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Court upholds removing baby from life support
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- A California court Monday rejected a father's efforts to keep his baby son on life support, possibly clearing the way for the father to be tried in the boy's slaying. Eighteen-month-old Christopher Ibarra has been in a coma for more than a year as a result of "shaken impact syndrome." A lower court found his father, Moises, beat and shook him in December 2001, when the boy was three months old. Christopher is "neurologically devastated, is in a persistent vegetative condition, and has no cognitive function," the court wrote. "Future medical treatment will be futile." The California 4th District Appeals Court rejected Moises Ibarra's efforts to keep his son on life support, upholding a lower court order stating the child's life support should be discontinued. Moises Ibarra could ultimately face a murder charge if his son dies of the injuries he sustained. Removing the boy from life support, then, could set the legal process in motion. Christopher's mother, Tamara, had sought to take Christopher off life support, but Moises Ibarra opposed that request. "The juvenile court weighed and balanced the factors," the justices wrote. "The testimony from Christopher's treating physicians and the independent physicians who examined him was both compelling and consistent." The justices cited "clear and convincing evidence" that to keep Christopher on life support would not be in his best interests. "We hold this determination was supported by substantial evidence, and the juvenile court did not err in reaching its conclusion." There was no word late Monday on whether Moises Ibarra plans to appeal the court's ruling.
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