State v. Byrd

• Decision Date: 09 August 1983
• Docket Number: No. 159A83,159A83
• Citation: 309 N.C. 132,305 S.E.2d 724
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Sheree Vonelle Suddreth BYRD and Joseph Allen Byrd.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Page 724

305 S.E.2d 724

309 N.C. 132

STATE of North Carolina v. Sheree Vonelle Suddreth BYRD and Joseph Allen Byrd.

No. 159A83.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Aug. 9, 1983.

Rufus L. Edmisten, Atty. Gen. by Nonnie F. Midgette, Asst. Atty. Gen., Raleigh, for the State.

Adam Stein, Appellate Defender by Malcolm R. Hunter, Jr., Asst. Appellate Defender, Raleigh, for defendant-appellant Sheree Vonelle Suddreth Byrd.

W.C. Palmer, Lenoir, for defendant-appellant Joseph Allen Byrd.

BRANCH, Chief Justice.

Each defendant assigns as error the trial judge's denial of their respective motions to dismiss at the close of the State's evidence.

G.S. 14-318.2 provides:

(a) Any parent of a child less than 16 years of age, or any other person providing care to or supervision of such child, who inflicts physical injury, or who allows physical injury to be inflicted, or who creates or allows to be created a substantial risk of physical injury, upon or to such child by other than accidental means is guilty of the misdemeanor of child abuse.

(b) The misdemeanor of child abuse is an offense additional to other civil and criminal provisions and is not intended to repeal or preclude any other sanctions or remedies, and is punishable as provided in G.S. 14-3(a).

This Court considered the above-quoted statute in State v. Fredell, 283 N.C. 242, 195 S.E.2d 300 (1973). We there stated:

This statute [14-318.2] provides for three separate offenses: If the parent by other than accidental means (1) inflicts physical injury upon the child, (2) allows physical injury to be inflicted upon the child, or (3) creates or allows to be created a substantial risk of physical injury.

Id. at 244, 195 S.E.2d at 302.

Involuntary manslaughter is "the unlawful and unintentional killing of another human being without malice ... which proximately results from the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony or not naturally dangerous to human life, or from the commission of some act done in an unlawful or culpably negligent manner, or from the culpable omission to perform some legal duty." State v. Everhart, 291 N.C. 700, 702, 231 S.E.2d 604, 606 (1977). Thus, a violation of G.S. 14-318.2 proximately resulting in death would support a conviction of involuntary manslaughter.

Decision of the question presented by this assignment of error requires restatement of the often stated rule as to how evidence must be considered by a trial judge upon a motion to dismiss.

The trial judge must consider all evidence admitted, whether competent or incompetent, in the light most favorable to the State, and the State is entitled to every reasonable inference to be drawn therefrom. Exculpatory statements offered by the State are also properly considered by the court. 4 Strong's N.C. Index 3d, Criminal Law, § 104. The question for the court is whether there is substantial evidence to support a jury finding that the offense charged in the bill of indictment was committed, and that the defendant was the perpetrator or one of the perpetrators of that offense. State v. Roseman, 279 N.C. 573, 184 S.E.2d 289 (1971); State v. Cutler, 271 N.C. 379, 156 S.E.2d 679 (1967). On the other hand, if the evidence so considered raises no more than a suspicion or a conjecture that the offense charged in the indictment has been committed or that the defendant committed it, then the evidence is not sufficient to carry the case to the jury. State v. Vestal, 278 N.C. 561, 180 S.E.2d 755 (1971).

We note that in this prosecution the State apparently relied heavily upon the theory of the "battered child syndrome".

The landmark case in North Carolina on the "battered child syndrome" is State v. Wilkerson, 295 N.C. 559, 247 S.E.2d 905 (1978). In Wilkerson, Justice Exum quoted with approval the following passage from People v. Jackson, 18 Cal.App.3d 504, 507, 95 Cal.Rptr. 919, 921 (1971):

A finding, as in this case, of the "battered child syndrome" is not an opinion by the doctor as to whether any particular person has done anything, but, as this doctor indicated, "it would take thousands of children to have the severity and number and degree of injuries that this child had over the span of time that we had" by accidental means. In other words, the "battered child syndrome" simply indicates that a child found with the type of injuries outlined above has not suffered those injuries by accidental means. This conclusion is based upon an extensive study of the subject by medical science. The additional finding that the injuries were probably occasioned by someone who is ostensibly caring for the child is simply a conclusion based upon logic and reason. Only someone regularly "caring" for the child has the continuing opportunity to inflict these types of injuries; an isolated contact with a vicious stranger would not result in this pattern of successive injuries stretching through several months.

295 N.C. at 570, 247 S.E.2d at 911-12.

The "battered child syndrome" is simply a medicolegal term which describes the diagnosis of a medical expert based on scientific studies that when a child suffers certain types of continuing injuries that the injuries were not caused by accidental means. Upon such a finding, it is logical to presume that someone "caring" for the child was responsible for the injuries.

We have carefully examined the entire transcript of this case and find no medical testimony indicating that Jo Van Byrd was an example of the "battered child syndrome". Therefore, the State does not have the benefit of the permissible inferences arising from testimony that a child is an example of the "battered child syndrome", that is, that the injuries suffered were intentionally inflicted by the caretakers of the child. Thus, the prosecution must rely upon other evidence to prove a violation of G.S. 14-318.2 and to support a conviction of involuntary manslaughter.

An essential element of proof under the statute is a showing that the injuries suffered by the child were inflicted "by other than accidental means." Here, the only testimonial evidence concerning accidental injury came from Dr. Butts, who stated that in his opinion a 25-day-old child could not sit up, crawl or turn over. This evidence supports an inference that the child could not have accidentally caused the injuries to himself. This is not, however, tantamount to a statement that another person could not have, or was unlikely to have, accidentally inflicted the injuries. There simply is no direct and clear evidence that Jo Van's injuries were inflicted "other than by accidental means."

It is true that the trial judge had before him evidence that another child of defendants', ...