Man Convicted In Infant Son's Death

ORTONVILLE, Minn. (AP) -- A southwest Minnesota man has been convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his infant son.

The Public Opinion newspaper reports that Judge Gerald Seibel issued the verdict Tuesday after a trial that lasted eight days over a span of nearly three weeks.

Twenty-year-old Zachary Raffety, of Ortonville, was charged in the October 2009 death of 3-month-old Avory Raffety, who died in a Sioux Falls, S.D., hospital. Authorities determined the baby's death was the result of head trauma, possibly from being shaken.

The judge rejected defense arguments that physical factors such as premature birth might have led to the death. He also found Raffety not guilty of more serious first-degree murder charges.

Raffety is to be sentenced Dec. 21.

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