Key questions put in charges in assault case

The Spokane County prosecutor’s office moved Wednesday to amend charges in a child-assault case to comply with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting stiffer-than-standard sentences.

The court said last month in a Grant County, Wash., case that only a jury can give a defendant a longer-than-standard sentence unless the defendant agrees.

Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Johnson filed a motion in Spokane County Superior Court to amend charges against Danette R. Zaring, who is accused of nearly killing a 23-month-old girl in January by angrily throwing her into a playpen at the day care Zaring operated.

Zaring, 36, would still be charged with first-degree assault of a child, but Johnson’s proposed new charging document would ask a jury two additional questions.

If a jury finds Zaring guilty, the panel also would be asked to decide whether two aggravating factors existed.

One of the factors, which previously could have been decided by a judge, is whether Zaring violated a position of trust. The other is whether the victim was “particularly vulnerable and incapable of resistance due to extreme youth.”

A hearing on whether to allow the amended charge is scheduled Sept. 3 before Judge Sam Cozza.

If the change is allowed, and if a jury convicts Zaring and agrees the crime was aggravated, Johnson could seek a sentence longer than the standard 7 3/4 to 10 1/4 years in prison.