Father defends choice to remove life support

An emotional Scott Juceam defended his and his wife's decision in an Auburn courtroom Thursday to pull his 16-month-old daughter Hannah Rose Juceam off life-support last year after she received brain injuries from an alleged shaking by her nanny. "The doctor told us that it was no longer Hannah," Juceam said, fighting back tears. "Her brain was wiped out; it's gone."Juceam said the doctor then showed him and his wife Lorena a photo of a healthy brain, as well as one of Hannah's."He said Hannah will never, ever live a life that we thought," Juceam saidJuceam testified during the murder trial of Veronica Martinez Salcedo, 36, who is charged with assault causing death to a child, which carries a sentence of 25 years to life.Salcedo has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder and the trial started last week. Testimony is expected to continue this week in Auburn.Juceam told the 12-member jury he left for work at about 6:15 a.m. May 11 and he didn't see Hannah that morning.The night before, Juceam said he saw nothing unusual about Hannah and that he changed her diapers and played with her on the floor.Asked if he had ever shaken Hannah or slammed her against a surface, hard or soft, Juceam replied, "Never." Juceam said he would have never pulled Hannah off life support if there was any doubt she would recover."We trusted the doctors," Juceam said. "We made what we thought was the right decision at that time. (We didn't want) our daughter to be a vegetable for the rest of her life."The prosecution contended in opening statements last week Hannah died from traumatic brain injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.The defense contends Hannah's brain was still active when her parents, Scott and Lorena Juceam decided to take her off life support days after she was admitted to the hospital.Defense attorney Mary Beth Acton briefly asked Juceam about his past Thursday.Asked if he had any previous criminal convictions, Juceam replied, "I have never been convicted of a crime."Acton preceded to show Juceam a copy of a report indicting he had been placed on probation in 1996 for a misdemeanor crime - driving without a license.Juceam said he did not remember the incident until, "this second."He later recalled he had served 10 hours of community service for a helmet violation. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx