The Scotts Bluff County District Court jury in the child abuse trial of Carlos and Jennifer Herrera deliberated for about 2 hours Friday night, then decided to return Saturday morning at 7:00 to resume its work.

The Herreras are charged with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury to their son, who was 5 when they were arrested in October 2011. Their trial began Monday

In her closing remarks, prosecutor Tiffany Wasserburger reminded the jury of the several medical experts who testified that the boy’s development was far behind where it should have been…a situation they blamed on pyscho-social dwarfism, which is caused by an environment that stall progress.

Wasserburger displayed 2 photos during her summation: one showing the boy at 5 with a protruding stomach, bruises, and a rash and the other taken 18-months later that showed him 9″ taller with no visible problems.

Wasserburger said the boy had also become more responsive and interactive, and had done better at school since being in state care…with doctors finding no medical or genetic reasons for the changes.

Defense attorney Jeremy Jorgenson told the jury the Herrera case was “ordinary people getting steamrolled” by child abuse system run amok. Jorgenson and co-counsel David McDonald said the boy has had medical issues since birth that were responsible for the problems the state blames on child abuse.

McDonald called the case a “perfect storm” and a “presumption of guilt” by the medical community, and said improper suggestive questioning by child protection investigators during repeated interviews led the Herrera children to eventually change their answers and make accusations of abuse.

Jennifer Herrera testified during the last day of the trial, emphatically proclaiming that she and her husband were innocent and that local child protection officials “robbed us of our family, destroyed our family,” with “everything taken away due to false allegations.”

Herrera said her son was a fussy child who had many food allergies, suffered from a severe case of eczema that resulted in rashes and marks on his body, was developmentally slow, did not start walking until he was 18 months old, and has balance issues that cause him to fall a lot and suffer in injuries.

She admitted she couldn’t explain how had a broken leg when checked at a Kansas hospital when he was 7 weeks old, and said she got to the point she was afraid to take him to the emergency room because of repeated interviews about possible abuse.

She called video recordings of her son being interviewed “appalling and horrific”…with him vomiting and crying during questioning.

Herrera also admitted she lied to police and a social services worker about her son’s whereabouts when the investigation that led to her arrest began, saying she was afraid her children would be taken away.

She also said couldn’t explain a shoe print on her son’s face when police did find him, and maintained that his injuries, including bruises and a black eye, came from a fall down the stairs the previous weekend.