Even if it were true that John Griffin was regularly gone from their home for work reasons and that most of the children's care was entrusted to their mother, as he testified, "the responsibility is the same," Coffin said. The less active partner "cannot stand by and do nothing," she asserted.
Michelle Moodispaw, who represented the mother, said Andrew's injuries could have been caused by a fall or by "accidental touching." She said he had no broken bones and suggested that, had the beatings been deliberate, "the injuries would have been worse."
The judge rejected those arguments. He said Susan Griffin did not take her son to see a doctor because she was afraid the abuse would be discovered. In the room where Andrew was found, his blood was spattered on the ceiling, the walls, his bassinet.
