Hawkins found innocent of manslaughter charges in son's drowning

After a sudden but enormous change in strategy, Hawkins, 28, did not take the stand in her own defense. She was charged in the June 2002 death of her 11-month-old son, Dave Scott Crump.

Her attorney, Nelson Faerber Jr., had repeatedly said Hawkins would testify. The drowning in the family's bathtub inside their Immokalee home was a tragic accident, Faerber insisted in his closing arguments, not a criminal offense.

The charge barely survived what's ordinarily a routine defense request for dismissal after the state rested its case Wednesday afternoon. Faerber then consulted with Hawkins, who looked exhausted and unable to contain her emotions after sobbing much of the day as numerous witnesses, including one of her daughters, testified about the baby's death.

The defense rested its case without putting on any witnesses.

"If a child sticks a fork in a light socket, or if a child runs out into the street to chase a ball and gets hit, are we going to drag their parents in here and charge them with first-degree felonies?" Faerber said to jurors in his closing statement.

The question for the three-man, three-woman jury was whether Hawkins' actions were so reckless or careless that she knew or should have known a death or serious injury could result.

Hawkins routinely left the water running in the bathtub while Scott bathed. She kept the stopper out of the drain and out of the reach of children so water wouldn't accumulate.

But on that day, either the 3-year-old sister who bathed with the boy or Hawkins' 7-year-old son may have put the stopper in, Faerber said. Enough water sloshed around the tub to cause Scott to fall and drown.

Hawkins could have faced up to 30 years in state prison if convicted of the one count, aggravated manslaughter.

The jury certainly made Hawkins sweat it out, deliberating almost two hours. Questions the panel posed to the court before rendering its verdict seemed to show they were hung up a long time on whether the child's death was foreseeable and whether Hawkins had allowed her children to use the bath as a "water ride" with no adult supervision.

Prosecutor Steve Maresca argued Hawkins was guilty of culpable negligence, a form of manslaughter, by putting her 11-year-old daughter, Shya, in charge of bathing her siblings while her mother was in a different part of the house doing chores.

"Ten minutes," Maresca repeatedly told jurors in his closing arguments. In her statement to an investigator, Hawkins said she hadn't heard any noise from the bathroom for about 10 minutes.

But she didn't go to find out what was happening until she heard yelling from Shya, who testified she checked on the baby and saw he had fallen and wasn't breathing.

"The bottom line is, this child was put in an unbelievably dangerous situation. She didn't do her job," Maresca said of Hawkins. "She is the adult. She is the responsible one. She is the one who is responsible for giving at least a minimal standard of care."

After hearing the verdict, Hawkins cried in relief. Faerber leaned over and hugged her, and after Hawkins put her head on his shoulder, the attorney told her, "Now you can start getting over this."

"April Hawkins had just lost her child when the government came in and arrested her, took her mug shot and put her in jail," Faerber had told jurors. His client has yet to grieve over her loss, Faerber has said.

Hawkins left the courthouse quickly after her acquittal, surrounded by relieved family members. She was unavailable for comment, other than having thanked Judge Frank Baker, who presided over the trial and told her she was free to go.

Faerber recognized he took enormous but calculated risks by not having Hawkins testify to explain her actions that day. The defense did score a significant victory earlier in the day when the judge ruled jurors would not be allowed to hear testimony about Hawkins' history with state child welfare workers. The Department of Children and Families intervened in the household when Hawkins tested positive for marijuana use after giving birth to the now-deceased child.

Hawkins and Faerber also took a huge risk by turning down a plea offer that would have netted probation and a formal finding of guilt of the manslaughter charge. He and Hawkins turned down Maresca's offer because, while Hawkins is certainly responsible for her son's death, she's not criminally so. They vowed to fight in court.

"This is why mom and dad sent me to law school," Faerber said. "This is what it's all about."