Holdgrafer's attorney wants trial relocated
Relates to:
Date: 2012-01-15
Andrew woman is charged with child endangerment resulting in death after her 4-year-old adopted son drowned in June.
BY MARY NEVANS-PEDERSON TH STAFF WRITER
MAQUOKETA, Iowa -- Danielle Holdgrafer's attorney Friday asked a judge to move his client's trial outside of Jackson County and to have her tried separately on similar counts.
Judge Marleta Greve said she would review all arguments and issue rulings in two to three weeks.
Holdgrafer, 30, is charged with child endangerment resulting in death and two counts of child endangerment causing bodily injury. The Andrew mother had been charged with drowning her 4-year-old adopted son in June, but that charge was dropped after her husband, Andrew Holdgrafer, 31, died in September of a heart attack. He also had been charged with child endangerment resulting in death.
The slight, pony-tailed defendant looked on the verge of tears several times in Jackson County District Court as her court-appointed attorney explained his concerns with trying her for all three counts in the same trial.
"There will be a spillover effect on the jury, which might not be able to make an independent assessment," on each charge, said Philip Ramirez, referring to allegations that Holdgrafer not only abused her dead son, Colin, but also abused and neglected his older adopted brother, Darrian.
The state argued that all evidence of alleged abuse should be heard in a single trial and would not prejudice a jury.
Ramirez also asked Greve to allow a change of venue for his client's trial, saying that media coverage of her son's death included prejudicial statements by her dead husband that she had "held her son's head under water and had known about the abuse and neglect."
"Those are in the public now, but (since he is dead) they cannot be challenged," Ramirez said.
Jackson County Attorney Chris Raker argued that media coverage of the case was "largely informative" and not inflammatory.
"The defendant has not proven that we can't sit a fair jury in Jackson County," Raker said.
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Adoption and Drowning ...
After caring for her since birth until she was 4 years old with experts saying I gave exemplary care, my grandniece was suddenly removed with false allegations for which I won my case. However while I was fighting the false charges, CPS adopted this child in a quickie adoption to parents who were strangers to this child and had just 6 months before had LOST THEIR OWN 18 MONTH OLD TODDLER IN A DROWNING in their back yard in an unprotected, adult-sized swimming pool! This baby had been in the pool more than 10 minutes when found, meaning she had been out of the sight of an adult for at least 15 minutes.
What responsible parent allows a baby out of their sight for even a minute? Parents who were still in bed at 10:00 in the morning with 4 kids in their home around a pool with no protection, two of whom were toddlers, that's who.
So they permanently placed this child with people, who under CPS' own laws and policy is placing her in "imminent danger", after jerking her from the only mother she knew who was giving her good, loving care. THEN they advised the adoptive parents to flee the state (WA), knowing of their false allegations. Because removing them to another state (NV) would complicate their disgusting decisions and remove an embarrassment from their radar.
I am sure the parents are in mourning and sorry about their negligence. But it IS criminal negligence, and to even consider that"replacing" their dead child with another, especially so soon like she is a doll, is beyond the pale. I cannot bear to look at it, but my kids say on their Facebook page are hundreds of pictures of their little natural darlings, and ONE of this newly adopted child. Looks like their "replacement" is not so treasured or considered anything when I loved her as my own.
Once this child caught a glimpse of me after being removed and wailed and cried for hours, begging them to let her go to me, but hey, there is money to be made, CPS ignored it and tried to blame ME when THEY brought her to where I had no idea they would bring this child and where I was told by them to be. They knew well of the permanent trauma they had inflicted on this child, they knew what they were doing to her ~ and I saw ENJOYMENT on their faces while hearing this little child's agony.
But hey, there is lots of Title IV money to be made as there is also the raiding of TANF, Food Stamps, and Medicaid from desperately poor families from whom they can then go in and harvest even more kids for "neglect and maltreatment", so who cares, right? Just as long as those consultants, judges, attorneys, CASAs and CPS workers get their funding and those nice worker bonuses!
Cat in Seattle