Jury admonished not to discuss case

By Anita Miller
News Editor

San Marcos May 01, 2008 11:11 am

— Jurors in Cesar Mojica's child abuse trial continued their deliberations all day Wednesday without reaching a verdict.
District Judge Charles Ramsay, sitting in for presiding Judge Jack Robison, called jurors into open court at 5 p.m. Wednesday and ordered them back at 9 a.m. today.
He admonished the jurors, who are not being sequestered, to follow all the court's instructions "carefully," and to not discuss the case with anyone.
"It's very important you not discuss this case," Ramsay said. Alluding to the print and television coverage the trial has seen, he added, "Everybody is going to be talking about it (the case).
"Don't discuss it, or you may find yourself on the witness stand explaining."
Jurors entered deliberations Tuesday afternoon with a 57-page jury charge and more than 200 pieces of evidence. They are deliberating 14 charges of child abuse against Mojica, who testified he was drunk "most of the time" he was left in charge of his daughter Angel and twins Amber and Cesar Jr.; and remembered inflicting some but not all of the 141 total visible injuries his children had when taken from their parents' home in October 2006.
All three children had broken bones, whip marks, scars, bruise and were "literally covered in bite marks," one medical expert testified.
Mojica, 24, could face life behind bars if convicted.
The children's mother Sarah Amaya was arrested along with Mojica and remains in Hays County jail awaiting trial.