State v. Evans
| Decision Date | 25 September 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. SD 32610,SD 32610 |
| Citation | 517 S.W.3d 528 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. Ryan N. EVANS, Defendant–Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Attorney for Appellant: Mark C. Prugh of Waynesville, MO.
Attorney for Respondent: Chris Koster, Atty. Gen., Daniel N. McPherson, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Jefferson City, MO.
Ryan Evans (Defendant) was convicted of murder in the second degree and abuse of a child. See §§ 565.021, 568.060.1 He was sentenced to concurrent terms of life imprisonment for abuse of a child and thirty years for murder in the second degree. On appeal, Defendant presents ten points of error. Finding no merit in any of his points, we affirm.
Defendant contests the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions. "We consider the facts and all reasonable inferences derived therefrom in a light most favorable to the verdict, and we reject all contrary evidence and inferences." State v. Campbell, 122 S.W.3d 736, 737 (Mo.App.2004). Viewed from that perspective, the following facts were adduced at trial.
Victim was born in Indiana on March 31, 2005. His parents separated when he was three months old, at which time he moved with his mother (Mother) to Missouri. Victim's biological father (Father) had visitation every other weekend and brought Victim back to Indiana, where Father lived with his parents on their farm. Father and his parents, as well as Mother and her parents, testified that they never saw any indications that Victim was prone to abnormal bruising or bleeding. In August 2006, Mother and Victim began living with Defendant in Waynesville, Missouri.
In early October 2006, Mother's parents traveled to Waynesville and spent four days at the townhouse that Mother and Victim shared with Defendant. During that period, they noticed that Victim had a black eye, a bruise on the left side of his head, scabs on his ear, and what appeared to be a bruise inside his ear. According to Defendant, Victim's black eye resulted from a fall in his toy box, and the other bruises resulted from a fall off of a porch. Defendant made Victim wear sunglasses when they went out in public. On one occasion, Defendant and Mother were outside smoking when Victim walked up to the windows and pulled the blinds apart. What then transpired, according to Mother's stepfather, was that Defendant "busted in the door" and said, "boy, you'd better run if you know what's good for you." Victim then proceeded to run away and, according to Mother's stepfather, appeared scared. Following this incident, Mother's parents considered taking Victim back with them to Indiana.
On October 22, 2006, Mother took Victim to the emergency room at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital, where he was seen by Dr. Arturo Montellano. Mother told Dr. Montellano that Victim had not had a bowel movement for three or four days and also had vomited during that period. The doctor noticed a small bruise on Victim's left cheek during his examination. Victim had a normal temperature, was breathing normally, had clear lungs and chest, and did not appear to be in any acute distress. Dr. Montellano ordered a glycerine suppository that caused Victim to have a bowel movement. Victim was sent home with instructions that he be given Pedialyte to calm his stomach.
The following day, Mother went to work about 4:30 p.m., leaving Victim in Defendant's care. Shortly before 8:00 p.m., the Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District was dispatched to a call for a breathing difficulty. The first responders were en route to the address when Defendant, holding Victim, flagged them down at a nearby intersection. The first responders observed that Victim was limp and that his eyes had rolled back in his head. He was not breathing and had no pulse. He had turned blue around the lips and nose, and mucus was present around the mouth and nose. One of the first responders performed CPR on Victim. Eventually, an ambulance arrived, and Victim was taken to General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital.
While en route to the hospital, paramedics observed that Victim had bruises on his forehead and the left side of his face. At the hospital, a child-abuse instructor, who had been asked to help investigate, noticed similar bruising. Dr. Montellano, the emergency room doctor who treated Victim the previous day, noted that Victim was unresponsive upon arrival. Efforts to resuscitate Victim, including the administration of epinephrine and fluids, resulted in a restored heartbeat.
Thereafter, Victim was airlifted to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis. Upon arrival, Victim did not display any cranial nerve reflexes. He was placed on a ventilator and began to experience cardiac difficulties. Scans revealed no blood flow to Victim's brain. Victim was eventually declared brain dead, and his respirator was removed.
Father and his parents traveled to St. Louis after being notified that Victim had been taken to the hospital. When Father saw Victim, he noticed that bruises were developing on the left side of Victim's face. Father held his hand up to the bruising and observed that the pattern matched that of an open hand. Both Father's and Mother's parents also observed the bruises. Mother's stepfather testified that four bruises on Victim's face appeared to be knuckle marks. When Father's parents encountered Defendant at the hospital, they asked what had happened to Victim. Defendant refused to look at them and walked away. Father's parents followed Defendant outside the hospital and continued to ask him what had happened, but Defendant did not respond and continued to walk away. Defendant also reacted angrily and denied doing anything to Victim when a statement was made that Victim's injuries were the result of abuse, even though no accusation had been directed against Defendant at that point.
A police officer who interviewed Defendant and Mother testified that he was told that Defendant was Victim's primary caregiver and that he was alone with Victim between the time that Mother went to work and the time that Defendant sought medical attention for Victim. The officer also testified that neither Defendant nor Mother reported that Victim was having any problems prior to when Mother left for work.
An autopsy showed that Victim suffered five bruises near the left temple and three more on the left cheek, extending from the eye to the jaw. Victim also had a bruise on the left side of the forehead and the left side of the neck, a scratch on the nose, a bruise to the left eye, bruises on the back of his head, bruises to both ears, and a bruise to the inside of the lower lip. Victim's frenulum, which attaches the upper lip to the gum, was torn. Another five bruises were found underneath the scalp on the middle to left side of Victim's head. The autopsy also disclosed a subdural hematoma. The doctor who performed the autopsy testified that he did not see any injuries or bruising that would have been caused by resuscitation efforts. He determined to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the cause of Victim's death was a closed head injury inflicted by blunt trauma and that the manner of death was homicide. This opinion was confirmed by the doctor's supervisor, who observed the autopsy and independently reviewed microscopic slides prepared during the autopsy. The supervisor testified that he saw no evidence in the slides that Victim had pneumonia.
Dr. Ann Dimaio, the emergency room doctor at Cardinal Glennon, testified that the concentration of bruising on Victim's face, neck and head, combined with the massive head injury he suffered, led to concerns that child abuse was involved. She testified that Victim had retinal hemorrhages consistent with an abusive head injury. Dr. Dimaio said that she had never seen a similar pattern of bruising and head injury caused by resuscitation. She also testified that the pattern of bruising and the retinal hemorrhaging were not consistent with vomiting. The pattern of bruising also was not consistent with a vitamin K deficiency. Dr. Dimaio opined that Victim's medical history and the autopsy results showed he did not have a vitamin K deficiency. Victim also did not display any signs of pneumonia. Dr. Dimaio testified that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, it appeared that someone had abused Victim and caused him to suffer a head injury. She testified that the head injury did not look like an accidental head injury.
Dr. Robert Lynch, who also treated Victim at Cardinal Glennon, testified that Victim's history, physical examination, and the dramatic change in his neurological status suggested that he had suffered a sudden traumatic injury to the brain. Dr. Lynch testified that he did not find anything to suggest that the change in Victim's neurological status was the result of having pneumonia or was caused by a vitamin K deficiency.
Dr. Jeremy Garrett, a specialist in pediatric critical care medicine, also participated in Victim's care. He testified that Victim suffered traumatic injuries that caused his brain to swell and his breathing to cease. Dr. Garrett testified that the bruising on Victim's face was not the type that would be caused from running into a table or falling down, but was instead consistent with inflicted injuries. Dr. Garrett testified that Victim's retinal hemorrhages would rarely be caused by an accident. Dr. Garrett did not believe that Victim had a vitamin K deficiency and did not see any evidence that he was suffering from pneumonia. Dr. Garrett testified that, in more than twenty years as a physician, he had never seen resuscitation efforts cause the pattern of bruising that Victim displayed.
Forensic pathologist and neuropathologist Dr. Mary Case examined Victim's brain and eyes. She found evidence of fresh blood on the...
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