Defense attorneys for 34-year-old Deanthony Hodges successfully argue for a lower cash bond after presenting new medical testing in Rock County Court on Tuesday.
Judge Barbara McCrory reduced Hodges bail from $20,500 to $10,5000 for his charges of first-degree reckless homicide and misdemeanor bail jumping.
He is accused of abusing his infant son to death in March of 2017. Medical officials determined the infant’s head trauma was consistent with being shaken or attacked.
Public Defender Matthew Lantta presented a preliminary medical report from an independent doctor, who found evidence the child’s skull fracture and some of his other injuries occurred weeks before he was rushed to the hospital.
Lantta said the recency of those injuries were not included in the autopsy reports.
Assistant District Attorney Rich Sullivan questioned the credibility of the independent doctor. He said the medical examiner’s office told him the report was “disingenuous and spacious,” and the older injuries were not what caused the child’s death.
The case is going on three years in the court system, in large part due to delays in testing the medical evidence.
Hodges’ larger bond was set when he was initially charged with physical abuse of a child causing great bodily harm and child neglect causing great bodily harm instead of homicide.
