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Date Posted: 07:25:36 06/03/01 Sun
Author: Anonymous
Subject: Court Ruling on Case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an
appeal of an Acoma Pueblo man convicted of murdering
his
girlfriend's 16-month-old son.

The decision lets stand David Edward Chino's
conviction on assault and second-degree murder charges
in the death of
Zachary Vallo, killed in July 1998. The 10th Circuit
Court of Appeals in January upheld Chino's concurrent
sentence of
12 months with one year of supervised release on the
assault counts and 210 months on the second-degree
murder
count with three years of supervised release.

Claudine Ann Vallo, Chino's girlfriend and mother of
Zachary, was sentenced to 240 months with three years
of
supervised release. She did not join Chino's appeal to
the Supreme Court. Chino was not Zachary's natural
father.

The couple resided on Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico at
the time of Zachary's death. On July 25, 1998, Chino's
mother
brought Zachary to the Acoma-Laguna-Canoncito Clinic
where a doctor observed he wasn't breathing. He also
appeared
to be having a seizure, said the doctor.

Zachary was immediately flown to a hospital in nearby
Albuquerque. Doctors there found that Zachary had
subdural
hematomas, or internal bleeding, on the sides and the
back of his brain.

In court documents and testimony, the doctors said
these injuries were consistent with child abuse.
Zachary's
condition deteriorated and he died on July 28.

An autopsy confirmed brain hemorrhaging as well as
bleeding around Zachary's eyes, consistent with having
been
shaken. He also had evidence of a prior brain injury
and had a total of 41 bruises over his body.

Chino, then 20, and Vallo, then 25, did not go to the
clinic with Zachary. Chino's younger brother, home at
the time in
question, called their mother, who took the the baby
to clinic.

The couple also did not immediately go to the
Albuquerque hospital and when officers showed up, both
fled on foot,
according to a complaint filed at the time.

Vallo's children were among those called to testify on
abuse at the couple's home. Irene Thompson, then 6,
testified
that she saw Chino shake her brother and drop him into
a crib. Joseph Thompson, then 9, said Chino once put a
bag
over Zachary's head when he wouldn't stop crying.

In an interview with authorities, Chino admitted
having problems controlling his temper around Zachary.
He also said
he dropped him on an occasion prior to his death.

On the day in question, Vallo had pushed Zachary out
of his high chair for not drinking his milk. When
Chino came
home from work, he shook Zachary but observed no
response.

Vallo said she didn't seek medical attention for fear
of being accused of child abuse. An FBI agent said the
night
Zachary was taken to Albuquerque, the couple went out
drinking.

Shaken baby syndrome is one of the most underreported
forms of child abuse. Unless accompanied by evidence
of
more serious abuse, it is often hard to detect.

Several high profile cases in recent years have
brought attention to the problem.

Get the Case:
US v. Vallo Nos. 99-2328, 00-2078 (10th Circuit
January 23, 2001)

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