Alex Midyette quickly wiped a few tears from his face after he was found guilty of criminally negligent child abuse in the death of his 11-week-old son, Jason, by a Denver County jury Tuesday.
Midyette, 29, of Louisville, could have been convicted of a more serious charge of knowing and reckless child abuse resulting in death, which carries a prison term of 16 to 48 years.
Midyette faces four to 16 years in prison when he is sentenced in the next couple of months. He also could receive probation.
Jason’s mother, Molly Midyette, was sentenced last year to 16 years in prison after being convicted of a more serious felony of failing to get her son medical attention.
Defense lawyer Paul McCormick described his client as “saddened” over the jury’s decision.
“We would have been much happier with a not-guilty verdict,” McCormick said. “It’s a compromise.”
Jason Midyette had more than 30 broken bones and a skull fracture when he died March 3, 2006.
Alex Midyette’s defense lawyers argued that the boy suffered from a disease that weakened his bones.
Prosecutors told jurors that Mid-yette was a frustrated father who abused his son over the course of his short life, ultimately fracturing Jason’s skull on a diaper changing table.
They also told jurors that Midyette failed to get medical care for his son as he lay dying.
Boulder County prosecutors Ken Kupfner and Colette Cribari declined to comment on the verdict and said they would wait to make a statement until after Midyette is sentenced.
Jurors said they were split 9-3 on the more serious child-abuse charge because a few jurors believed that Jason had a metabolic disease, and they refused to budge.
But the jurors unanimously believed that Midyette neglected to get his son to a doctor in time.
Alex Midyette’s case was moved from Boulder to Denver because of a concern over pretrial publicity. The case garnered attention partly because Midyette is the son of J. Nold Midyette, a prominent Boulder architect and commercial-property owner.
Boulder County Judge Lael Montgomery doubled Midyette’s bail to $1.5 million. Midyette will remain in custody until he can post the amount.
McCormick says he plans to bring out his client’s positive attributes during sentencing.
Jurors said they did not know until after the verdict about Molly Mid-yette’s conviction and sentence.
Juror Justin Kaufmann said his fellow jurors were “shocked” that Molly Midyette was in prison and assumed during deliberations that she was dead because they were not given any information about her during the trial.
Juror Angela Wainwright said Alex Midyette should get the same amount of prison time as his wife. “I think they are both responsible,” she said.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
