Monticello Live

At 3:15, Wednesday, the jury returned and sentenced Victoria Pedraza to the maximum sentence of 20 years in the Arkansas Dept. of Corrections.

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2 pm UpdateThe afternoon session started with Victoria Pedraza’s psychologist taking the stand, who discussed her 4 mental evaluations and her PTSD.

He spoke about battered women and “Why didn’t she get out of there?”

He then compared “battered woman syndrome” to “shocked dog” syndrome, and Victoria’s treatment to “tortured prisoners” throughout history.

When asked about his evaluation, he agreed that his interpretation was based on what she, and others, had told him.

At 1:35, the defense rested their case.

 

Judge Bynum Gibson read the sentencing instructions to the jury, at 1:40. He also gave the jury the option of putting her on probation for 5-20 years, as an “alternative sentence.”

The closing arguments began at 1:45, and ended at 2:20, when the jury went into deliberations.

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1 pm Update

The prosecutor cross-examined Pedraza, introducing the green rope and 3 photos into evidence.

He asked the defendant about the child’s punishment, from both Daniel and herself.  She was asked about previous punches to the child’s abdomen, and recalled 2 of them.

He asked Pedraza why she moved back in with Daniel, after he’d been so abusive to her daughter.  After a few other brief responses, the defense rested its case.

As the jury left for lunch, the defense asked the court to give the jury directions about the option of probation as a sentence, which was agreed to by Judge Gibson.

At 1 pm, Victoria’s psychologist took the stand.

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11:45 Update
Victoria Pedraza contnued by telling the court how Daniel would punish Aubriana with military push-ups and holding chair-position against the wall.  She then told how he hit the child in the top if the head with a folded leather belt.

She told of the times he held the child’s head under a water faucet and the abuse she saw her mom receive.

The Friday before Aubriana was killed, Daniel had whipped Victoria with a belt. He later kicked her, while she was in the fetal position on the floor.

Later that night, Bree had to stay awake all night. When Daniel woke up during the night, she was sitting down. He tied the green rope (that was found in the closet) around her waste, so that if she sat down it would pull on his wrist.

Late that Sunday afternoon, Daniel whipped the toddler with a belt and punched her twice in the stomach area, once because she had left a wet spot on the floor. Victoria realized that Bree was vomited, so she tried to clean the child up.

She continued by telling that Daniel then tried to treat her by using the egg and tomato healing ritual.

Daniel became upset that Bree wasn’t breathing right, and called his mother.

Victoria told the jury the she saw her daughter take a breath, but not ket it out. After awhile, she said Daniel let her call 911, and told her to make up a good story to tell the EMTs.

The defendant then told of the emergency room visit, and being told that it was too late to save the child.

She told about her 4 different statements she made to police, and her lawyer showed photos of the belt marks on her, when she arrived in jail

Pedraza told about testifying against her husband, and cried as she described dealing with the death of her daughter.

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10:30 Update

Dr. Jacobs, the ER doctor that day, was called to the stand at 9:40.

He testified that the infant was already in rigamortis, when she arrived at the emergency room.

He also recalled Victoria being distraught and saying that she should’ve done something sooner.

At 9:45, Pedraza began her testimony, describing her life before and after high school graduation and after joining the national guard. She also discussed Bree’s dad and showed the jury photos of Victoria and Aubriana.

She also told about her relationship with Daniel, and about the Electric Cowboy incident, when several of their friends sneaked off of Ft Chaffee. This was described as the first time Daniel ever hit her. “We both had been drinking quite a bit.” She did not press charges.

Victoria went on to describe her “first beating,” recalling that neither had been drinking. She told the court that she learned to not fight back, since it only made things worse.

Pedraza then described daily beatings and threats about what would happen if she left.

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9:45 Update

Court resumed at 9 am Wednesday. as the defense called a lady from Warren that had used Victoria as a babysitter.

The next witness was a mental health therapist who described her issues dealing with the death of her child, her abuse from her husband, and being in jail.

The prosecution had the therapist read a section from one of her reports where Victoria was being abused by Daniel in November of 2011, before they married in February of 2012 (the month that Aubriana was killed).

The court took a recess at 9:20

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End of dy report, TuesdayAround 2:30, Victoria’s grandmother was called to the stand.

When asked if she know Daniel Pedraza, she replied, “Oh, yes,” which led to a spectator being removed from the courtroom after a comment and/or laugh.

The couple stayed with her for a few months, before she got tired of Daniel “scolding” Aubriana.

She especially recalled a puppy that Daniel had gotten for Victoria, but wouldn’t let Bree play with.

 

A national guard recruiter, a friend and former supervisor of Victoria testified next. Defense asked him about his friendship with Victoria.

The prosecution asked him if he knew that she’d pled guilty to permitting the abuse of her daughter, and if he had any personal knowledge about the events relating to the child’s death.

 

A longtime friend of Pedraza was called at 3 pm, who told about an incident at an Applebee’s near Ft Chaffee, where several friends were drinking, and she saw Daniel pull and shove on Victoria, while intoxicated.

She also recalled an incident at the National Guard barracks, after they had left a Little Rock bar, when Daniel punched Victoria in the face.

Another friend took the stand at 3:10, followed by a cousin at 3:25.

The jury was dismissed at 3:30, to return at 9:00 in the morning.

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DCSO detective Tim Nichols was called at 1:00.

Nichols testified about Victoria’s testimony on March 3, when she told investigators that Daniel had punched Aubriana in the stomach, around 7-8 pm the evening before she died.

She told officers that Daniel had step in a wet spot from an “accident” Bree had on the floor.

Nichols was asked to explain, using the court’s video system, the evidence in the home, upon their first appearance.

He pointed to a trash can, that contained bile, vomit, and a bloody rag.

He also described an egg, a tomato and bottle of Dasani “holy water” that were used for Aubriana’s healing.

During defense cross-examination of Nichols, he was asked to clearly specify which interviews Victoria attended with Daniel, and which ones he wasn’t present for.

The state rested their case at 1:45.

At 2:15, the defense began their presentation by calling the county jail administrator, who testified about probable whipping marks on Victoria’s body, at the time of her arrest, and her mental health visits.

At 2:25, another jail employee was called to the witness seat, to confirm that he moved Victoria to an interview room, when Daniel was here for court.

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1 pm Update

At 11:20, an EMT who responded to the scene took the stand, describing, the
appearance of the home, Victoria’s explanation for the child’s injuries, and why
she suggested the ER call for an investigator, while on the way to the
hospital.

At 11:30, an ER RN testified about the child’s appearance,
injuries, and abdominal bruising.
The Arkansas deputy medical examiner
was sworn in at 11:40, after listing the cause of death as blunt force
traumas.
He specifically described how a hard blow to the child’s abdomen
had caused her duodenum to rupture, when compressed against her spinal column .
The court recessed at 12:05 for lunch.

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11:30 Update

Prosecution opening statements began at 11:00, with deputy prosecutor Crews Puryear telling the jury that the abused minor was more than a “minor”, but instead a child named “Aubriana” and called “Bree” by her family.

He described how Victoria Pedraza, made up, and repeatedly told the false story of how her child fell off of a boat ramp at the lake.

Around 11:10, the defense attorney told the jury panel about how Victoria’s husband of 2 weeks had abused her, her child, and her mother, whom the couple lived with.

Just before 11:20, an EMT who responded to the scene took the witness stand.