A man and woman who divorced after their arrests last year in Miller County for battery involving their infant daughter are scheduled for separate jury trials in the coming months.
Crystal Uribe, 24, and Charles Uribe, 30, were both listed on Circuit Judge Brent Haltom's criminal docket Tuesday. Texarkana lawyer Josh Potter told the court he was recently appointed to the case as a part-time public defender following a private attorney's withdrawal from the case.
Potter said he is aware that Crystal Uribe's case is scheduled for trial in August and will be prepared to go forward then. Charles Uribe's case is scheduled for jury selection before Haltom on May 20 at the Miller County courthouse in downtown Texarkana. He is represented by Managing Public Defender Jason Mitchell.
Soon after the couple's arrest on first-degree battery charges in February 2018, Crystal Uribe filed for divorce from Charles Uribe. Haltom signed a final decree of divorce in the case in May 2018.
The couple's daughter, who was just a month old when she was seen at a local emergency room Feb. 14, 2018, remains in state care, according to court records. Medical personnel at Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana, Texas, contacted law enforcement regarding the baby's critical condition and suspicion that child abuse was to blame for her injuries, according to a probable cause affidavit and testimony from previous hearings in the case.
Miller County Sheriff's Office Investigator Patsy DeHart testified in April 2018 that the child showed a pattern of injuries that appeared to have been caused on varying dates based on their stage of healing. She said the infant suffered two breaks in her pelvis, a broken leg and a head injury. DeHart said doctors told her that petichiae in the baby's eyes was evidence of the child straining to cry or not cry and that injuries to the baby's esophogus led medical experts to conclude something had been shoved into the infant's throat.
DeHart testified at the April 2018 hearing that the state of Montana terminated Crystal Uribe's rights to a different child she had from a relationship previous to her marriage with Charles Uribe.
Crystal Uribe is free on a $75,000 bond. Charles Uribe remains in custody with bond set at $75,000. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell is handling the prosecutions of both defendants.
If convicted of first-degree battery, Charles Uribe and Crystal Uribe each face 10 to 40 years or life in an Arkansas prison.