Beauchamp v. State

• Decision Date: 21 May 2003
• Docket Number: No. 41A05-0110-CR-467.,41A05-0110-CR-467.
• Parties: John BEAUCHAMP, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

788 N.E.2d 881

John BEAUCHAMP, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 41A05-0110-CR-467.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

May 21, 2003.

George Hoffman, III, Michael R. Auger, Jones, Hoffman & Admire, Franklin, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.

Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Richard C. Webster, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

BAKER, Judge.

This case might very well be illustrative of the old maxim, "penny wise and pound foolish,"¹ with regard to whether an indigent defendant should be afforded public funds with which to retain an expert witness. Appellant-defendant John Beauchamp appeals his conviction for Battery Resulting In Serious Bodily Injury,² a class B felony, challenging the denial of his access to medical experts and the trial court's determination that several witnesses called by the State could testify. Beauchamp also urges that certain evidence was improperly admitted because the State had violated the trial court's discovery order and challenges the propriety of his sentence.

FACTS³

The facts most favorable to the verdict are that on August 6, 1998, eleven-month-old Chance Chilton was brought to the Methodist Hospital emergency room in Indianapolis with a skull fracture. Chance's mother, Suzanne Tolbert, as well as Beauchamp, her boyfriend, told the hospital physician that they were at home when they heard a thump in the baby's room followed by crying. While Tolbert's mother informed the doctor of her suspicion that the child had been abused, no report was made because Tolbert and Beauchamp's version of the events was consistent with the injuries that Chance sustained that day.

Thereafter, on September 6, 1998, Scott Alexander, an Emergency Medical Technician with the local fire department, was dispatched to Tolbert's residence following a report that an infant was not breathing. When Alexander arrived, he observed another paramedic rendering treatment to Chance.

Beauchamp initially told Alexander that the baby had just stopped breathing. However, Beauchamp then explained to other paramedics that Chance had hit his head on a desk in the bedroom. As various medical personnel attempted to stabilize Chance's head, Alexander felt the back of the baby's head and observed that it was soft and mushy. Chance was then placed on a backboard and transported to Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis.

When the police interviewed Beauchamp, he told them that he had picked Chance up from his crib and tripped over a beanbag chair. Beauchamp then indicated that he fell forward and Chance hit the back of his head on a desk. At one point, an officer with the Johnson County Sheriff's Department requested Beauchamp to demonstrate how the incident had occurred. Beauchamp indicated that when he fell, Chance's head was resting on his chest. Beauchamp then stated, however, that he had prevented Chance from hitting his head during the fall. Each time Beauchamp demonstrated to the officer how the incident occurred, his version of the events differed.

After Chance arrived at Wishard Hospital, a CT scan was performed. The test revealed fractures to the skull and Chance's brain density appeared abnormal and unusually dark. It was also discovered that Chance had a subdural hematoma over the surface of the brain near the top of his skull and his brain was swollen. Moreover, it was discovered that Chance had sustained a number of spinal injuries.

Chance eventually underwent surgery to have a blood clot removed and pressure relieved from the skull. However, Chance died from his injuries and an autopsy was performed. Blood was found inside Chance's eyes and both optic nerves were swollen. The results of the autopsy revealed that Chance died from blunt force injuries that had been inflicted upon his head and spine. The injuries were determined to be severe enough to cause brain swelling and brain death. It was ultimately concluded that the force necessary to cause such injuries was greater than a two-story fall and could have resulted from slamming Chance into a wall. Thus, Chance could not have been injured in this fashion by falling out of a crib. Additionally, the physician who performed the autopsy determined that those types of injuries could not have been sustained if Chance had fallen to the floor in Beauchamp's arms. In light of these findings, child abuse was implicated and the cause of Chance's death was ruled a homicide.

Beauchamp was arrested on September 21, 1998, and charged with battery as a class B felony, involuntary manslaughter as a class C felony, and reckless homicide as a class C felony. Prior to trial, Beauchamp filed a number of motions with the trial court requesting public funds that would enable him to retain expert witnesses to testify on his behalf. While Beauchamp had initially retained private counsel to represent him in this case from the time that the charges had been filed and members of his family had paid nearly $12,000 in legal fees,⁴ as of November 23, 1999, Appellant's App. p. 234, his appellate counsel at oral argument before this court acknowledged that his trial lawyers ultimately undertook pro bono representation of Beauchamp.

In each of the motions requesting expert witness fees, Beauchamp maintained that he was indigent and argued that such funds were necessary because the evidence to be adduced at trial was complex and pointed out that the State had identified thirteen physicians that it intended to call at trial. Beauchamp alleged that the case called for extensive review and analysis of medical records, literature and concepts that were far beyond the purview of legal counsel. Thus, he argued that expert assistance was required and would be used for the purpose of advising defense counsel of the evidence that would be offered by the State and to aid in the preparation of appropriate cross-examination in specialized areas of medicine. In each instance, although the trial court determined that Beauchamp was indigent, it concluded that he failed to show that such experts were necessary. The trial court entered an order on October 14, 1999, denying three of Beauchamp's requests for expert witness funds. However, the trial court also noted that it had approved an appropriation of $3500 on December 19, 2000, to be paid to Beauchamp's counsel representing the costs incurred in taking the depositions of six witnesses. After that date, Beauchamp obtained a loan from family members in the amount of $7500 that was "primarily used to engage the services of an expert witness, Dr. Jan Leestma." Appellant's App. p. 438. After filing yet another request for funds, the trial court denied that motion on June 18, 2001. It found that Beauchamp's family had expended a total of approximately $25,000 for his defense. Appellant's App. p. 438. Notwithstanding such findings, the judge approved an allowance of $1500 to Beauchamp for the "purpose of utilizing an expert in framing questions to [one of the physicians]" in that same June 18 order. Appellant's App. p. 441. In all other respects, his requests for funding were denied.

At some point during the trial that commenced on July 17, 2001, the court allowed Dr. Mary Edwards-Brown to testify for the State during its case-in-chief. It was revealed that Beauchamp had retained Dr. Edwards-Brown and consulted with her at some point during the discovery process regarding various defense strategies and theories that he might present at trial. Beauchamp's counsel subsequently decided not to identify her on the witness list, but she was listed by the State in spite of her prior consultation with Beauchamp's counsel regarding the merits of the case.

Also during the trial, the court permitted Dr. Thomas Luerssen to testify as a rebuttal witness for the State. The trial court had issued a pretrial discovery order essentially requiring both parties to disclose the names and addresses of expert witnesses, as well as reports or summaries of their expected testimony. At some point prior to trial, Beauchamp's counsel had deposed Dr. Luerssen regarding the injuries that Chance had sustained. Dr. Luerssen essentially formed no opinion as to how Chance was injured. It was Beauchamp's theory of defense that Chance's death was the result of the injuries he sustained in August, in addition to those that occurred on September 6. Thereafter, during rebuttal testimony that Dr. Luerssen presented at trial, he offered opinions that were new and substantially different from those he had provided in the deposition. Specifically, Dr. Luerssen was of the opinion that Chance's injuries could not have been caused by a fall from a crib and that they had likely been intentionally inflicted. Even though the State had listed Dr. Luerssen as a potential witnesses, it had not provided any reports or summaries of his expected testimony to Beauchamp's counsel that differed from the deposition testimony.

The State also attempted to introduce certain photographs of Chance at trial that had not been supplied to Beauchamp's counsel until the fifth day of the trial—a clear violation of the discovery order. Those photographs showed Chance playing on a slide and swinging on park equipment at a family gathering just prior to the fatal injuries. Even though the trial court initially excluded some of the photos from evidence because of the State's discovery violation, it later reasoned that the pictures could be offered because one of Beauchamp's defense witnesses, Jessica Miller, had "opened the door" when she testified in narrative form that they had put Chance "on swings and took pictures and everything." Tr. p. 2239-40.

Beauchamp's jury trial concluded on July 26, 2001, and he was convicted on the battery charge. Thereafter, Beauchamp was sentenced to a twenty-year term of imprisonment and he now appeals.

Because we reverse on the issue regarding the admission of the rebuttal testimony that was offered by the...