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   XPost: alt.abortion, sac.politics   
   From: kamala.harris.ruined@san.francisco   
      
   BENTONVILLE – A jury was deciding Tuesday whether Mauricio Torres should be   
   executed for killing his 6-year-old son.   
      
   The eight men and four women started deliberations on the sentencing Tuesday   
   after hearing instructions from Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren and   
   closing statements from the attorneys.   
      
   The jury found Torres, 53, guilty of capital murder and battery last week in   
   the death of Maurice Isaiah Torres. Isaiah died March 30, 2015, from an   
   infection caused when a stick was shoved in his rectum. A medical examiner   
   listed chronic child abuse as    
   a factor in Isaiah's death.   
      
   Torres could be sentenced to death or life imprisonment without the benefit of   
   parole for the murder conviction. He faces five to 20 years in prison for the   
   battery conviction.   
      
   Torres said in a 2015 police interview he put the stick in his son's rectum,   
   but later testified his son was holding the stick while doing squats. Torres   
   said Isaiah fell on the stick, and it went inside his rectum.   
      
   The jurors saw photographs of bruises and wounds covering Isaiah's body.   
      
   Torres admitted he physically abused his son, but claimed his wife was   
   responsible for most of the abuse delivered to Isaiah. Cathy Torres, 51,   
   pleaded guilty in 2017 to capital murder and battery. She was sentenced to   
   life imprisonment without parole.   
      
   Prosecutors presented testimony at the sentencing from Mauricio Torres' two   
   adult children and adult stepdaughter he physically and sexually abused them   
   as children.   
      
   Mauricio Torres pleaded with jurors to spare his life and not sentence him to   
   death. He also told jurors about being physically and sexually abused.   
      
   Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith described the case Tuesday as   
   an ugly and dark one. He told jurors he is sure some of them will never forget   
   the images and testimony.   
      
   "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not got going to make you look at these pictures   
   again, but they represent the definition of torture," Smith said.   
      
   He told jurors the justice in the case was the death penalty, and he asked   
   each juror to sign the form for death.   
      
   "A just sentence in this case for these crimes is the death penalty," Smith   
   said. "I'm asking you to do justice for an abused and murdered 6-year-old boy   
   name Isaiah Torres.   
      
   Jeff Rosenzweig, one of Torres' attorneys, asked the jury to spare the life of   
   his client. He told the panel any one of them can spare his life because the   
   decision has to be unanimous. Rosenzweig said Torres would spend the remainder   
   of his life in    
   prison and probably never see a child again.   
      
   He said the jury should consider the prosecutors never alleged Torres intended   
   to kill his son.   
      
   "He didn't intend to torture," he said.   
      
   Rosenzweig said it was the jury's responsibility to determine justice.   
      
   Rosenzweig reminded jurors about Cathy Torres denied knowledge of the crime   
   when she testified.   
      
   "Is it fair to execute Mauricio Torres when Cathy Torres was involved?"   
   Rosenzweig asked.   
      
   He asked jurors to consider his client's past. One of Torres' aunts testified   
   about seeing him repeatedly beaten when he was a child. Rosenzweig said Torres   
   suffered from lack of self esteem he was love starved due to growing up   
   without a mother and the    
   abuse he suffered at a child.   
      
   "He could out run his family geographically, but not in his head," Rosenzweig   
   said.   
      
   Rosenzweig said Torres is in his 50s and in poor health.   
      
   "He's a broken wretch of man," Rosenzweig said. "His life is in your hands. He   
   can do good in a prison environment."   
      
   Smith had the final words to the jury. He said the death penalty is reserved   
   for people like Torres who commit monstrous acts.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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