Openings Arguments in Nixzmary Brown Trial

Prosecutor Ama Dwimoh told jurors what 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown's final words were, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" "after being beaten, battered, broken and thrown naked onto a cold wooden floor." Brown's mother Nixzaliz Santiago is on trial for the girl's murder, as the Brooklyn DA's office contends Santiago did nothing to prevent her husband Cesar Rodriguez from delivering a fatal beating in January 2006. Dwimoh added, "She left her to die. Nixzaliz Santiago simply did not care."

Santiago's lawyer Sammy Sanchez, however, said his client "is not a monster," and said Rodriguez, already convicted of manslaughter, was "the real killer. He was the one who masqueraded as a father, as a husband, and turned out to be a killer. Nixzaliz Santiago was also a victim. ... The entire family was victimized by this monster."

Sanchez also painted Santiago as a troubled woman, who insisted on keeping a jar with a miscarried fetus and was also afraid of leaving Rodriguez and retreating back into the shelter system. did admit his client knew Nixzmary was beaten "but said she had no idea that the child was suffering from a brain injury that led to her death," according to Newsday.

The first witness, a police officer who responded to a call hours after Nixzmary died, is expected to testify today. And the Daily News details the make-up of the jury: Two men, ten women; one white, eleven blacks; many have children.

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By Jen Chung in News on September 19, 2008 11:28 AM

Comments [rss]

mihow

Snoopy: Sorry. I didn't read the last paragraph thoroughly (at all?). Makes sense now.

Snoopy

Typo error "want to be judged."

Snoopy

mihow "one white, eleven blacks". I would consider that dark.

I just got finished with Jury duty and I must say I really would not to be judged by those I saw in the jury room. There was a guy sitting next to me reading the New York times and every few minutes he would break out laughing. What is funny in the New York times? On the other side I had some fat Hispanic women asking me where was the best place to eat lunch in the area. She had a map of the area and also a list of the restaurants but she didn't have the slightest idea where she was.

But my biggest surprise was a fat goateed guy that was sitting in the front row who constantly asked questions to the clerk running the show. I didn't realize until the end of the day that the individual was blind. And more surprising, the individual was a woman.

theevilone

One alternate juror already cried and begged to be let off the jury (reported in the Daily News). Can't say I blame her; I think it would be damn near impossible to sit through and listen to what they bastards did this little girl.

mihow

Snoopy: My guess is the defense will play with the battered women angle hence so many women? I am not sure what you mean by "dark", tho.

JacqueMehoff

that's because the whites know how to get out of jury duty and are usually the one's going to the judge to tell them why they should be excused.

but it's also Brooklyn, it's different in Brooklyn.

The ADA's will tell you that.

this story also breaks my heart. an innocent girl whose only crime was being born into the wrong family/color/class (take your pick) while fat cats get fatter.

mihow

I try not to think about the fact that she obviously cared more for a miscarried fetus than her own living breathing child.

I won't say what I really want to say, but I will say this: There's no way I'd have been picked to be on her jury.