Parents Behaving Badly

28 opinions for Julia Acosta and Baltazar Martinez Arrest for Torturing and Abusing 22-Month-Old Boy

• rddavis0313
  Aug 25, 2007 at 4:27 pm

  I am so sick of deadbeat drug addict mothers who let their pathetic abusive boyfriends take shit out on their children. This just makes me sick. That poor baby never asked to be born unto a freaking meth head. Thank god he has been removed and hopefully has the chance of leading a normal life, although its sad it took such indescribable abuse to get to that point. This woman deserves to have her uterus removed so she doesn’t have the opportunity to bring another child into a life of abuse and neglect.

• fourkidzmom
  Aug 25, 2007 at 5:12 pm

  What sicko would shave a child’s eyebrows off and cut off his eyelashes? These people are sadistic; let’s hope that they are put away for a LONG time and get their just desserts from their fellow inmates.

• Kathy
  Aug 27, 2007 at 5:05 am

  I’m tired of hearing the abused woman defense in the cases of child abuse. When that woman made the choice to be a mother, she took on the responsibility to protect her child at all costs. This baby could not defend himself. Even if she “couldn’t get away” from this man, she could have given her baby over to relatives or someone else to protect him from this man’s abuse the first time he laid a hand on this child. Her letting this happen to this baby is criminal. But that is what responsible drug free mother would do. So either way, she deserves prison. Now this sorry excuse for a man, he deserves to have his ass kicked every day for the rest of his life by someone 4 times his size. So what if he didn’t abuse his own children? His defense attorney must think we are all stupid to believe that just because a man doesn’t abuse his own children, that all children around him are safe. Chances are, he didn’t have custody of his kids. Also, he probably saw this little boy, ANOTHER man’s child, as an inconvenience to his meth head partying lifestyle. shaving his eyebrows? burning him with a meth pipe? Extensive bruising around the head? Lock them both up and keep them away from kids forever.

• miajemell
  Aug 27, 2007 at 5:26 am

  These 2 need their asses whipped!!! Why in the heck would anyone do such a thing to an innocent baby? They need to get psychiatric help and life in prison!

• jaleja
  Aug 27, 2007 at 9:00 am

  This is awful. 22 months, not even 2 years old yet. Poor baby. I hope “Mom” AND “Dad” both go to prison.

• stupipplshldntbreed
  Aug 27, 2007 at 5:59 pm

  Well since my house is all glass I prefer to know more before throwing rocks at others.

  I feel there should be consequences for the mother. It is our job as mother’s to protect our offspring.

  I also understand the moral outrage about what was done to this poor, defenseless little boy. The blatant abuse aside, it speaks as a lot weired to do things like cutting eyelashes and shaving eyebrows on a 20 month old child.

  Do any of us know anything more than what’s written in those news articles? Any of us know this mother? Her family? Her child?

  How many of you have suffered from domestic abuse? Do you know what it’s like to live in fear? To know that if you leave, he’s coming after you, cuz you’re his, and “if he can’t have you NO ONE F*CKIN CAN”! To know that, after you’ve left him, going to work means leaving that child with someone else. Who knows which day it will be that he’ll find you, and what he’ll do to your child while you’re at work.

  AND do any of you know whether or not any of the above statements apply to her situation? Do you know if her staying (maybe in her mind so that someone was there to protect the child from him) may have prevented even more agregious acts of abuse? Maybe he wouldn’t let her leave with the child?

  None of us know the details of her situation. None of us likely ever will know. Do I feel her failure to act should count against her? Yes. BUT in order to really feel sure about to what degree, I need more information.

  I do think it’s a judgemental, self centered, narrow view to assume that battered women syndrome is just an excuse. Any of you who just assume that’s all it is should read up a little bit on Stockholm Syndrome and how it works.

  It is a process that makes a lot of sense, and is also the same as battered women syndrome. I think it’s really easy for all of us to sit and read these horrid stories and say to ourselves, “Well I am so much better than that! I would NEVER do such a thing!”

  What you don’t understand is it’s that kind of thinking that makes some people blind when entering a bad situation. No matter how good you are, there are better con’s out there.

• jrgold
  Aug 27, 2007 at 7:24 pm

  This poor baby. The person supposed to protect him, was more interested in protecting herself. I have absolutely no sympathy for these monsters. It takes a really big person to beat up and abuse a 22 month old.
  And as far as she was scared, that’s bullcrap. Maybe if more mother’s were held accountable for these bad decisions, rather than let off with a slap on the wrist (of course due to supposed battered woman syndrome or other such reasons). Regardless of why it happened; she allowed it to happen. This is a 22 month old baby, who cannot speak up for himself and who should be able to trust the people caring for him to care for him (not beat, shave and burn him).

• Kathy
  Aug 28, 2007 at 4:26 am

  stupippl - I don’t don’t believe the battered woman’s syndrome defense is just an “excuse.” I believe it is a legitimate self defense scenario for women who kill their ABUSERS, not for women who allow people to abuse their children.
  It just seems like a “better they kill my child than ME for leaving them…” I’m sorry. As a mother, it is my duty to protect my child. I would definitely risk my life to protect the life of my child. I can say that in the absolute.
  There may be better “cons” out there, but that is why, once you have children, you have to go into any relationship with your eyes wide open. This woman made the choice to either use drugs and/or get into a relationship with a drug user. I will agree that more details on the relationship, who was doing the abusing, and how long the abuse of the child was going on is needed to determine the severity of the punishment for them. However, I stand by my view that these people should be given prison terms. A 22 month old baby is DEFENSELESS. There is no reason to subject a child that age to that kind of torture.
  Sure, I don’t know all the details, but I do know this. There is a baby that has suffered abuse at the hands of people that were supposed to be there to protect him. They need to be punished.

• Susan
  Aug 28, 2007 at 6:10 am

  I don’t know where anyone got the battered women’s stuff in this story, it doesn’t say that, it states: “Acosta and Martinez accuse each other of abusing the boy”. The domestic violence charge they put against Martinez (the guy) is a standard type of charge because he is suspected of abusing the child as well, domestic violence doesn’t always mean he was abusing the mother, its a charge for “abuse towards a family member” of any age. They are both charged with the same things…except because he has the domestic violence charge against him that makes his bail higher. So one of two things, they either put that against him because of his role in the abuse of the baby, or because mom may have tried to use him hitting her as part of her defense. Looking at their pics, he didn’t abuse her, you can tell by looking into the eyes of the one being abused to see whether or not there was abuse there, I think she would get stoned/wasted, then she would get annoyed with the baby and those around her, and she would become agressive, after all, she looks like the diva smart ass kind of chick. Again, another woman who apparently didn’t know she had better choices she could make in life, and apparently he didn’t know that either. And before anyone says anything…I have been in a violent relationship, he would raise his hands towards me and threaten to kill me and my child, but guess what…he’s gone (no he’s not dead), he had a ballbat upside his head that showed him out the front door! People just don’t have common sense anymore, that’s what most of these stories on this site point at…we are a society who has lost it’s common sense! And as a society, I thought we already have taught women that they dont’ have to be so damn submissive anymore? I guess people don’t really watch tv anymore except maybe to watch Flav-a-flav’s house of love or survivor, becuase with all the info available these days, again i have a hard time believing that so many people still live in boxes!

• Shel
  Aug 28, 2007 at 6:29 am

  The mother’s attorney stated that their defense was the mother was abused by the boyfriend and had the same burn marks as the baby did. It was the second article referred to above.

  Also the mother and a family member are the ones who took the baby to the hospital. I think if she was being abused, that took a lot of courage for a 20 yr old mother to do.

  Aside from that, something must have convinced the police and prosecutors that the mother has some burden of guilt, or she wouldn’t have a million dollar bail.

  I think the baby is in protective custody, where he should be and hopefully he will have a better life now. I hope both the mother and the boyfriend do time for their crimes against him.

• stupipplshldntbreed
  Aug 28, 2007 at 2:57 pm

  In response to:
  Aside from that, something must have convinced the police and prosecutors that the mother has some burden of guilt, or she wouldn’t have a million dollar bail.

  In most states it is a crime to fail to report or stop abuse or violence. I would imagine that is why she was charged. I also agree with her being charged. That’s why we have a jury system. She may or may not have had a good reason to fail to act, it’s the jury’s job (not mine) to decide.

  IN RESPONSE TO:
  I don’t know where anyone got the battered women’s stuff in this story, it doesn’t say that,

  Bruises weren’t visible on Julia Acosta’s 22-month-old son until she started seeing Baltazar Martinez, her friends and family said Friday.

  Things were so bad with the couple that the 20-year-old San Jose woman couldn’t have left Martinez if she’d wanted to, that she was abused and beaten herself, they said.

  Quoted from the first two paragraphs of the article in the second link above.

  Next, they do not apply domestic violence charges for child abuse (at least not in any state I’ve heard of, and if they did, the mother would have had the domestic violence charge as well). Child abuse carries it’s own penalties, and i decline to speculate about why they charged him with that.

  Susan said: Looking at their pics, he didn’t abuse her, you can tell by looking into the eyes of the one being abused to see whether or not there was abuse there,

  WHOAH glad you’re not on my jury!!! You can tell what’s inside a person, what they’ve lived thru, what they’ve had to hide from other’s just by looking in their eyes (a picture no less, not even their real eyes)!!! Do you know that many mentally ill people go thru life undiagnosed because they learn to hide their “differences”? You’re amazing if you can see through and around all that just by looking at a picture.

  You also said:
  I think she would get stoned/wasted, then she would get annoyed with the baby and those around her, and she would become agressive, after all, she looks like the diva smart ass kind of chick.

  WHOAH again! So, you not only know her entire life story by looking at a photograph, but you can also read personality, likelihood of agression, and what else? Can you spare the govt the expense and glean from her photographed eyes what her level of meth use was at the time? or Marijuana? what about how much coffee she drinks every day, or when she last had a haircut, ovulated? Where are your limits to what you can know about a person by looking at their photograph. Then I’d like you to look at a few normal people and tell me what you would have thought about them?

  Jeffrey Dahmer, he was a super normal guy, for a gay anyways. Gary Gilmore, he was pretty normal, all his neighbors thought he was THE nicest guy! Again, where do your powers end?

  Many people end up in those situation because their abuser starts out slow and works his way up. I am really glad you were able to escape your abusive relationship and it pains me that you don’t seem to have any compassion for those women who may still feel trapped. You don’t remember what it was like feeling all alone? Like no one could save you? Like he really does love you, or else (the stupid bastard) he wouldn’t have apologized and come back? He does try, doesn’t he? It’s a psychological cycle, and if you’ve been trapped (even for a short time) in an abusive relationship I would hope you’d have a little more compassion.

  Don’t get me wrong. I don’t feel that’s a cure all for this situation (assuming it’s true). I do think, however, that it should be a factor in determining her sentence. IF she was abused on a similar scale to what was done to that baby, that doens’t make her a victim too? Making the assumption here that she was being abused. Can no one here relate, even in a small way to that fear? Can you imagine what it might feel like to feel you are powerless to protect your child?

  I hope this was a failure to act due to fear. The other option, she’s a sick tweaker, who’s drugs come first is something I have a hard time assuming. If this was the case, I hope they both go away forever. I hope they both never have the chance to harm another human being. Can you really feel good about yourself making those judgements and assumptions about other people? I can’t. I read the (media provided) details and try not to fill in the blanks. I don’t know anything about either of them. Really for all any of us know, the mom did it all, and the dad was at work.

• Susan
  Aug 28, 2007 at 4:16 pm

  stupidppl…you sound like your angry now! ok, my bad, sorry, I didn’t read the other article that was mentioned, so I didn’t see the part about the abuse going on in the home that she’s claiming. But still, looking at her pic, she doesn’t look like a mother who regrets what happened with her child, and you took what I said wwaaaayyyy out of context. First off, yes, I can look at someone and see the pain in their eyes, see remorse, etc, I am a very good judge of character (so my friends have stated) in person, and sometimes even by looking at a picture you can see something about the person. Again, I’ve been in an abusive relationship where the guy was a crack addict and threatened us every chance he got, BUT, I never gave him a chance to act on any of those threats! She obviously participated in some way in the abuse herself, she does look like the type who plays a “badass” with everyone around her, and she probably is one of those types of girls who will “fight to the death” (so to speak) over her man with another girl. She definitely doesn’t look like a victim, she looks more like a victim of convience. It’s easy for her to say that the bruising didn’t show up until she started dating him, he could be her scapegoat for what she herself was doing to the child when she would get high! He doesn’t look like no saint by no means, but I’m sure she had alot more to do with the child’s abuse then she’s trying to claim now! I do have sympothy for those who have been there, but I also feel that there is no excuse for them to try to do more to get away! And then for them to go right back to the same kind of relationships over and over again, well, apparently they didn’t learn much the first time! She looks like the kind of gangbangers kind of chick who probably has it in her head that it made her look “tougher” to take it from him, after all, he’s just a man, if she had killed him and saved her child, I would praise her and fight in her defense. But she allowed him to treat her child this way and apparently participated herself, and now she’s trying to hide behind battered women’s syndrome, I don’t buy it!

  After you ever heard the eyes are the windows to the soul? Apparently you’ve never looked at someone and felt uncomfortable with something about them, apparently you’ve never looked at someone and told a friend with you that there was something in their eyes you just didn’t like. Yes, people are good at hiding things, but, they can’t hide EVERYTHING! No, I can’t tell someone’s life story, but I can sense what their feeling, what they may be thinking, etc, if you don’t believe in those things, I’m not going to bother to try to convince you otherwise, it’s a waste of time on my part. Mentioning the govt, they do in fact hire people certain people with certain “gifts” to help on cases, and they even discuss things such as body language, eye contact, etc, in some psych classes. If people learned to pay more attention and observe things around them, then yes, sometimes they can “see” things that others don’t notice, and if you’ve ever noticed, that is what has gotten a lot of people caught in their crimes, because someone noticed something about the person that didn’t seem right. I’m not saying I’m always 100% right in “reading” someone’s eyes, but judging from this picture, she shows no remorse, and she looks like she’s “been caught”! But that’s only my opinion, please feel free to disagree with it.

• stupipplshldntbreed
  Aug 28, 2007 at 5:40 pm

  ha ha ha Susan, I actually had come back hoping to get here before you read my response. Upon reflection I felt I hadn’t had to be so direct, and that I had probably tread close to rude. I am sorry!

  So that out of the way…

  I guess my (rude lol sorry) point was that you could be right. And I do believe and understand instincts with people. I guess I am just trying to say that it’s hard to believe that you can derive all of that from a photo.

  If i had to place a bet, I would bet that there is at least some truth to your assesment of her exterior. I have to say that many of the hard ass girls I know (myself included) are hard because they don’t like to show weakness. For whatever their personal reasons, they feel vulnerable or exposed if people don’t perceive them as a hardass. Does that mean she doens’t feel remorse? Probably not, however bad, she did give birth to a child. She may not have had it in her (for whatever good or bad reason) to protect him, but chances are she is beating herself up now.

  I feel I don’t know enough to know if her own mental anguish is enough punishment for what that poor baby went thru. But I think it’s important to remember that things aren’t always what they seem on the outside.

  I have suffered with mental illness for my entire life. I was undiagnosed for 3/4 of my life. So many people are shocked and surprised to find out that not only am i severely mentally ill, but that I am violently psychotic from time to time.

  Not because there is nothing wrong with me, not because I don’t suffer from multiple, severe mental illnesses, but because as humans (as animals really) we adapt or die. I adapted so well, most people would never know, unless they saw me during a psychotic episode.

  Mentally ill people are not the only one’s who’ve learned similar coping skills.

  A really good example follows:

  My daughter (a recovering meth addict) is married to a guy who seemed to be lazy, no good, meth addicted, drug seeking, hypochondriac. He spent about 9 mos living in our house with my then pregnant daughter. Whenver she needed help with something physical his back hurt.

  Come bowling or baseball night he was fine enough to go play. Trust me, pissed me off 4 times a week (once for bowling, three times a week for baseball). Well I don’t mince words and we had it out more than once about his “backaches”.

  I was not the only one that had these concerns. I was just the only one who would say what I thought. Well 4 weeks after my grandson was born my son in law had a testicle removed, and is having chemo right now.

  Come to find out he had backaches. Very bad ones. They were from tumors in his back. Even with hindsight I look back and can’t see that I could have come to any other conclusion. Apparently I was wrong.

  I guess that has made me cautious about making too many assumptions about anyone. I have always tried to refrain from judging people, but what can i say, im only ALMOST perfect ;)

  Anyway, I really appreciate your understanding my “angry post” cuz that’s not what this is about. I really have enjoyed our discussions, on this thread and others. Thank you!

  Ange

• Lisa
  Aug 28, 2007 at 8:50 pm

  Kathy, you are so right. As a mother my job is to protect my children and do what is best for them.

  stupipplshldntbreed, I agree with alot of what you said too. “Can no one here relate, even in a small way to that fear? Can you imagine what it might feel like to feel you are powerless to protect your child?” I understand fear because my stepfather physically and mentally abused me, my little sister, and my mother for years. And in situations like Nazi prison camps or many dictatorships today, these women are unable to protect their children and it must be hell for them. But this woman lives in 21st century America. There are hotlines, shelters, job training program, etc. (I could go on and on and on) to help women who are victims of domestic violence. This woman has no excuse for not protecting her child (from both him and herself).

• Anna1345
  Aug 29, 2007 at 3:09 pm

  In a world where we see daily that children are abused and neglected, women and men who CHOOSE to not be parents need to be validated just as those who CHOSE to have children. It IS a very hard decision to be public about and it shouldn’t carry a stigma. It is their choice!

  At least there are people in this world who are woman (or man) enough to admit they are not wanting to be parents, then take it one step further and actually DON’T have kids!

  Kudos to those who are saving a child from posisible hard ship and neglect and suffering b/c they were born to parents who really didn’t want kids!

  Sometimes the best decsion a parent can for the best interest of the child is to conciously make the decision to NOT be a parent.

• Susan
  Aug 29, 2007 at 6:33 pm

  Stupidppl…just remember, as a good friend of mine’s grandfather used to tell her (their both Native American), “I look at people and I see into their eyes, you will look into people’s eyes and see if their a human being or not”, You can look into someone’s eyes and see who they are, what their spirit is, and not just see who they are on the outside! :)

• suki
  Aug 30, 2007 at 4:36 pm

  It said he had burns on his head-I wonder if his
  eyebrows were burnt? How stupid, nevermind
  dangerous-he’s lucky his eyes are ok.

• Amanda
  Aug 30, 2007 at 7:09 pm

  Someone should take these two and do to them exactly what they did to this innocent child! I would be happy to be the abuser!!!!!! It would be so rewarding to have a job paying all these sorry ass parents back for the terrible abuse of their children!

• lmarie
  Sep 8, 2007 at 11:48 am

  Hey Susan Are you serious ARE YOU REALLY SERIOUS why IS THIS CASE IMPORTANT TO YOU?? dO YOU KNOW THESE PEOPLE DID YOU KNOW SHE HAD TWO BLACK EYES METH PIPE BURNS AND BRUISES ALL OVER HER BODY AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF HEALING! DID YOU KNOW HE BUNR THE TOP LAYER OF HER FOOT OFF??? dID YOU KNOW HE KNOCKED OUT HER TOOTH? YA SHE DIDNT PROTECT HER SON AS A WOMAN WHO WAS NOT FORCED TO SMOKE METH DAY AFTER DAY BY A MONSTER WOULD YOU HAVE NO IDEA YA DUMMY THAT AWFUL FAGGOT BEAT AN INNOCENT BABY DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!!

• Ihavekidstoo
  Sep 8, 2007 at 6:19 pm

  Imarie, give me a break. This is one more woman who CHOSE the man who abused her and failed to protect her child from that man, when her child DID NOT have a choice.

  We ALL have made bad decisions - like hooking up with an abusive boyfriend. It’s our RIGHT to make bad decisions as free Americans. It is NOT our right to allow those bad decisions to bring harm to others, especially children who cannot defend or speak for themselves. The “I was abused too” defense is B.S.

  If a woman wants to piss away her life with a worthless S.O.B. that is her god-given right. But she doesn’t have the right to subject her kids to that abuse as well.

  And the “I couldn’t leave or he’d kill me” defense is ALSO B.S. There are plenty of programs and laws in place to assist and protect women fleeing abusive relationships. And if all else fails, well we live in the land of the brave and the free … and the ARMED. Go buy a gun and defend yourself and your child.

  No more excuses.

• Ihavekidstoo
  Sep 8, 2007 at 6:37 pm

  By the way, your use of the term “faggot” to describe this animal is DISGUSTING and an insult to the millions of gay Americans who would never DREAM of harming a child - or their significant other - in this manner. Your ignorance is appalling.

• Susan
  Sep 9, 2007 at 5:08 am

  Imarie, you sound as if this case means something to YOU! No, I don’t know any of these people, wouldn’t care to! But I have known numerous women who were in abusive relationships who didn’t sit back and allow someone to do to them or their children what she’s claiming. Meth is a horrible drug, how do we know she didn’t cause these things to herself while she was high….trying to burn an imaginary itch off her foot, and then doing the same to her child? In this pic, she doesn’t look like a remorseful person, and she obviously is not innocent of what was done to this child because she’s charged with the same charges as he is! In today’s society where women are taught to defend themselves, there are programs to assist women, women aren’t as submissive anymore, etc, I have a hard time believing her defense! I have seen people halucinating on drugs where they thought bugs were crawling on them do horrible things to themselves to get the bugs off, bugs that weren’t there! I seen a story where a homeless woman had such horrible mental health issue that she actually took earthworms and put them inside her skin, her skin was all rotted from the dirt and worms she packed inside her arms and thighs, and she thought they were her children and she had to protect them….yeah, I think drugs have he same affect on a person’s mental state of mind! I think she’s using this guy as her scapegoat because she doesn’t remember doing half the damages to herself and her child, she was too high to know what she was doing! Why was she so desperate for love that she started doing a drug she supposedly never did before and allowed her innocent child to be affected as well? I bet they smoked the drugs right in front of the child, guess she should count herself lucky the child doesn’t have any brain injuries! I also have a feeling that her mother saw the abuse towards the child going on, and because she loves her daughter, felt it might give her daughter some kind of defense if they both took the child to the hospital, but again, she’s been charged with the same charges as him, so she must have had something to do with all of it as well! Do your research, look at how drugs affect people, I’m sure you’d find that the drugs SHE was taking would cause her to do injuries to herself as well as her child! And, if he was so horrible to her and her child, where was the rest of the family to help her get away? What a bunch of BS!

• Susan
  Sep 9, 2007 at 5:32 am

  I find this part of the story VERY interesting….

  “Bruises weren’t visible on Julia Acosta’s 22-month-old son until she started seeing Baltazar Martinez, her friends and family said Friday.

  Things were so bad with the couple that the 20-year-old San Jose woman couldn’t have left Martinez if she’d wanted to, that she was abused and beaten herself, they said.”

  Her friends and family….noticed all this abuse all along (which, if someone is as abusive as she’s claiming, he would never have let her be around her friends and family for them to notice any of this…abusers don’t want to get caught, so they cut off the abused contact with friends and family, and that’s when famly and friends start getting suspicious…when there’s no contact suddenly from the person!!). I think first off, she was doing these things herself, he may have helped as well, but she would do these things to herself and her child while she was high!

  Second, if all of her so called friends and family noticed all of this, why didn’t any of them do more to help her get away? If I have a friend or family member who is being treated this way, they would be taken to my house, authorities called at the first signs, and I would go out of my way to protect them from the other person! I don’t buy it!!! I think the family and friends are trying to cover up how bad her meth habit was and the injuries she caused to herself and her child, and using this guy as their scapegoat for HER bad choices!

  Get real people, none of her “battered women’s” excuse makes sense…she wouldn’t have been around any of these friends and families if he abused her so badly! And, how the hell did he FORCE her to do meth??? I lived with a recovering drug addict for several years, that person would try to get me to do something with them (so they wouldn’t feel guilty for doing it themselves), and I always said no, I was never pushed to the ground and forced to do anything! As citizens of the United States, you have the right to say no and walk away, no one can force you to do something you don’t want to do! I guess she is just a very weak woman who was desperate for love! All of her friends and family are standing by her side now trying to help her with some kind of defense, but WHERE WERE THESE PEOPLE WHEN THIS ALL STARTED???? Guess they were all too busy up to this point to get involved and get authorities involved! Guess it won’t help her defense much knowing that others susposedly saw all this abuse that he did to her but no one bothered to report any of it! If it was my daughter being abused as she was supposedly being abused by this man (or if it was a friend of mine), first I would take her child, second, the man would be in some pain! But thats right, apparently no one thought about any of that or did anything until now! ok, whatever!

• Susan
  Sep 9, 2007 at 5:50 am

  hey Imarie, I did some research for you, here first off is the warning signs of someone doing meth, pay close attention to some of the points that show why I say she did alot of this to herself and her child! This is from this site:

  http://www.ci.morris.mn.us/ pd/meth/signs.shtml

  Warning Signs
  (compiled from: http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/DrugIssue/Meth/is_my_child.html)

  Short-Term Use Can Result In:
  Alertness and inability to sleep: Something might be up if you notice a change in sleeping patterns — especially staying up for days on end and then sleeping or fatigued for a few days straight.

  Nervous physical activity: You notice fidgeting — and possibly scratching or picking at skin.

  Decreased appetite: Uninterested in food, and starts to become dangerously thin.

  Euphoria and rush: Might be extremely alert and energized, even after being up all night.

  Increased respiration and/or increased body temperature: Might appear out of breath for no reason (meth is a stimulant that can speed up one’s heart rate.)

  Burns, nosebleeds or track marks: Strange burns on lips or fingers, may be smoking meth through a hot glass or metal pipe. Snorting meth could cause nosebleeds and eventually eat away at the septum inside the nose. If using meth intravenously there could be track marks on her arms.

  Carelessness about appearance: Stopped showering? Lost interest in grooming? No longer brushes teeth?

  Deceit or secretiveness: Lying to you all the time? Plans sounding fishy or vague? Bedroom door always closed? Seemingly endless string of excuses to justify behavior?

  Violence and aggression: Meth affects the central nervous system, which in turn can affect a person’s mood. Look for wild mood swings, hostility or abusive behavior. (sounds like this woman maybe???)

  Presence of inhaling and injecting paraphernalia: If you noticed razor blades, mirrors, straws, syringes, spoons or surgical tubing, this is a clear sign of drug abuse — and a cry for help.

  Withdrawal from family and friends: Look for deteriorating relationships with family members and friends. May be depressed or exhibit a lack of enthusiasm — and not share or express themselves as they used to.

  Loss of interest in school and extracurricular activities: Meth is highly addictive, and many users spend most of their free time looking for another way to find more of the drug. Therefore, interests that were once very important may all of a sudden seem insignificant.

  Problems at school: This can include slipping grades, absenteeism and decreased motivation.

  Missing valuables: From stealing cash from your wallet to swiping valuables like jewelry and heirlooms to pawn for money to purchase more drugs.

  Long-Term Use Can Result In:
  Dependence: Can’t function in their day-to-day activities without meth, they are dependent - and possibly addicted.

  Addiction psychosis: This can include a number of disturbing behaviors:
  Hallucinations
  Paranoia
  Mood disturbances
  Repetitive motor activity
  Might talk to people who aren’t there or become so paranoid that they won’t leave the house.

  Severe anorexia: Some take meth to lose weight, and become dependant on the drug. The weight loss can be rather quick and drastic - leaving them looking unhealthy and skeleton-thin.

  Memory loss: Meth is very toxic and can affect the brain so much that the user may begin to show symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s.

  Stroke, liver or heart failure: Meth puts the body in overdrive, which can fatally damage one’s internal organs.

  ** In all cases of meth use, a user may experience a loss of inhibitions and a false sense of control and confidence, which can lead to dangerous behavior.

  Notice the parts where it mentions aggression and hallucinations? She was a user, therefore, her battered woman’s defense is not relevant, because using meth can cause her to do these things to herself and others! Hope you find yourself more educated from this! You’ll also find pictures on that same sight of extreme meth users, and I’m sure I can find you other pictures if you need them! I rest my case!

• youaretheloosers
  Sep 9, 2007 at 5:27 pm

  I AM SO GLAD EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT THIS CASE AND HER ROLE IN IT. ARE YOU THE JURY? SOUNDS LIKE SPECULATION TO ME. AND HOW DARE YOU DOWN HER FAMILY. THEY MAY BE VERY DECENT PEOPLE. IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT.

• Ihavekidstoo
  Sep 9, 2007 at 6:49 pm

  Ya know, all the drug addicted losers and bleeding hearts who make excuses for them would like us all to think kids from good families are as likely to become abusive drug addicts as kids from families where abuse and drug use are commonplace. You can lie all you want with statistics, but people still recognize B.S. when they smell it.

  Like the old saying goes “the apple never falls far from the tree.”

  But apparently, I don’t know as much about this case as Imarie and “Youaretheloosers.” Maybe because they fell off the same apple tree as Acosta and Martinez.

• Susan
  Sep 9, 2007 at 7:42 pm

  oh so now I suppose this dude had her family and friends afraid for their lives as well? Please!!! I was 17 years old when I went to stay with my aunt and uncle for a summer. Considering I had an abusive mother, I knew the signs of abuse all too well! My uncle would never do anything abusive towards my aunt in public, if anything, in public he would say a few smartass remarks to her or about her, but that was all! Then one night I came back early from using their car to go into town (they lived in a rural area outside of town), and as I came up to the front door, I heard yelling inside, so I let myself in quietly. When I came into the kitchen, I saw my aunt backed up against the sink, and my uncle was smacking her! He’s a big dude, and she’s a little small thing, and of course, I wasn’t much bigger myself (I was 115 lbs going against a 250 solid built 6foot man!). I yelled at him to stop, and as he turned, I shoved her behind me and stood in between. I looked him dead in his eyes and told him to go ahead and hit me if he was man enough. He said “your my niece, I can’t hit you”, and I told him “she’s your wife, you can’t hit her!” He kept telling me to mind my own business and get out of the way, I told him to go to hell and that if he was so tough he could fight me (he was my blood uncle!). He got pissed and stormed out the door, didn’t come back till morning. When he got back, she told him she was going to go file for a divorce, so, he went to her car and removed some wires thinking she would be stuck at the house with the car not running and he left! Dumbass didn’t realize I’m no fool, and I used a spark plug wire to get the car started (it replaced the wire he had removed!), we started the car, went into town, she filed her papers, and when we got back to the house, imagine his surprise first off to not only find us driving the car, BUT also when she laid the divorce papers down in front of him! He has never laid a hand on her since, and she now stands up to him when he starts to get a little out of line running his mouth!

  The point of my story…..I was 17 and not afraid to stand up to someone who was abusing someone else! I’m not doubting whether her parents are decent people or not, what I’m doubting is her family and friends decisions not to get involved and do more to if anything, at least get the child out of the home! I’ve had several friends who’s spouses were abusive, and as soon as the arguing would start, I would take off with the kids and keep them overnight, and it wasn’t long before mom got up the courage to leave the ass as well! No, I don’t consider myself a badass, I am usually very quiet and keep to myself at home, BUT, I won’t tolerate someone I know being abused, much less their children being abused as well! Her family and friends apparently could have done more before it got to this extent! I know what battered women’s defense is, SHE is not a victim but a participating party to what has happened! I just can’t believe that family and friends didn’t step up sooner!! If the shoe fits, then wear it!

• rockdoll_71
  Nov 15, 2007 at 4:41 am

  Has anyone heard about any updates? I hope neither one of them ever sees the outside of a jail cell again.

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