Manslaughter Sentence In Abuse Case

After weeks of gruesome testimony, a jury cleared a man yesterday of murder charges in the torture and slaying of his 7-year-old stepdaughter, instead finding him guilty of manslaughter and other lesser charges.

The verdict at the Brooklyn trial of Cesar Rodriguez spared him a possible sentence of life in prison in a child abuse case that shocked the city and prompted child welfare reforms.

It also was a blow to prosecutors, who had portrayed the defendant as a depraved disciplinarian who killed the tiny, malnourished girl, Nixzmary Brown, over some missing yogurt.

Rodriguez faces a maximum 25 years at his sentencing April 3; the jury of two men and 10 women also convicted him of endangering the welfare of the child and criminal possession of a weapon, including a belt used to beat Nixzmary.

"We would have liked to up the charge," said one juror, Terrence Cobwell. "But the prosecution didn't really give us enough."

Deliberations, which spanned four days, were "tense," Mr. Cobwell added. "I mean, the whole trial was tense. ... We just wanted justice for the little girl."