12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, July 29, 2010

For months, Abneris Santiago lived an apparently normal life, doing nothing to stop the abuse and starvation her children endured as they were trapped in a putrid motel bathroom with barely enough food to stay alive.

But at her trial Wednesday, Santiago asked the judge to excuse her from the courtroom so she didn't have to hear the painful details.

The request came as the jury was on a break from watching a two-hour video interview where Santiago's 11-year-old daughter was telling a forensic interviewer about how she was raped by her mother's boyfriend and slowly starved.

Judge John Nelms paused before answering the request, which was made through Santiago's attorney, James Jamison. Dallas County prosecutors Eren Price and Carmen White seemed puzzled, as were those watching the trial.

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