State v. Fletcher

• Citation: 609 S.E.2d 572,363 S.C. 221
• Decision Date: 31 January 2005
• Docket Number: No. 3940.,3940.
• Court: Court of Appeals of South Carolina
• Parties: The STATE, Respondent, v. Henry FLETCHER, Appellant.

363 S.C. 221

609 S.E.2d 572

The STATE, Respondent, v. Henry FLETCHER, Appellant.

No. 3940.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Submitted January 1, 2005.

Decided January 31, 2005.

Rehearing Denied March 17, 2005.

Rehearing Denied April 21, 2005.

Robert E. Lominack, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Senior Assistant Attorney General Norman Mark Rapoport, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Warren B. Giese, of Columbia, for Respondent.

ANDERSON, J.:

Henry Fletcher appeals his homicide by child abuse conviction. He argues the trial court erred in refusing to (1) exclude evidence of prior bad acts; (2) suppress evidence obtained through a search warrant; (3) redact additional information from his co-defendant's statement; and (4) exclude photographs of the victim. We affirm.¹

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Around 1:15 p.m. on September 21, 2000, nine-month-old Jaquan Perry presented at the Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital emergency room in full cardiopulmonary arrest. After medical personnel placed the infant on a ventilator, medicated him to maintain his blood pressure, and repeatedly attempted to resuscitate him, they pronounced him dead at 4:20 p.m. During treatment, CT scans were performed and x-rays were obtained. The tests revealed injuries throughout Jaquan's abdomen — including internal bleeding, bruises to the liver, bowels, pancreas, and little blood flow to the kidneys, spleen, and liver.

The police investigated Jaquan's death. Columbia police officer Joe Smith interviewed hospital personnel about Jaquan's injuries. When Officer Smith talked with Jaquan's mother, Ikeisha Perry, she told Smith that Jaquan fell from a bed. In her written statement, Perry declared she picked Jaquan up, comforted him, and brought him with her while she ran errands. Perry said she noticed something was wrong when they left the dentist's office. She could not hear Jaquan's heart beating. Perry then drove Jaquan to the hospital. Her live-in friend, Henry Fletcher, attempted CPR as she drove to the hospital.

When asked by Officer Smith whether she had ever beaten or spanked Jaquan, Perry claimed she had "popped" Jaquan but "[a]s far as beating him to bruise him, no I haven't." Perry admitted Jaquan had been handcuffed to a bedpost.

Fletcher provided statements to the police. In the first of two statements, Fletcher said Jaquan fell out of the bed on the morning of September 21, 2000. He noted: Jaquan did not "look right" when they left the dentist's office; they did not hear Jaquan's heartbeat; and they drove to the hospital immediately, with Fletcher attempting to resuscitate Jaquan on the way. Fletcher maintained that sometimes he would "play fight" with Jaquan. In a later statement, Fletcher denied ever hitting Jaquan, but admitted he put some of his weight on Jaquan when they wrestled although he was not sure if doing so hurt Jaquan. Fletcher professed he hit Jaquan twice with his fists. At trial, Fletcher testified this statement was made in a sarcastic tone and was not meant to be taken as truth.

As part of the investigation, the police executed a search warrant of the home in which Perry and Fletcher lived. They seized a pair of handcuffs, went into the attic, and took photographs of the residence.

Fletcher and Perry were both arrested and charged with homicide by child abuse. They were indicted and tried.² Before jury selection, the trial court heard several motions, including motions to exclude evidence of prior bad acts and to suppress evidence found in connection with an allegedly invalid search warrant. The motions were denied.

Jaquan suffered injuries to his internal organs, which caused an infection that led to his death. The testimony of two witnesses who observed Jaquan indicated that Jaquan's eyes were half-closed and he was pale and non-responsive on the morning of September 21. One of the witnesses, Kimberly Hampton, related that Jaquan was making a strange breathing sound, one she characterized as "a death gurgle." By noon, when Perry brought Jaquan with her and her other child to the dentist's office, a witness noticed that Jaquan looked sick and pale but the witness did not hear unusual breathing sounds.

The State and Fletcher disagreed as to which injuries should have been included in the testimony. The State introduced evidence of two instances of abuse, which Fletcher describes as occurring "prior to that which caused Jaquan's death on September 21st." About three or four weeks prior to September 21, Carlos Jenkins visited Fletcher's home and found Jaquan handcuffed to a bed. Approximately two weeks before September 21, Jenkins returned to Fletcher's house and discovered Jaquan alone in the attic, crying and sweating profusely. Jaquan's ribs had been injured and were healing suggesting the injuries had been sustained about two weeks before Jaquan died. However, Jaquan's being handcuffed and left in a hot attic did not cause his death.

The medical evidence provided more details about Jaquan's injuries and offered information regarding the cause of his death. Dr. Timothy P. Close, a radiologist, testified the injuries revealed by the scans and x-rays were inflicted at different times and Jaquan's rib fractures were "[p]robably not" caused by Fletcher's alleged resuscitation attempts. Dr. Close estimated some of the rib fractures were as recent as a few hours to a few days old and other, older fractures were ten days to more than two weeks old (with some of the ribs having been broken twice). He declared the liver injuries were likely caused within forty-eight hours of Jaquan's death and the bowel injuries occurred at least twelve hours or more before Jaquan's death. He stated the injuries were inconsistent with either a fall from a bed or with a single blow ("most likely" multiple blows to the front of Jaquan). Rather, his injuries were caused by a force equivalent to ejection from a car involved in an accident when the car had been traveling sixty to seventy miles per hour or a fall from a three or four story building.

Dr. Robert D. Hubbird noted when Jaquan arrived at the hospital his abdomen was "very, very distended and protuberant," he had multiple rib fractures, a ruptured bowel which caused an infection or sepsis, and such significant damage to his liver that it "was dying." Dr. Hubbird explained the internal bleeding had been going on for days; the injuries had been caused over a period of days; and the ribs had been injured at different times. He testified the abdominal and back bruises occurred at different times, with some green bruises, which indicated they were "five to seven, [even] ten days old." Dr. Hubbird expounded that some of the bruises could have been caused by resuscitation attempts but others were not. He declared that the cause of the injury must have been "incredibly concentrated striking, a very powerful blow" to have caused the damage — destroyed bowel wall, ruptured bowel, disrupted liver — and must have been more than one blow. He articulated blunt force might not leave a bruise each time because the body sometimes absorbs the force. Dr. Hubbird opined Jaquan died from "child abuse from massive intra-abdominal injuries; massive injuries to kill the bowel, caused widespread infection, killed the liver."

The autopsy yielded additional information. Dr. Jeffrey Allen Welsh performed the autopsy. The autopsy demonstrated several bruises on Jaquan's back and a distended abdomen. A "tense" abdomen is abnormal in a child. Dr. Welsh confirmed resuscitation attempts may have caused some of the chest bruises. After reviewing x-rays and CT scans and performing an external and internal examination, Dr. Welsh determined the cause of death was from blunt abdominal trauma, which caused infection that ultimately led to Jaquan's death. He found, based on the scar formation on the internal organs, the injuries occurred at least forty-eight hours before death and likely earlier than that, with the injuries occurring at different times. Dr. Welsh opined the type of force necessary to inflict the trauma evidenced on Jaquan's body "would have been significant because the injuries to the liver, for example, are those described mainly with motor vehicle type accidents." Dr. Welsh concluded the injuries Jaquan sustained were consistent with battered child syndrome. Dr. Welsh enunciated that Jaquan's injuries would have caused great pain and lethargy, making it obvious Jaquan needed medical attention.

Fletcher presented evidence that: (1) he was not aware Jaquan had been handcuffed to the bed; (2) Perry sometimes left Jaquan in the attic while she dried her laundry up there; and (3) the attic had an air conditioning vent near the door. Fletcher professed he had never "beat" Jaquan. Perry introduced evidence that Jaquan was not injured before early September; rib fractures in children are not uncommon; and Perry's mother saw Jaquan the day before he died and did not notice anything wrong.

The jury found both Fletcher and Perry guilty of homicide by child abuse. Fletcher was sentenced to life in prison.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In criminal cases, the appellate court sits to review errors of law only. State v. Wilson, 345 S.C. 1, 545 S.E.2d 827 (2001); State v. Wood, 362 S.C. 520, 608 S.E.2d 435 (Ct.App.2004). This court is bound by the trial court's factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous. State v. Quattlebaum, 338 S.C. 441, 527 S.E.2d 105 (2000); State v. Landis, 362 S.C. 97, 606 S.E.2d 503 (Ct.App.). This same standard of review applies to preliminary factual findings in determining the admissibility of certain evidence in criminal cases. Wilson, 345 S.C. at 6,545 S.E.2d at 829. On review, we are limited to determining whether the trial judge abused his discretion. State v. Reed, 332 S.C. 35, 503 S.E.2d 747 (1998); State v. Rochester, 301 S.C. 196, 391 S.E.2d 244 (1990); see also State v....