Vasquez acquitted of assault

A Whitefish man was acquitted Wednesday of all charges, concluding a weeklong trial over alleged abuse of a young boy.

Juan Miguel Vasquez, 28, visibly teared up as he turned to loved ones, whose collective reaction to the verdict was “Thank you, Lord” amid tears and hugs.

On the opposite side of the courtroom, the child’s mother, Nicole Foiles, breathed “Oh my God” and bent forward, sobbing.

Vasquez had faced felony charges of aggravated assault, criminal endangerment and assault on a minor. They stemmed from an Oct. 24, 2008, incident when a 5-year-old boy was severely burned by scalding water in a bathtub at a Ramsey Avenue residence.

Defense attorney Noel Larrivee said he was “very pleased” with the outcome.

“He was totally innocent,” he said. “This was an accident, an unfortunate accident, a horrible accident, but it should have never been compounded with criminal prosecution.”

Larrivee continued: “It’s easy to want to try and assign blame to somebody when someone is hurt that bad. I think the jury understood and their verdict reflected what had happened.”

According to prosecuting attorney Travis Ahner, “It’s clear the jury took things seriously. We’re very appreciative of that. Obviously, we’re disappointed in the outcome.”

Members of the jury, who deliberated for five hours Wednesday, did not want to comment.

Earlier Wednesday, closing arguments focused on whether the child’s burns were accidental or caused by Vasquez.

Although the prosecution argued the boy suffered classic forced-immersion burns — allegedly caused by Vasquez holding him down in scalding water — the defense maintained the injuries were accidental and were incurred after Vasquez stepped out of the bathroom.

“Did he [the boy] fall? I’m not going to assume, I’m not going to speculate,” Larrivee said during closing arguments. He asked jurors not to base their verdict on conjecture, sympathy or public opinion and accused the prosecution of selectively presenting evidence and skewing the facts.

He compared the prosecution’s argument to the Iraq war and the fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction to explain “how we can become convinced of something ... that simply is not true.”

During the five-day trial, the jury heard testimony from the child; the defendant; the child’s sisters, who were home at the time but in another room; the child’s mother, who was not home; plus investigating authorities and doctors who treated the child.