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Charges dropped in 'nanny cam' case

Prosecutors and defense lawyers agree that videotape of a woman shaking a baby is unreliable.

FORT LAUDERDALE - All charges were dropped Monday against a former nanny accused of violently shaking a baby girl because of questions about the accuracy of a "nanny cam" that captured the event in 2003.

Prosecutors announced their decision not to pursue the case against Claudia Muro on the day jury selection was scheduled to begin. Muro, a Peruvian migrant who did not have proper documentation, had faced up to 40 years in prison on eight counts of child abuse.

Both prosecutors and defense lawyers said the video inside the hidden camera did not accurately portray what happened to a then-5-month-old Hollywood, Fla. girl in October 2003. The girl, Lauren Schwartz, was not seriously injured by the alleged shaking, which was broadcast on television around the country.

"There is not going to be a trial since the state had no good-faith basis for going forward," said Allison Gilman, attorney for Muro, 32.

Broward County prosecutors said experts concluded that the nanny cam videotape was not reliable as evidence because it was time-lapsed, meaning movements that appeared to show rough shaking might not have been as violent as they appeared. Muro also consistently denied any wrongdoing.

"There just wasn't anything there to give us a reasonable expectation of securing a guilty verdict in court, which is what is required for us to proceed," said Ron Ishoy, spokesman for the State Attorney's Office.

The girl's parents said in a statement that they still think their daughter was abused, saying they stand behind the camera's portrayal of events "110 percent."

"We thank God every day for that video and that we caught the nanny when we did," Brett and Jennifer Schwartz said.

News reports when Muro was arrested quoted a police report as saying video from the nanny cam showed Murio raising the baby girl above her head and "slamming her on the floor three or possibly four times."

Another clip showed Muro holding the girl up and shaking her, causing her head to snap back and forth several times, police said at the time.

The Schwartzes said they installed the cameras after their daughter started crying and squirming when she was turned over to Muro.

Muro, who has been in custody since her arrest on Oct. 9, 2003, still faces an immigration hearing on whether she can remain in the United States and was not immediately released from the Broward County jail. Gilman said she was optimistic that Muro would eventually be freed to rejoin her husband and family.

[Last modified March 7, 2006, 01:13:07]