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Des Moines Register - Opinion Page
March 5, 2000
Another Side to Heidi Anfinson's Story
A family member
questions her conviction in baby Jacob's death
by Bob Krause
I am Jacob Anfinson's uncle. I have some hard questions for
you, citizens of Iowa. Please be honest with
yourselves. If
you are reading this, you no doubt are familiar
with Jacob's
story.
Jacob was 2 weeks old when he died in 1998. His
parents, Heidi
and Mike of Des Moines, initially reported
Jacob missing, but
later that night Heidi led police to Jacob in
shallow water
near Saylorville Lake. Heidi has always
maintained Jacob
drowned in his bath at home.
What followed was a painfully one-sided media
barrage of the
case. In our legal system, defendants cannot
say anything to
the media or they will be shredded in court
where anything can
be used against them. Prosecutors have all the
evidence
collected by police, medical examiners, etc.
They can
release information to build a great emotional
groundswell.
In the weeks and months after it was alleged
that Heidi
drowned Jacob at the lake, did you believe it?
Why? Because the state of Iowa said so? Was
Heidi hideous in
your mind? Does that fit our society's
cornerstone of justice:
"Innocent until proven guilty?"
Now, this may be a leap for some of you
affected by the
one-sided, negative portrayal of the case, but
imagine Heidi
was your sister or in-law or daughter. You grew
up with her.
Since toddler age you could always tell if she
was lying.
I contend your answer to the following question
is absolutely
tied to knowing the person involved:
Which is a more outlandish scenario: (A) A new
mom gave the
baby a bath. She left the baby unattended,
returned to find
the baby drowned, panicked and tried to hide
the body to make
it look like a kidnapping? Or (B) A new mom
waited on a
perfect September Sunday for her husband to
leave, then
hustled the newborn up to Saylorville, cut him
with a knife
30 feet from a busy recreational-area road and
drowned him in
the lake? Pretty much on a whim.
Life does not have easy, pat answers.
Option B is easy for prosecutors, but does it
sound plausible?
The state of Iowa says so. The Davenport jury
in Heidi's trial
bought it. (Heidi's first trial in Polk County
ended in a hung
jury. A second trial in Scott County ended last
month in a
jury convicting her of second-degree murder.)
Was it right though? Is your sister, in-law or
daughter more
likely to be an Option A or an Option B person?
I have never seen in the news or the trials
this fact: Not a
single person has come forward to say anything
about Heidi's
personality that would make her turn on a
child. There is
nothing there. Heidi was a 10-year waitress and
manager at
upscale Jimmy's restaurant in West Des Moines,
working until
her eighth month of pregnancy. I'm sure she
knew hundreds of
people from that job. No one came forward with
anything
negative.
Did you see on TV the tight ensemble of Heidi's
family and
friends sitting behind the defense table? How
many supporters
did you see behind Polk County attorney John
Sarcone and your
state of Iowa's prosecution table? Zero, unless
you count the
press. Absolutely no one who knows Heidi
personally thinks she
is guilty.
STANDING BY HER
Jacob Michael's arrival was the proudest moment
in Mike and
Heidi's life. Mike was devastated, doubting and
confused in
the first days after Jacob's death. But ever
since Heidi was
released on bond and Mike could talk with her,
he has been her
staunchest supporter.
People are amazed when I tell them Heidi and
Mike have stayed
together in their home throughout this whole
17-month ordeal.
Heidi and Mike have two living parents and nine
siblings. If
any of them suspected she intentionally harmed
Jacob, wouldn't
they be furious? Heidi's mom was forced by the
prosecution to
testify against her. Mike's sister was forced
by the
prosecution to testify against her. Neither one
even hinted at
any foul play.
Just minutes before the verdict was read that
could have (and
did) put her in prison for life, I saw Heidi
refuse to sneak a
paper cup of coffee into the courtroom (as
others had) to sit
with her family. Why? Because a paper sign was
posted saying,
"No food or drinks". Nobody asked to her to
follow that tiny
rule. No one was even there to enforce it, but
she drank in
the hallway. And we citizens of Iowa think this
woman
butchered her baby and deserves 50 years? Good
God!
Heidi's two trials were filled with scientific
evidence: four
pathologists (coroners), wildlife experts and
police
investigators. I saw all but one day and took
extensive notes.
I think the average Iowan would be shocked to
know how inexact
a science pathology is. I was. My gut now tells
me we have
wrongly sent people to prison whenever the
forensic evidence
is a large part of the case.
I will not debate all the evidence here.
Obviously that is a
week's worth of testimony. But I can cite an
example. Four
pathologists could not agree on the key
question of the trial:
Did Jacob drown at home or the lake? Of course,
the two defense
pathologists said at home and two prosecution
said at the lake.
But none of the pathologists could rule out
that they were
wrong about where the drowning occurred.
REASONABLE DOUBT?
So what is reasonable doubt? Four pathologists
can't agree on
where Jacob drowned nor can they agree on what
factors make
them think so. If you were on trial, wouldn't
you want that
lack of consensus to be reasonable doubt about
the basic facts
of your case?
One technical fact is worth examining for
credibility of the
State's case. There were others in the trial
but this is
simplest to explain. Polk County Medical
Examiner Francis
Garrity performed Jacob's autopsy. The other
three pathologists
who testified relied on his results to arrive
at their
testimony.
Dr. Garrity found two kinds of alcohol in
Jacob's body. He
concluded that the alcohol was present BEFORE
Jacob's death
AND contributed to it. Preposterous, isn't it,
to think Heidi
was giving her newborn rubbing and grain
alcohol? The three
other pathologists, including the state's
celebrity witness
flown in from New York (twice, at taxpayer
expense), all
disagreed with Garrity. They stated alcohol is
commonly
produced in bodies AFTER death.
Why would Garrity, who surely knows all about
alcohol formation
in bodies, choose the far-fetched conclusion
that alcohol
contributed to Jacob's death? Did Garrity, who
is by law
supposed to be a neutral party, fairly
interpret the autopsy?
Or was the government's case being padded?
WHAT WASN'T REPORTED
It was recently reported that Heidi was offered
a plea bargain,
which she turned down. Her sentence would have
been 17 years,
rather than the 50 years she was just given. It
was not
reported that Heidi turned down the plea
bargain because the
state of Iowa wanted her to lie and say Jacob
was alive when
placed in Saylorville.
People presume torture is not allowed in this
country. But can
you imagine having to choose between doing 17
years for a crime
you did not commit or facing a jury that may
very well put you
away for life - again for a crime you did not
commit? Heidi
tried to hold out for truth and now is paying
with her life.
The earliest she can be released is age 83
under current law.
My last image of Heidi as a free woman is not
in the courtroom
waiting for the verdict. For that, she wore her
"public face"
-- quiet, drawn, unemotional. Quite like the
inflammatory word
"flat" that prosecutor Sarcone prodded his
witnesses to say in
court. Witness after witness used that unusual
term, contending
that Heidi's demeanor was "flat" with the
police. As in
uncaring, disinterested, heartless toward
Jacob.
Do they know she has public and private faces?
Did they even
bother to find out? I doubt they care about
such matters of
truth.
My last memory of Heidi won't leave my ears. An
hour before
the verdict, seven of her family and friends
gathered in an
1850s church. Just two blocks from the
courthouse, it was
built from rustic limestone but hid a delicate
Catholic
interior. There were six or eight people
scattered about in
quiet prayer. We instinctively split apart to
various crannies.
The church was beyond quiet. Every piece of
grit on our soles
reverberated. Ten minutes later, soft sobs
started far behind
me, growing louder into wet, untamed sobs
before God. Not
before the TV cameras, not before the police,
not before
Sarcone representing the state of Iowa. What an
excruciatingly
intimate glimpse into someone's soul.
WOULD YOU?
Many eyebrows were raised because Heidi did not
call 911 when
Jacob drowned at home. Many proudly boast, "I
would certainly
call 911." Are you so sure of your reaction to
tremendous
stress?
I was at a formal church wedding where the
bride loudly
giggled through the whole service. Why do some
people freeze
when a car is about to hit a child but others
leap to snatch
the child? Reactions can't always be explained.
Are you sure "that woman" murdered her baby?
Beyond a
reasonable doubt?
Heartbreaking letters and notes have been
written by this
grieving family, including an 8-year old friend
who is trying
to fathom why "Aunt Heidi" is in jail. Jacob
was loved so
deeply, it's hard to express. Heidi's sister
writes, "I cannot
have children. Jacob was a part of me. I
kneeled on his
grave on Christmas Day and sang carols to him.
His grave has
seen more pain and tears than I thought
possible. Heidi went
nearly every day."
STATE'S ARROGANCE
If no one in the family who loved Jacob called
for charges to
be filed against Heidi, if the family has long
since forgiven
Heidi of any lapse in judgment when bathing
Jacob on
Sept. 20, 1998, how can the state of Iowa be so
arrogant as to
destroy the lives of Heidi and Mike? Has
Sarcone ever been to
Jacob's grave to mourn him?
Think back in your life. Did you ever do
something dumb that
could have ended in true disaster? Mold it a
little and then
put yourself on trial. Here's the criteria:
Nobody can be
there to corroborate your story. Put yourself
on very little
sleep (breastfeeding, perhaps) so you're not
thinking very
clearly. Make a few dumb decisions. Then, for
whatever
reason (your choice), go ahead and cover up the
problem
instead of admitting it.
After police read you your rights, feebly ask
for a lawyer,
but allow police to interrogate you ALONE on
tape, eight hours
after your disaster. You have not slept in 18
hours nor talked
with your family. There. The "facts" are set in
stone.
It's on tape.
Now get someone to believe what really
happened.
And pray to God for mercy -- because you won't
get it from the
citizens of Iowa.
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