State v. Lopez

Toal, Justice:

Appellant Kim Lopez was convicted of murdering her three-year-old stepson. She appeals her conviction. The primary issues presented are (1) whether her right to confrontation was violated by her exclusion from the competency hearing; (2) whether her right to confrontation was violated at the trial when she was required to sit out of the line of sight of the children witnesses; and (3) whether the “battered child syndrome” and “shaken child syndrome” evidence was admitted in error. We affirm.

FACTS

Lopez and her husband had physical custody of her husband’s three sons from a…