allowances, according to a public affairs director at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., where St. Mary’s detectives took part in the military trial that concluded Thursday afternoon with the jurors’ verdict and their decision on the penalty.

Hart will appeal his conviction for murder and the other charges against him, his lawyer said Monday, adding that the defense stands by its position that the child died from a stroke.

At the onset of the trial, before members of the jury were brought into the courtroom and selected, Hart’s lawyer and a prosecutor argued over a doctor’s changed opinion about the head injuries suffered in August 2010 by 4-month-old Brooke Leigh Hart.

Brian Hart faced a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the murder charge, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Rachel Trest, the lead prosecutor, said at the beginning of the proceeding. By that time, the Navy spokesman confirmed, the sailor’s wife, Jessica Hart, had reached a pretrial agreement with the prosecution that was contingent upon her cooperation in the case against her husband. She is scheduled to return to the military court in early December.

Brian Hart earlier was arrested by St. Mary’s detectives and indicted by the county’s grand jurors for second-degree murder in the baby’s death.

St. Mary’s prosecutors said last year in the county’s circuit court that they were dropping their case against Brian Hart because the Navy had requested that the matter be transferred to its authority.

“I would say that the U.S. military did a very good job, and we should be glad that their judicial system is part of our community,” St. Mary’s State’s Attorney Richard D. Fritz (R) said Monday at his office in the county courthouse.

“Twelve years in the federal system means 12 years,” Fritz said.

Detectives alleged in 2010 that Brooke Hart suffered head injuries and fractured ribs during multiple incidents before she died.

She was born prematurely in late March of that year, the county investigators reported, and she remained at a Baltimore hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit for more than three months before she was released to her parents at their home in the Glenn Forest housing area of Patuxent River Naval Air Station. The child was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in early August of that year, court papers state, and she was transferred to a Washington, D.C., hospital, where she died five days later.

An autopsy on the baby’s body found seven rib fractures on her left side, three rib fractures on her right side and head injuries including a subdural hematoma, according to a statement of probable cause filed in St. Mary’s District Court by Cpl. William Raddatz of the St. Mary’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations. The detective wrote in charging papers that Brian Hart admitted picking the baby up “with great force” and shaking her to get her to go to sleep, and in a separate incident, again picking her up forcefully, allowing her head to snap back.

Robert Bonsib, Hart’s lawyer, said of his client’s conviction and sentence, “Hopefully, there will be some relief through the military appellate process.”

“We’re obviously disappointed at the outcome. We believe that Seaman Hart did not cause the death of his child,” Bonsib added. “We believe it was from a stroke. It was a naturally occurring event.”

http://www.gazette.net/article/20121120/NEWS/711209678/1103&template=gazette