Parents Get 10-Year Terms In Scalding Death Of Baby Couple Convicted Of Second-Degree Murder
Ten-year prison sentences were imposed Friday on a couple convicted of second-degree murder in their third trial for the scalding death of an infant daughter.
Gerald and Julie Sousa, convicted late last year in the May 1992 death of their 6-week-old daughter, Brooke, were released on their own recognizance pending appeal.
King County Superior Court Judge Laura C. Inveen ordered them to have no unsupervised contact with children under 10.
The couple were convicted in December after two earlier proceedings ended in mistrials. Jurors were evenly split in the first trial and deadlocked 11-1 for conviction in the second one.
The Sousas said an older daughter, Sierra, then 2, scalded the baby when she tried to give her a bath while they slept.
“All I want to say is that Julie and I are innocent. God knows we’re innocent,” Sousa, 44, told Inveen before she pronounced sentence. “We’ve never blamed Sierra.”
Julie Sousa, 29, made no statement.
Prosecutors contended Julie Sousa plunged the baby into scalding water after the infant threw up on her at bedtime and that Gerald Sousa delayed calling 911 for at least an hour while they came up with an alibi.
Their friends and relatives cheered when the judge rejected deputy prosecutor Patricia Eakes’ call for immediate incarceration.
The judge also rejected a defense motion for a new trial despite her previous rulings of repeated misconduct by prosecutors.
“The prosecutors played fast and loose with the rules,” defense attorney David Allen said. “The prosecutors, I think, feel they have a green light for anything that they want.”
He criticized the prosecutors for their frequent portrayal during closing arguments of Sierra as her parents’ scapegoat, for telling two witnesses about the testimony of others and for accusing Gerald Sousa of trying to bribe a witness.
While the errors were serious, sometimes verging on deliberate violation of court orders, Inveen ruled they were not enough to warrant overturning the jury verdict.
They were, however, sufficient to warrant the Sousas’ release without bond while their conviction is appealed, the judge ruled.
The Sousas’ 123-month sentences are at the low end of state penalty guidelines.