The defense team for Longmont parents accused of starving their blind and autistic teenage son down to 88 pounds was granted more time to review 1,600 pages of newly-filed hospital records one attorney said could “expose fatal weaknesses in the state’s case.”
Public Defender Nicole Collins, representing the boy’s father, David Hall, said doctors could be considering viruses or metabolic issues as factors in the boy’s significant weight loss, and without a thorough read, she said she would not be prepared to fashion appropriate questions at the preliminary hearing that was scheduled for Thursday at the Boulder County Justice Center.
“This is truly the crux of the case and the thing that the court needs to consider,” Collins said. “I cannot be effective without a continuance.”
Deputy District Attorney Sean Finn argued Thursday that David and Vanessa Hall, both 52, told detectives they fed their 17-year-old son a limited diet of soda and cheese crackers, which he said should be enough probable cause to move forward in the felony child abuse case.
