So really, What trial was jury watching? I know all parties invovled in this, this adds insult to injury not only to what has already happened to Ava, but to also say he did nothing wrong. This jury constist of 12 morons!

Another loss for Dwight Scroggins - boy isn't he a sharp one.

this must have been another slam dunk case where scroggins was soooo sure he was going to get a conviction he didn't include any lessor charges. kind of like not charging kerns with child abuse or endangerment, but wasting taxpayers money on charging the parents. face it dwight, you aren't more powerful than GOD as you claim. your bullying is wearing thin. time to retire.

12 jurors could not find evidence to prove him guilty. This is our system in the USA (unlike our foreign neighbors). For those who don't like the system, register to vote, become a juror, work on changing your local government, get involved with the party of your choice.

As a friend of the natural father and having met Ava personnally, I'm appalled at the outcome of this trial. As a parent myself, I can tell you a 30" fall off a vanity is not consistent with the injuries Ava sustained. That little girl will forever be a prisoner in her own body while that monster roams free. I hope his guilt eats him alive!

couldn't find evidence to find him guilty of assault, if mr. scroggins didn't have such a big ego, he would have charged mr. blinde with lessor charges. those would have given the jury an option.

i agree with everything you are saying. justice wasn't done, blame the prosecutor not the jurors. the rich's were told that chris kerns case was a slam dunk case by mr. scroggins, they would have like him to have been charged with not only 2nd degree murder, but with child endangerment, and child abuse. but, mr. scroggins had his own ideas about how the case would go, and his office almost lost that case as well. i really feel badly for the family of ava. i know what the rich family went thru.

I believe the jury did not have the backbone to give a just and right punishment to someone who is so selfish and brutal. Someone who beat a little girl so severe that she will never be the same. Such a "big man" and such a lame jury.

Unless you sat throught the trial and heard all the evidence yourself you should not be condemming the jury. If you've ever been on a jury trial you know how hard it is to determine the outcome especially the way the law is written. Remember it is innocent until proven guilty. If Scroggins did not provide enough evidence for the jurors to say 100% he was guilty then they are suppose to go with not guilty. Instead of blaming our jurors we need to thank them. I know as a parent I would have not wanted to sit through a case like this.

the jury could only convict on the evidence they received and the instructions given by the judge. i am sure he is guilty, kerns beat caden to death, the jury didn't believe he murdered caden, they believed he just lost it. the rich's were told by the attorney general that wrote the appellate brief, it's hard to convince a jury that someone would intentionally kill a 17 month old. to assault them should have been a different story.

i am not blaming the jury, i am blaming scroggins. he obviously did not charge this case correctly. and that was all the jury had to go on.

Even one tiny spec of doubt is enough to aquit someone. Don't blame the jurors unless you sat through every second of that trial. You can blame the procecutors. Where was their overwhelming evidence? I agree that lesser charges should have been included.

Which would you rather believe:

1. A young man and woman were in love, planning to marry, and a horrible accident occurred injuring a her child, while in the care of her fiancee. The local officials, high on the ride from several child deaths, charged the fiancee with an unthinkable crime. A little girl is now in a wheelchair, and the two who were once in love are torn apart, as are their families. Full of anger, hurt and unforgiveness.

2. A young man and women were in love, planning to marry, and the young man assaulted her child, and ruined his life. The dream of a life together forever gone. The jury found him innocent, but the family maintains he is guilty. The community has mixed feelings, many thinking he is guilty, just as the unrelated cases which proceeded him.

I get the feeling, nobody here thinks it was an accident.

Why did you erase my post News Press? Don't wanna know what I would do to that scum bag? Let me ask you all this. How come the gui;ty can appeal a sentence but double jeopardy thwarts any chance of a retrial? That man is guilty of something. I'll say it again, he better hope he doesn't come acrossed me...

amen

The prosecutor and the chiefs have about the same offense. None. The jury has to make a decision (beyond a shadow of a doubt) by the material they are presented. This was an easy field goal for the win, prosecutor failed the system - just as the chiefs are failing their fans. The sad thing is that a child and family has to live with the results of carelessness - while someone runs free.

the mom is my 2nd cousin...Ive known Ava since she was born..this is terrible..i cant believe that she will always be in a wheelchair and the guy that did it will be able to hurt more people..it makes me sick and furious..just because she didnt die like the other poor children have..she doesnt get any justice..Thanks Mr. Scroggins you just lost the most important case of the year! Youve permentaly hurt our whole family..and the jury..thats your fault too..you picked 'em..

to ava's family, i am so so sorry. believe me i know how you feel. there has been no justice for any child in this county. blame the prosecutors office, not the jury. they can only decide on what evidnce they are presented. your family is like ours now, the person that hurt your precious baby will not be on any list for abuse or anything else, so when they do this again, no one will know they have done it before. it's horrid. at least in our case they can look his name up on casenet and see that kerns was convicted of a felony, in your case it will be wiped from the system. if dwight objected to evidence that was allowed in or something along those lines, they can appeal. blinde should have been charged with a second count of child abuse just as kerns should have been. when the prosecutor only has headlines to get and a point to prove, this is what happens. kerns just recently began his prison sentence. there is no justice for children in this county. something needs to change.

I have no idea who this guy is and I can not imagine something happening to my child like this. I would just be sick. All we can do at this point is pray that this truely was some kind of freak accident and it never happens again to another child. I do question if this guy had such a bad temper why would a parent leave their child with him. Don't you usually know these things before you marry a person.

no, now you sound like joyce estes who is a counselor. they had to commit some type of violence before. tried to make my daughter say that kerns hit her, he never did, however he did abuse another child in 2000 which dfs let drop. so do they have monster written on their forehead?

that last comment was to fanofsports.

rxyrch-
You can not compare the two cases. I agree the other case had a history of abuse but also that child was not to be in custody of the mother or boyfiend. That is a red flag right there.

This verdict sickens me. In this day and age of technical wizardry, it's impossible to find anyone guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." Common sense no longer prevails. Children are silent victims at the mercy of jury instructions and boughten expert witnesses. No one speaks for them anymore - not even the law. Men who bully the innocent should pay - let the civil trial begin.

daydreamer-
Very well said and you are correct.

i can compare the two cases, what you have stated is not true, but you can believe what you want. there is no difference. the only prior abuse, was with kerns and the case in 2000. there was no history of violence between heather and chris, not history of violence with kerns and his own child, never touched caden in front of us, in fact just the opposite. the case was over when heather had caden, and chris was never mentioned. but we aren't talking about my daughter, or kerns. what we are talking about is neither of them will be on any list stating they have abused a child, so they can do it over and over again until something tragic happens like it did in both cases. our system has to change, DFS has no business investigating anything, that should be left to professionals, the police. and they should be allowed the same access to records dfs is allowed. if so, my grandson may still be alive.