Few left unscathed in Arambula trial, which cleared lawmaker of child cruelty charge

California state Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, center, with his attorneys Margarita Martinez-Baly and Michael Aed as his not-guilty verdict is read Thursday.

Arambula is the son of Juan Arambula, a well-known local politician, and represents a safe Democratic seat in the Central Valley, a region of the state historically known for its conservative leanings. Smittcamp is a registered Republican and the daughter-in-law of a prominent local GOP donor, but has denied that politics played any role in her choice to try the case.

Arambula maintained his innocence from the time of his arrest through the end of the trial. The assemblyman took an unpaid leave of absence after Smittcamp charged him with willful cruelty to a child on March 12, three months after he was arrested. Child Protective Services removed his children from the family home for two days to conduct an investigation after his arrest. As part of his legal strategy, Arambula, his wife and other family members testified about his daughter’s difficult behavior in an effort by his defense attorneys to persuade the jury that she lied to authorities.

“I think he does have a little bit of work to get his political career back on track because there certainly has been a considerable amount of negative publicity and a lot of people attacking him from the right without legitimate cause,” said Michael Evans, chairman of the Fresno County Democratic Party.Rich McIntyre, Arambula’s former campaign manager, agreed that the lawmaker’s future might not be unconditionally bright, but called the case “a hiccup” and said “he probably moves past it.

Martinez-Baly and the defense team criticized what they described as an insufficient police investigation during the trial. The defense said Child Protective Services allowed the children to return home two days after Arambula’s arrest and closed the case in March, citing insufficient evidence of physical abuse, because they conducted a more extensive investigation.

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