Trial scheduled in abuse case

SANDPOINT — A trial is set for a Ponderay man accused of physically abusing his infant son last year.

Bobby Daniel Adams’ five-day jury trial is scheduled to start on June 1 in 1st District Court. He is charged with felony injury to a child for allegedly fracturing the boy’s skull and causing retinal hemorrhaging and a subdural hematoma, a form of traumatic brain injury in which blood collects within a layer of the outer protective covering of the brain.

The state alleges the abuse occurred while Adams was watching the child on Aug. 17, 2008, when the boy was about five weeks old.

Adams, 25, pleaded not guilty to the charge and later entered into a plea agreement which proposed a prison sentence of two to five years with retained jurisdiction. If jurisdiction is retained, a defendant could qualify for release onto probation after serving six months.

The state and the defense sought to make the agreement binding upon the court, but Judge John Patrick Luster declined to be party to the agreement.

Luster advised the defense last month he would not sign onto the proposed agreement because of the gravity of the charge, Adams’ past history and a “substantial” lack of acceptance of responsibility in the case.

Adams withdrew his conditional guilty plea and opted to proceed to trial.

He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted as charged.

Adams, according to prosecutors, was convicted of physically abusing another of his biological children in Washington state several years ago.