Mistrial declared in toddler’s child abuse case

SANTA FE — A Santa Fe judge has declared a mistrial in a case of a man who was accused of beating a toddler and giving him brain damage.

Benjamin Maes, 28, faced trial in District Court this week on one count of child abuse causing great bodily harm. After about five hours of deliberation Friday, the jury foreman told Judge T. Glenn Ellington that the jury wouldn’t be able to reach a unanimous verdict. The judge declared a mistrial and freed Maes from his conditions of release.

Prosecutor Todd Bullion said the state intends to try the case again.

Maes was accused of beating his girlfriend’s son at the Tuscany at St. Francis apartments in September 2015 five days before the boy’s second birthday. The boy was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center after he appeared to be having seizures and was later flown to the University of New Mexico Hospital after doctors discovered bleeding in his brain.

Blood clots from the injury then caused a stroke, prosecutor Blake Nichols said during opening arguments Monday, and the boy had to undergo speech and physical therapy.

Prosecutors have maintained that Maes was having a rough day and took it out on the boy later that evening while his mother was not at the apartment.

“He abused (the boy) because he was pissed off and he wouldn’t stop crying,” Bullion said during closing arguments.

Bullion said in closings that a doctor who testified earlier in the trial said the injury was caused by a blunt object with a straight edge. Bullion said the state doesn’t know what really happened in the bedroom where the alleged incident happened, but evidence suggests that Maes either slammed the boy’s head into his crib twice or that he threw him into the crib.

Maes’ defense attorney, Hans Erickson, argued that a rare condition the boy has caused the blood clots that led to his stroke. Erickson also acknowledged that Maes was having a bad day, but said that’s no reason to blame him for the boy’s injuries.

“That’s a long way to go between being cranky and going on a homicidal rage against a 2-year-old,” Erickson said during closing arguments.