Denver judge dismisses 1998 infant murder case, conviction overturned, defendant released from prison

A man once convicted of 1st degree murder for the death of a four-month-old, left prison Tuesday following a court decision to vacate his murder conviction of 27 years ago. Stephen Martinez was wheeled out of the Department of Corrections Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center in the late afternoon to cheers. He was greeted by the wife he married while behind bars and by his supporters.

It followed a dismissal by Denver District Court Judge Andrew Luxen, centering around the 1998 death of 4-month-old Heather Mares in 1998.

"I'm so happy and so thankful to be out after being locked up for 27 years, innocent. But now I'm going out to absolutely nothing. But God bless you, guys, have a great day," said Martinez as he was helped into a car. He had a leg amputated while in prison and was in a wheelchair.

Judge Luxen told the child's family, "I want you to know that this is not an easy decision. And I feel for you and your family."

"The people have moved to dismiss this case based on the information before me, I'm going to grant that motion that the order be dismissed, that the defendant be released from the Department of Corrections," the judge said.

According to the Korey Wise Innocence Project, the murder conviction was overturned after new evidence that the infant had a pre-existing respiratory illness that caused her death. 

"He lost over 27 years of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit," said Jeanne Segil, assistant director of the Korey Wise Innocence Project. "This was a tragedy; it was not a crime. Steven Martinez did not cause the baby's death. Our hearts go out to the family of the baby. We just cannot imagine what they're going through, and I know today was re-traumatizing for them, so they're in our thoughts."

Martinez was convicted of first-degree murder - knowingly causing the death of a child under 12 when in a position of trust in January 2000. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Martinez was watching his girlfriend's infant daughter, Heather Lynn Mares, on Oct. 17, 1998, while she went to the bank, according to the arrest affidavit from the Denver Police Department. The document states that paramedics responded to 400 S. Pecos Street on reports of a child choking. Martinez is not the baby's father.

Denver police detectives were called to the scene after the infant was evaluated in the ambulance because a paramedic said the baby had blood in her throat and nose. Martinez, according to the arrest affidavit, told officers that he called 911 because the baby was choking after he gave her a bottle. Officers said they recovered the baby's sheets from the washing machine and that they had blood on them. 

According to the arrest affidavit, doctors at Denver Health said that Heather suffered from a fractured skull and had bleeding inside her brain. She died at the hospital. Doctors stated in the document that the child's injuries were consistent with child abuse and not choking.

But the Innocence Project challenged the notion of shaken baby syndrome, noting updated medical information points to the possibility of other explanations for Heather Mares' injuries, including bleeding in the brain and bleeding in the retina behind the eyes and brain swelling.

"What we now know is that the pneumonia, the respiratory illness, can actually cause every one of those symptoms," said Segil. A lack of oxygen, they said, "Caused the heart to stop. The heart could then no longer pump blood into the brain. And everything that you see, all of those injuries, stems from that."

According to the Korey Wise Innocence Project, Martinez made self-incriminating statements during a police interrogation that he later recanted.

"When he was told that if he did that, he would be looking at anger management or probation, versus if he continued to deny it, then he would be looking at murder, eventually he made those statements. We now know today that those statements were false and he had recanted," said Segil.

On Tuesday, the judge dismissed the murder case, making Martinez eligible to be freed from prison. 

Before announcing his decision, the judge addressed Heather's mother, Kim Estrada, in the courtroom directly, "The loss that you and your family have suffered is incomprehensible. Especially for such a small child. I understand that today is a difficult day."

"How does a pneumonia cause a fracture on a baby's head? How does Stephen admitting that he hit Heather's head on the crib, how does pneumonia take all that stuff away? It doesn't make sense," said Andre Mares, Heather's uncle. 

The baby's father was notably upset outside the courthouse.

"I've had 28 years to think about this. I've been waiting for him to get out. They did me a favor letting him out. Now he's out here with me," said Christopher Mares.

"We were heartbroken when he was wrongfully convicted and taken away from us over 27 years ago. We only wish his parents could be here to witness his return. My sister, Lucy, and brother never gave up hope and always believed in his innocence. They prayed until their last breath this day would arrive," said Martinez's aunt, Theresa Garcia. 

Innocence Project attorney Seth Temin said, "Today was justice, justice being done. It's good for everyone. We would hope that people would stop relying on shaken baby syndrome to get a conviction when it's unclear what caused the injury or the death."

The Denver District Attorney's Office released this statement after the case was dismissed:

"The Korey Wise Innocence Project presented my office with multiple credible medical experts who challenged the initial determination that Heather's death was caused by physical abuse. After receiving that information, my office retained independent experts whose opinions largely confirmed those of the defense experts.

Additionally, and more importantly, the Denver medical examiner who conducted Heather's autopsy in 1998 recently acknowledged a reasonable doubt about Heather's cause of death.

In light of the compelling evidence now available, we did not oppose the Innocence Project's motion to vacate Martinez' conviction and, unable now to meet our ethical and legal burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, we were obliged to dismiss the case.

I want to emphasize that there was no misconduct on the part of the prosecutors or detectives who worked on the case in the late 1990s. This is simply an example of the criminal justice system being willing and able to reassess a case when necessary. I want to thank the prosecutors, investigators, and victim advocates from my office - most notably, Senior Deputy District Attorney Jessica Sommer from our Conviction Review Unit - for their outstanding work on this matter."

Segil says Martinez now has a long road ahead.

"I think he feels a spectrum of emotions. I think he is thrilled to be leaving prison. I think he is really feeling relief to have his name exonerated, to have people know that he did not commit this crime, and I think he's feeling a little overwhelmed. There's still a long road ahead," said Segil. "There's a lot to rebuild, and reentry is difficult for anyone who served that many years in prison, and then for him to come out with a disability like that, there will be challenges."

According to its website, the Korey Wise Innocence Project provides free investigative and legal services to people serving time in Colorado prisons for crimes they did not commit.