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SALT LAKE CITY -- A family looking for justice following the death of 4-year-old Vanessa Hart will have to wait another day after the court postponed sentencing.
Clinton Hart, the girl's father, plead guilty to child abuse homicide charges last month, despite saying he was not home when his daughter's fatal injuries occurred.
Monday's sentencing derailed when Hart's defense attorney Steven Shapiro claimed the prosecution gave inaccurate information to the judge, calling the prosecution "unethical."
"He did plead guilty to that which he was responsible for, which was failing to supervise and failing to protect his daughter from a situation that -- which as it turns out -- was very dangerous." Steven Shapiro
His strong words came as a result of the pre-sentence report, where prosecutor Robert Parish said Hart caused the injuries in his daughter's death. But Shapiro said Hart never plead guilty to those charges and no evidence had been presented by the state to support the report's accusation.
"He did plead guilty to that which he was responsible for, which was failing to supervise and failing to protect his daughter from a situation that -- which as it turns out -- was very dangerous," Shapiro said.
Vanessa Hart died on June 13, 2010 from what doctor's described as "multiple severe injuries, including massive trauma to her head." Clinton Hart's then-girlfriend Marina Navarro was taking care of Vanessa when the injuries were inflicted.
Hart was initially charged with murder and two counts of child abuse after an autopsy uncovered a history of child abuse. But those charges were later reduced to child abuse homicide and three counts of child abuse since Hart wasn't home at the time the fatal injuries were inflicted to Vanessa.
Vanessa's grandmother Linda Romero was disappointed Hart wasn't sentenced to prison Monday. She believes Hart is responsible for her granddaughter's death.
"I think this should be over and done with," Romero said. "Clint should be put in prison for life, and he is going to pay to God for what he did to this little girl."
The sentencing was postponed to Aug. 8 after Parish said he would strike the comments he made in the pre-sentencing report. Hart's attorney said he will be asking for no prison time since he wasn't the person who inflicted the fatal injuries.
Email: spark@ksl.com
