JUDGE ORDERS GLENDALE PARENTS TO TRIAL IN DEATH OF FOSTER CHILD.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

A Glendale couple who county officials once described as model caretakers were ordered to stand trial Thursday on murder charges in connection with the death of their 19-month-old foster child, Julio Gonzalez.

Maria and Fernando Paz were ordered bound over for arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court by Glendale Municipal Court Judge Barbara Burke, who cited serious head and other injuries suffered by the baby boy while he was in the couple's care.

``The autopsy report attributes the cause of death to multiple injuries, including head trauma,'' Burke said. ``I think any caretaker of a child who has suffered three fractures in eight weeks . . . would have to take notice that something was amiss.''

Both the toddler's arms showed signs of untreated fractures up to 2 months old at the time of his Dec. 29 death, providing further evidence of abuse in the home, Burke said.

Maria and Fernando Paz have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At the couple's arraignment in January, Fernando Paz's lawyer, H. Russell Halpern, said the child choked on a carrot and lost consciousness, and that Fernando Paz tried to save him using CPR.

On Thursday, Robert Schwartz, the lawyer for Maria Paz, said Julio and his twin brother were born addicted to crack cocaine and were in poor health when they were placed at 13 months of age under the couple's care.

``(Julio) was in terrible shape, anemic, undernourished, with a yellow coloring,'' Schwartz said.

During the three-day preliminary hearing, Deputy Prosecutor Cheri Lewis contended that Gonzalez died from shaken baby syndrome.

Susan Selser, deputy medical examiner, testified that an autopsy uncovered multiple injuries including fatal head injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.

In addition, Selser described bruises all over the boy's body, saying there were external and internal injuries to his head, eyes, lips, face, back and right knee.

A forensic radiologist concluded that Gonzalez's arms had been broken in the eight weeks before his death, based on the degree of healing that had occurred in the interim.

Officials with the Linden Center, which has a contract with the county to hire and monitor foster parents, said social workers who visited the home on a weekly basis noted a bruise on the boy's cheek the week before he died, but no other visible marks.

``It's as much of a mystery to us. We were just there all the time,'' said Dr. Ron Ricker, director of the Linden Center in an interview Thursday. ``We didn't see anything that would go along with what they're saying (in court).''

At the preliminary hearing both Halpern and Schwartz asked Selser how much shaking is necessary to cause a fatal injury.

``When does it become an innocent act as opposed to a criminal act?'' Halpern said after court Thursday. ``The coroner couldn't say how much force was needed to cause those types of injuries.''

Selser said in court that shaken baby syndrome generally involves rapid and violent shaking.

Gonzalez's death rallied Los Angeles County officials and others, who called for reform of the county's foster care system. A couple of months later, county supervisors ordered its Department of Children and Family Services to draft a series of recommendations intended to tighten up oversight.