Robins v. State

• Decision Date: 19 September 1990
• Docket Number: No. 20064,20064
• Citation: 798 P.2d 558,106 Nev. 611
• Parties: Charles Lamont ROBINS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Nevada, Respondent.
• Court: Nevada Supreme Court

Page 558

798 P.2d 558

106 Nev. 611

Charles Lamont ROBINS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Nevada, Respondent.

No. 20064.

Supreme Court of Nevada.

Sept. 19, 1990.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 18, 1990.

Morgan D. Harris, Public Defender, and Stephen J. Dahl, Deputy Public Defender, Las Vegas, for appellant.

Brian McKay, Atty. Gen., Carson City, Rex Bell, Dist. Atty., and James Tufteland and Bradford R. Jerbic, Deputy Dist. Attys., Las Vegas, for respondent.

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Appellant, Charles Lamont Robins (Robins), raises numerous issues on appeal that he contends warrant a reversal of his convictions for first degree murder and felony child abuse with substantial bodily harm. Robins also contests the validity of his death sentence. Our review of the record persuades us that Robins was fairly tried and sentenced. We therefore affirm.

The Facts

The evidence adduced at trial demonstrated a pattern of abusive treatment of eleven-month-old Brittany Smith (Brittany) by Robins, who was living with the child and her mother, Lovell McDowell. This abusive treatment by Robins ultimately resulted in the infant's untimely and brutally violent death.

Several witnesses testified concerning Robins' abusive treatment of Brittany. Evidence indicated that Robins regularly punched and kicked Brittany. He often held his hand over her mouth and nose until she gasped for breath. On several occasions Robins held Brittany underwater in the bathtub until she came up gasping for breath. One witness observed an occasion when Robins caused the infant to turn blue from lack of breath. Robins frequently shut Brittany in a dark bathroom for several hours at a time. Once he was seen holding the infant over a second floor railing by her neck and shaking her. Other incidents of abuse by Robins included putting Brittany on the top shelf of a closet (some six feet above the floor), closing the door, and letting her fall to the floor. Robins would also force his finger down Brittany's throat and cause her to gag. One witness testified that Robins frequently repeated this abuse until the child could no longer gag and ceased crying.

At one point Brittany suffered a broken leg, for which medical treatment was delayed. The child's fracture was evidenced by a painful knot on her leg. Initially, neither Robins nor the mother sought treatment for the infant; however, after the knot reappeared and became quite painful, Brittany was taken to the hospital. Radiographs revealed that Brittany's right femur was fractured and that callus had formed, which meant the fracture was from ten to fourteen days old. Moreover, an examination of the radiographs also showed the presence of a previous partially healed fracture that occurred ten to twenty days earlier. Brittany's condition required her placement in a body cast. A witness recounted seeing Robins swing Brittany by the cross-bar of her cast (the body cast extended from Brittany's waist down her legs, with a cross-bar between the legs).

Over a period of time, several reports were received by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's (LVMPD) child abuse unit concerning Brittany. However, follow-up investigations failed to uncover the extent of the abuse in the home and no remedial action was ever taken. Brittany's mother, Lovell McDowell, was interviewed concerning the child's broken leg. McDowell falsely explained at the time that the injury was caused by babysitters, whose whereabouts in California were unknown.

The events leading to Brittany's death occurred in the early morning hours of April 19, 1988. The details of that morning were supplied by several witnesses.

McDowell testified that on the night Brittany died, the child was sleeping and she and Robins finished eating around 12:30 a.m. Thereafter, she fell asleep but was soon awakened by sounds of gagging or choking. She hollered to Robins, "What's wrong with Brittany?" He responded, "nothing wrong." The mother arose and encountered Robins, who was holding Brittany, in the hallway. She then returned to the room to get Brittany a towel when she heard Robins hollering, "Brittany, come on. Brittany, wake up. Wake up Brittany." McDowell immediately dialed 911 and thereafter ran into the parking lot of their apartment complex, screaming that her baby had stopped breathing. An Air Force Sergeant heard the screams and sought to help the child by performing CPR. The security guard called the LVMPD and paramedics were also immediately summoned.

The paramedics rushed Brittany to the hospital where measures were taken to restore breathing and a heartbeat. The infant could not be revived, however, and was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival.

A LVMPD officer responding to a call met Robins outside the apartment at approximately 2:30 a.m. Robins was given a Miranda warning, following which he gave the officer a brief statement recounting the events of the evening. Later a homicide detective with the LVMPD was dispatched to Robins' apartment in reference to an infant's death. A taped statement was taken from Robins and following an investigation, Robins was arrested for Brittany's murder.

A medical examiner's autopsy investigation revealed a number of injuries, some of which were substantially more recent than others. The external exam revealed bruises under Brittany's jaw, bruises on the upper portion of her sternum and a number of bruises on her back. Additionally, there was a small hemorrhage in the left flank. The internal examination uncovered a number of injuries. First, there were multiple hemorrhages in the scalp on the left side and top of the head and there were bilateral subdural hemorrhages. The brain was swollen (a direct response to injury). Further internal examination of the abdominal and thoracic cavities revealed additional injuries. There were a number of hemorrhages in the mesentery (supporting connective tissue) of the intestines. Additionally, there was substantial internal scarring on the left side below the kidney. The scar tissue encased the ureter, and extended from the kidney down to the large intestine.

Dr. Hollander's microscopic examination of the scar tissue revealed numerous injuries. There were fresh hemorrhages, granulation tissue (the body's first reaction to injury in the healing process), and fibrous (scar) tissue which takes approximately six weeks from the initial injury to form. The medical examiner noted that Brittany's right femur showed signs of having been broken in the past. She had to reference Brittany's medical records to ascertain that the leg had been broken twice and was in the process of healing.

Finally, the autopsy revealed that Brittany had suffered a transverse separation of her eleventh thoracic vertebra (a broken back). It was the examiner's opinion that this injury was the result of substantial blunt force trauma that was administered less than twenty-four hours prior to Brittany's death.

In conclusion, the medical examiner opined that CPR, even if improperly performed, could not have caused Brittany's injuries. She was of the opinion that Brittany was a battered child and that death was by homicide.

Robins testified on his own behalf. He admitted doing many of the things testified to by the State's witnesses. However, he characterized his actions as rough play, to make Brittany tough. Incredibly, Robins stated that he had no intention of hurting Brittany.

Robins specifically denied ever picking Brittany up by the cross-bar of her body cast. He also denied putting his finger down Brittany's throat to gag her. He did admit to putting his fingers in Brittany's mouth in an effort to prevent her from spitting. Robins testified that he never hit Brittany in the face with his fists with or without jewelry on his hands and denied the existence of the bathtub incidents.

Robins admitted placing Brittany in the bathroom when she cried and company was present. His stated reason for doing so was to persuade her to stop crying. Robins also denied that he had ever picked the child up by her neck as charged by a State's witness. He said that he had picked her up by the arms. Again, he denied any intention of hurting the baby in any of these actions.

Robins also placed a benign connotation on Brittany's experience on the closet shelf. He stated that in an effort to teach Brittany not to crawl off the bed, he put her on the bottom shelf of the closet and allowed her to fall off that shelf. The shelf, according to Robins, was three and one-half inches above the floor. He denied ever placing Brittany on a closet shelf six feet above the floor.

Concerning the events on the night Brittany died, Robins testified in detail. He stated that he and McDowell had been engaged in a "romantic encounter," after which they fell asleep. Robins said he woke up and that following a telephone call, he and McDowell ordered pizza. Robins also stated that McDowell did not go to sleep after eating pizza, as she had testified. Robins said he told McDowell he was going to wake Brittany in order to check on her because she had been congested with a cold and had occasionally vomited.

After Brittany was awake, Robins said he played with her for a few minutes. McDowell called out, telling Robins not to be too long with Brittany. Eventually, Robins kissed Brittany and got up to leave when he heard Brittany cough twice and saw her start to spit up. He said Brittany was breathing rapidly and that he froze, waiting for her to snap out of it. According to Robins, Brittany just stopped breathing. Robins testified that at that point he panicked. He said he yelled, "Brittany, wake up. Brittany, wake up." In an effort to awaken her, Robins threw water in her face but she was still unresponsive. At that point he laid her back down and tried to apply CPR.

Robins spoke freely with the police and stated that he told them to the best of his knowledge what had occurred. Robins said he loved Brittany like a daughter, and while...