People v. Martinez

• Decision Date: 30 June 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02SC152.,02SC152.
• Citation: 74 P.3d 316
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Petitioner, v. Stephen MARTINEZ, Respondent.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

74 P.3d 316

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Petitioner, v. Stephen MARTINEZ, Respondent.

No. 02SC152.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

June 30, 2003.

Rehearing Denied August 18, 2003.¹

Ken Salazar, Attorney General, Katharine J. Gillespie, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, Attorneys for Petitioner The People of the State of Colorado.

David S. Kaplan, Colorado State Public Defender, Alan Kratz, Denver, Colorado, Attorneys for Respondent Stephen Martinez.

Colorado District Attorneys' Council, Miles Madorin, Denver, Colorado, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Colorado District Attorneys' Council.

J. Wallace Wortham, Jr., Denver City Attorney, Laura Grzetic Eibsen, Assistant City Attorney, Denver, Colorado, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Denver Department of Human Services.

H. Patrick Furman, Boulder, Colorado, Attorney for Amicus Curiae Colorado Criminal Defense Bar.

Justice MARTINEZ delivered the Opinion of the Court.

A jury convicted Stephen Martinez of murder in the first degree for knowingly killing Heather Mares, a child under the age of twelve in his care. Martinez violently shook four month-old Heather and slammed her head on the edge of her crib, resulting in her death. Two experts for the prosecution, Dr. Ann Martin and Dr. Patty Rosquist, explained Heather died from blunt force trauma to the head resulting from shaken-impact syndrome²—a vigorous shaking and sudden deceleration of the brain as it strikes an object. The syndrome is characterized by a constellation of injuries, including a subdural hematoma, a collection of blood between the brain and skull. Both experts testified that massive, violent force causes subdural hematomas, and the defense did not contest that testimony.

However, over the defense's objections on the basis of relevance, Dr. Rosquist further testified that babies only suffer subdural hematomas in limited situations such as shaken-impact syndrome or in specific accident scenarios: falls from several-story buildings or in high-speed automobile accidents. The prosecution introduced the accident scenario evidence for two purposes: (1) to give a frame of reference to the impact required to cause a subdural hematoma and; (2) to provide a basis of the expert opinion that massive, violent force causes a subdural hematoma. In rebuttal closing argument, the prosecution, citing Dr. Rosquist's testimony, claimed that the force Martinez used in shaking and slamming Heather was equivalent to that of the accident scenarios.

The court of appeals reversed Martinez's conviction because it found the disputed evidence inadmissible as it was not probative of the minimum force Martinez may have used for purposes of proving that he knowingly killed Heather. People v. Martinez, 51 P.3d 1046, 1051 (Colo.App.2001). The court of appeals did not evaluate whether the evidence was admissible as the basis of Dr. Rosquist's opinion that subdural hematomas result from massive, violent force.

We granted certiorari to consider the prosecution's argument that the court of appeals misapplied this court's decision in People v. Shreck, 22 P.3d 68 (Colo.2001): Dr. Rosquist need not describe the minimum force necessary to cause subdural hematomas in shaken-impact syndrome for testimony regarding accident scenarios to be admissible for the purpose of proving Martinez's mens rea.³ We agree that the standard of admissibility for CRE 702 is reliability and relevance, not certainty.

We evaluate the admissibility of accident scenario evidence under CRE 702 and CRE 403 and in the context for which it is offered. Like the court of appeals, we also find Dr. Rosquist's accident scenario testimony irrelevant to the question of Martinez's mens rea, but not for the reason the court of appeals articulated; rather we find it inadmissible as a frame of reference because Dr. Rosquist did not show how the accident scenarios relate to shaken-impact syndrome.

Nevertheless, the testimony of accident scenarios is admissible under CRE 702 and CRE 403 as the basis of Dr. Rosquist's opinion that a subdural hematoma results from massive, violent force. Assuming that Dr. Rosquist was qualified and her opinion was reliable, we find her testimony was helpful to the jury's understanding of subdural hematomas. Finally, we do not find an abuse of discretion in the trial court's weighing of the probative and prejudicial value of the evidence in dispute. Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE

A jury convicted Stephen Martinez of murder in the first degree for knowingly causing the death of a child who had not yet attained twelve years of age and the person committing the offense was in a position of trust with respect to the child, pursuant to section 18-6-401(7)(c), 6 C.R.S. (2002). While under Martinez's care, Heather Lynn Mares, a four-month old baby, suffered injuries that ultimately led to her death. Martinez is not Heather's father, but was the live-in partner of Heather's mother, Kim Velverde.

In October 1998, while Velverde left Heather with Martinez for fifteen minutes to run a quick errand, Heather began to cry. In response to her incessant crying, Martinez shook Heather hard, and while shaking her, hit the back of her head on her crib. Velverde returned to find Heather being carried to an ambulance parked outside of her home. She was limp and purple. Later that evening, Heather died. Her injuries included a complex skull fracture and two linear bruises on the back of her head; subarachnoid bleeding, bleeding on the surface of the brain; a subdural hematoma, a localized three-dimensional mass of blood between the brain and the skull; and bilateral retinal hemorrhages.

Martinez maintained, in a 911 emergency phone call, in a written statement to an investigating officer, and in a videotaped interrogation, that Heather had suddenly started to choke. In the videotaped interrogation, Martinez explained that Heather's head injuries could have resulted from an accident two weeks earlier in which both he and Heather had fallen together onto the kitchen floor after he tripped on a telephone cord. Prodding by the interrogating officer led Martinez to finally confess that he had shaken Heather hard and hit her head on her crib. In demonstrating to the interrogating officer how he shook Heather, using a doll, Martinez depicted only a light shaking. He also stated that he had never heard of shaken baby syndrome, but responded affirmatively to the interrogating officer's questions, "Do you think it's dangerous to shake a little tiny baby? ... So your action was dangerous in and of itself?"

A. The Jury Trial

At trial, the only material fact at issue was Martinez's culpability, and specifically, whether he shook Heather knowing that his actions were practically certain to cause her death. See § 18-1-501(6), 6 C.R.S. (2002) ("A person acts `knowingly' ... with respect to a result of his conduct, when he is aware that his conduct is practically certain to cause the result."). The defense strategy focused on the fragility of babies, that Martinez only shook Heather with minimal force, and that Heather's head accidentally hit the crib during the shaking. Since only minimal force was used and because babies are fragile, the defense maintained it was impossible for Martinez to know that his actions could lead to her death.

In contrast, the prosecution argued that Martinez, in shaking and slamming Heather, used such massive and violent force that he was practically certain his conduct would cause Heather's death. The prosecution sought to admit evidence on the amount of force used to cause shaken-impact syndrome through the testimony of a deputy coroner, Dr. Ann Martin, who performed Heather's autopsy and the testimony of a pediatrician, Dr. Patty Rosquist. Both experts demonstrated using a doll the biomechanics and amount of force required in shaken-impact syndrome.⁴ In comparison to the shaking and impact that Martinez demonstrated on his videotaped interrogation, Dr. Martin found his demonstration "not sufficient ... not close" to the conduct required to cause Heather's injuries. Dr. Rosquist similarly stated that Martinez's demonstration was inconsistent with the amount of force required to cause the constellation of injuries that Heather suffered.

Both experts also testified that a subdural hematoma, one of the injuries that Heather incurred, requires massive, violent force. The defense did not contest that assertion. When the prosecutor sought further explanation of "massive, violent force" through other real-life accident scenarios, the defense objected on the basis of CRE 403 stating that it was misleading and irrelevant. The prosecutor argued that the evidence was offered to provide the jury with a frame of reference regarding the force Martinez used: It would show jurors "the sort of impact we're talking about." The trial court sustained the defendant's objection based solely on the form of the prosecutor's question, but stated that it would "let the prosecution go into the area of how much force is required to cause this injury." The prosecution was unsuccessful in admitting accident scenario evidence through Dr. Martin.

The prosecution again attempted to introduce accident scenario testimony through Dr. Rosquist. The defense objected again, and the prosecution argued that the evidence served as the basis for the doctor's opinion that subdural hematomas result from massive, violent force and that it provides the jury with a frame of reference. The trial court ultimately allowed the testimony.

Thus, Dr. Rosquist testified that a subdural hematoma rarely occurs and does so only in limited situations: where a baby falls from a several story building; in a high-speed motor vehicle accident either as a pedestrian or where the baby is unrestrained; or when a baby is violently shaken or violently shaken and slammed. However, Dr. Rosquist also testified that the amount of force necessary to...