April 1, 2002

Barber child abuse case reviewed by Florida court
___By Barbara Denman
___Florida Baptist Convention
___COCOA, Fla. (ABP)--Florida's Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a Baptist church day-care worker imprisoned in 1999 for child abuse.
___Ann Barber, a former day-care worker at First Baptist Church of Cocoa, Fla., was convicted of one count of abuse after two children under her care were diagnosed with shaken-baby syndrome. A separate trial on charges stemming from the other incident has led to three mistrials.
___Florida's high court has agreed to review a lower court's ruling that prosecutors can use her conviction in the first trial as evidence in the second. Barber's lawyers, meanwhile, are asking the Supreme Court to throw out that conviction, arguing that evidence from both cases was improperly used against her in the trial.
___"Praise God," said Barber's husband, John. "We had been told by our attorneys that there was only a slim chance the Supreme Court would take it. We have all been praying so hard, and God has answered our prayers."
___John Barber is associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Cocoa. Ann Barber worked at the church's day care until two children allegedly under her care were diagnosed with shaken-baby syndrome. While Barber claimed innocence, prosecutors convinced a jury that for both children to suffer similar injuries at the same time was too unlikely to be a coincidence.
___John Barber still contends the medical evidence doesn't support the state's theory. He says his wife was convicted on "coincidence and not evidence."
___Friends of the young mother of two have continued to protest her conviction and raise funds for her defense.
___Since her conviction, medical experts have reviewed evidence used to convict Barber and testified that the injuries likely happened before the children were placed in her care.
___The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments most likely in early summer. Barber's attorneys have prepared a legal brief for the justices to read. The prosecutors will submit their brief in response to the initial arguments. Then the defense will be given an opportunity for rebuttal. The court will review the documents, hear arguments and issue their decision in the case.
___The court has no deadline to consider the case, but the Barber family is hopeful that a decision might be issued by late summer.
___A fuller account of the Barber family's ordeal was published in the Standard's Oct. 15, 2001, issue.


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