Knutsen acquitted of manslaughter of N.B. tot
Defendant is found guilty of one count of child endangerment
BY JENNIFER AMATO & MADELLINE PIZARRO Staff Writers
Robert Knutsen was found not guilty of manslaughter in the death of a 3- year-old North Brunswick boy in state Superior Court, New Brunswick, on Friday.

Nikolas Chavez

Knutsen, 32, of Middletown and formerly of North Brunswick, was found not guilty of both aggravated and reckless manslaughter and one count of endangering the welfare of the child for inflicting physical harm on Nikolas Chavez, his fiancée's son and his own godson, who died Nov. 30, 2005.

However, Knutsen was found guilty of one count of child endangerment for failing to provide proper medical attention, because he waited about 15 minutes before calling police after the child had a seizure that morning, according to the 911 tapes played during the three-week trial that began Sept. 23. Knutsen lived with Nikolas and the child's mother in an apartment in North Brunswick at the time of the child's death.

The case was being retried from last year, which ended in a mistrial because of a hung jury on the aggravated manslaughter charge.

"Obviously we're very pleased, and the Knutsen family is very pleased, with the jury's determination on aggravated manslaughter as well as reckless manslaughter," said defense attorney Greg Gargulinski. "Mr. Knutsen is pleased he had a very attentive jury that listened, and a smart jury, and he is pleased he has been acquitted of the two most serious crimes in the penal code. He maintains his innocence and believes he sought medical attention in an appropriate period of time and he did everything he could to save this child's life."

Knutsen's $250,000 bail was revoked by Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves, and he was arrested after the trial, pending his sentencing on Jan. 6, 2009. He faces five to 10 years in prison. However, Gargulinski said that he and Robert Honecker, his cocounsel, plan to file a motion to seek to overturn the child endangerment charge, and, if necessary, will file an appeal.

"I'm disappointed, but for the family there is closure and the defendant is incarcerated, found guilty on a second-degree charge," Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Marcia Silva said.

During the trial, the state rested highly on the testimony of Middlesex County Medical Examiner Frederick DiCarlo, who said the child died from blunt force trauma

injuries less than an hour before the 911 call was made, in a homicide that could only be attributed to Knutsen because he was the only person with Nikolas that morning. DiCarlo said the toddler suffered from a broken back and internal bleeding from injuries to his back and abdomen. However, the

defense brought in Michael Baden, the chief medical examiner for the New York State Police and a regular on the HBO show "Autopsy," who agreed that although the injuries were inflicted and were homicidal, they could have occurred one or two nights before.

"In my opinion the back injury occurred after eating at his grandmother's [on Tuesday night]," Baden said, adding that the child's internal bleeding, which caused onethird of his blood to remain in his abdomen the following morning, could have occurred overnight.

Baden also said that since Nikolas was being evaluated for a developmental delay, "I have the impression reading [his] records he didn't respond to pain the way other children might. A child would say, 'Mommy it hurts me.'

"If he has difficulty explaining things, he might have difficulty saying that."