Hill v. State

Decision Date28 January 2015
Docket NumberNo. 14–0004.,14–0004.
Citation862 N.W.2d 414 (Table)
PartiesPaul James HILL, Applicant–Appellant, v. STATE of Iowa, Respondent–Appellee.
CourtIowa Court of Appeals

862 N.W.2d 414 (Table)

Paul James HILL, Applicant–Appellant
v.
STATE of Iowa, Respondent–Appellee.

No. 14–0004.

Court of Appeals of Iowa.

Jan. 28, 2015.


Hannah M. Vellinga and Rodney D. Vellinga of Corbett, Anderson, Corbett, Vellinga & Irvin, L.L.P., for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Linda J. Hines, Assistant Attorney General, Patrick J. Jennings, County Attorney, and Jill Esteves, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

Considered by VAITHESWARAN, P.J., and DOYLE and McDONALD, JJ.

Opinion

McDONALD, J.

Paul Hill appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief. In his application for postconviction relief, Hill challenged his conviction for child endangerment resulting in death, in violation of Iowa Code section 726.6(1) (2009). The conviction arose out of the death of Hill's child, T.H. Hill contends the postconviction court erred in concluding Hill was not prejudiced within the meaning of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), by trial counsel's failure to move to suppress statements Hill made to the police.

I.

T.H. was born to Hill and Kayla Hegge in October 2008, and deceased on February 17, 2009. The record reflects the child was ill but recuperating prior to death. During the morning of February 12, 2009, T.H. burped or vomited blood and two blood clots while being fed by the parents' childcare provider. T.H. was taken to the doctor and found to have a slightly elevated temperature, fever, chills, and a cough. T.H. was diagnosed with bronchitis and placed on antibiotics. T.H. slept more than usual that day and also had trouble feeding, each feed lasting three times longer than normal and interspersed with gagging. The following day, T.H.'s blood work had normalized, but her fever had slightly increased. Hegge stayed home with T.H. On February 15, T.H. resumed more normal feeding patterns. Hegge felt T.H. was well enough on the morning of February 16 to return to daycare. T.H. went to daycare on the 16th without incident.

On the 17th Hegge left for work early in the morning, and Hill prepared to take T.H. to daycare, which was the parents' usual practice. T.H. appeared fine to Hegge at the time Hegge left for work. The facts and circumstances surrounding T.H.'s death were described in Hill's direct appeal:

On the morning of February 17, 2009, Hill was alone with his four-month-old daughter, T.H., at the Sioux City home he shared with T.H.'s mother, Kayla. Hill called Kayla twice at work around 8:10 a.m. Kayla did not answer, but called him back at 8:14 a.m. Hill said T.H. was gasping for breath. Kayla told him to call 911. Hill called 911 at 8:21 a.m.:
HILL: My four-year-old daughter, she's not—she has a pulse, but she's taking like six seconds or something between breaths and she's not really responding and she's really limp.
OPERATOR: Okay. Do you know what happened to her?
HILL: I don't know. I was putting her in the car seat to go to work, and she was gasping like noise breathing out.
Kayla and her mother arrived home as Hill was talking to the 911 operator. T.H. was on the floor. Firefighters soon arrived and began treating T.H. Paramedics arrived and transported her to Mercy Medical Center, where she was admitted at 8:40 a.m. She was then life-flighted to the Children's Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. T.H. was pronounced dead at 3:18 p.m. Her death was the result of lacerations to the mesenteric artery. She also had rib fractures and subdural hemorrhaging.
At approximately 6:00 p.m. that evening, Hill spoke with Sioux City police detectives Ryan Bertrand and Bruce Hokel, as well as Iowa Department of Human Services worker Chantel Rol, in the hospital break room. Detective Bertrand immediately read Hill his Miranda rights and asked if he understood those rights. Hill said he understood and agreed to speak to the group.
After some preliminary questions, Hill described his morning with T.H. After he got himself ready for work, Hill picked T.H. up from her bassinet and changed her diaper. Her stool was liquidy, but she was not fussy. While changing her diaper, Hill noticed “a big bruise” on T.H.'s stomach. Hill stated, “[S]he's making this like crying face, but she's not crying. And it seemed like she was breathing okay.” Hill continued to explain:
[S]he was—her head was going back and forth like this and—well, I picked her up. She kind of took a deep breath. And when I laid her, I held her like this [on his shoulder with her head up] and ... grabbed the car seat, put it on the table. And when I laid her down, she did a gasp like [imitating], like that. And, wow, that's kind of—she's never done that before. I was like—kind of messed around with her a little bit. She kind of was looking around, bobbing her head back and forth. And when I took her out, she was limp. Then she started kind of losing color in her lips. And that's when I laid her on the couch. And from there I don't know why I tried calling Kayla again. It wouldn't pick up. And then she called.
Detectives Bertrand and Hokel told Hill his version of the events did not coincide with what the doctors were saying had happened to T.H. At that time, doctors believed T.H.'s spleen had been injured. The detectives pressed Hill to tell the truth and often asked questions together. The manner of the questioning was hostile, intimidating, and demanding. Hill maintained he did not do anything, but also stated that no one else could have been responsible for T.H.'s injuries. He repeatedly denied hurting the child.
After approximately four and a half hours, Hill admitted his involvement in T.H.'s injuries and death. He stated that he had gotten frustrated with T.H.'s snowsuit that “was too bulky” and the carseat that “wouldn't buckle,” and admitted he might have hit or pushed too hard on T.H. while he was trying to buckle her in the car seat. He explained that as he was trying to buckle the car seat, he “grabbed it, and it was—I don't think I did it too hard, but I just did it real quick.” He later admitted that “frustration” hit him for a “split second” and he “definitely did it too hard ... [t]here's no maybes about it.” He also said he “freaked out” afterwards and may have shaken T.H. to try to revive her. Hill insisted he was not mad at T.H. and had not purposely tried to hurt her. He asked detectives what was going to happen to him and how long he was going to go to prison. He apologized for not admitting what had happened earlier and explained that he “never really thought till you mentioned the car seat. It hit me. I was just scared. Did you go tell my parents?”
The next day, Dr. Thomas Carroll, the county medical examiner, performed an autopsy on T.H. Dr. Carroll observed three bruises on T.H.'s abdomen. When he opened T.H.'s abdomen, he discovered a large volume of blood and two lacerations to T.H.'s mysentery [sic]. Dr. Carroll opined the injuries were the result of blunt force trauma by “some instrument or fist” to T.H. An x-ray indicated several rib fractures, which Dr. Carroll determined occurred several days prior to T.H.'s death. Finally, Dr. Carroll observed a severe, closed-head injury to T.H.'s brain, which he opined occurred at the same time as the mesentery injuries. Dr. Carroll opined T.H.'s death was caused by the laceration to her abdomen, an inflicted injury. However, he further stated T.H. could have died from the closed-head injury alone. Dr. Carroll stated the manner of T.H.'s death was homicide, and “she died from inflicted injury.”

State v. Hill, No. 10–1328, 2011 WL 3688989, at *1–2 (Iowa Ct.App. Aug.24, 2011).

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