Patricia Brown continues to seek new trial

The woman previously convicted in the death of a two-year-old continues to seek a new trial.

2-year-old Deetrick Brown died on January 16, 2003. Brown and her husband, Derrick, were first charged with murder in 2003, but a judge who presided over a preliminary hearing that October ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed to trial.

Prosecutors say Patricia Brown beat the child during the eight months he was in her care causing injuries that manifested themselves with a series of seizures leading up to his death at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital about two months shy of his third birthday.

A decade later, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s department re-examined the case and submitted new evidence that resulted in the refiling of charges against the Browns. They were re-arrested on Jan. 16, 2013, 10 years to the day of the boy’s death.

Paradise said no injuries were noted by physicians while the child was in foster care, nor did he suffer any abuse at the hands of his biological mother. Though Deetrick and his siblings were taken from his biological mother’s home, it was because there was evidence she was abusing Deetrick’s brother, not Deetrick, the prosecutor said.

Brown’s family and attorneys maintain that Deetrick suffered from undiagnosed medical issues that could have contributed to his death.

Derrick Brown went from being a co-defendant to a bystander midway through the trial when a judge ruled on a defense motion arguing there was a lack of evidence to convict him.

Patricia Brown, 52, was convicted in August 2016 following a month-long trial. Her defense team wants a new trial citing her previous defense team did not adequately represent her.

The judge heard three hours of arguments Friday at the Larson Justice Center and still there’s no decision.

The defense team and Brown’s family maintains she didn’t get a fair trial. The prosecution insists her conviction is correct and that her previous defense team represented her properly.

Arguments will resume sometime in March as both the defense and prosecution look for a date that works for both parties.