State v. Jones
| Decision Date | 10 November 2016 |
| Docket Number | 103302.,Nos. 103290,s. 103290 |
| Citation | 2016 Ohio 7702,76 N.E.3d 596 |
| Parties | STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff–Appellee v. Randy JONES, et al., Defendants–Appellants. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
James J. Hofelich, Cleveland, OH, for Randy Jones.
Joseph V. Pagano, Rocky River, OH, for Carissa Jones.
Timothy J. McGinty, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor by Christopher D. Schroeder, Assistant County Prosecutor, Cleveland, OH, for appellee.
Before: JONES, A.J., KILBANE, J., and BOYLE, J.
ON RECONSIDERATION1
LARRY A. JONES, SR., A.J.
{¶ 1} Defendants-appellants, Randy and Carissa Jones, appeal their convictions and ten-year sentences for involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, and permitting child abuse, which were rendered after a joint jury trial.2 For the reasons that follow, we affirm the convictions, vacate the sentences and remand for resentencing.
Background
{¶ 2} The victim in this case was the Joneses' 12–year–old daughter, T.J., who passed away on February 18, 2013. The Joneses, Florida natives, adopted T.J. in Florida in 2002 when she was approximately eight months old. They made the decision to adopt because Carissa has Lupus, an autoimmune disorder, which she was successfully managing with medication at the time she and Randy wished to start a family. Attempting to get pregnant would have required her to go off her medications, which she did not want to do. The family moved to Cleveland in 2006 for Randy's job.
{¶ 3} Shortly after they relocated in Cleveland, T.J. was diagnosed with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ("ADHD"), and mild developmental delays.
Her parents initially gave her medications to treat the issues, but eventually discontinued doing so because they believed the medications were not working. T.J. also had difficulty communicating and understanding other people. Her parents took her to a psychologist for the communication issues, but stopped doing so in 2009.
{¶ 4} T.J. saw a pediatrician in 2007 as part of her school registration, but did not see any doctors after 2009 because, according to Randy, she was "never sick." T.J. had self-injurious behavior and self-picking issues. According to Randy, he and Carissa learned from medical professionals how to deal with the issues and thereafter were able to help T.J. on their own. T.J. was also prone to developing blisters on her body. Randy, who had military experience treating injuries, tended to T.J.'s blisters. According to her parents, T.J. had a high pain tolerance.
{¶ 5} T.J. initially went to a traditional school, but her parents did not feel it was working for her and, therefore, after the second grade, Carissa, a professional-trained teacher, home schooled her. An area in the basement of the family's home was set up similar to a classroom and was where T.J. was schooled.
{¶ 6} Randy testified at trial. He told the jury that T.J. first starting getting blisters on her body when she was three or four years old; he and Carissa noticed them one day after T.J. had been in daycare. They never got a definitive answer as to why T.J. would get them, but as mentioned, Randy would treat them, and according to him, they would generally heal in ten to 14 days. Randy testified that his treatment of the blisters involved applying a topical antibiotic (Neosporin), hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, and a mixture of "home" remedies, including a salve containing garlic and cayenne pepper. He would daily clean the wounds, and because of T.J.'s picking issues, he would also daily bandage them.
The Days Leading up to T.J.'s Death
{¶ 7} On February 10, 2013, T.J. and Carissa were both sick with colds. T.J. also had blisters on her feet. Randy and Carissa did not seek professional treatment for T.J.; they treated her at home as they had always done. However, at Randy's urging, Carissa went to an urgent care center for her cold. Randy testified that, on and off since January 2013, Carissa had been fighting a cold which caused her to cough up mucus and because of her inability to shake it, coupled with her Lupus, he urged her to seek professional medical treatment. Carissa was prescribed an antibiotic and she filled the prescription.
T.J.'s Death
{¶ 8} T.J. died on a Monday, and the Sunday immediately preceding was the NBA's All–Star Game. Randy testified that it was a family tradition to watch the game and celebrate. According to Randy, on that Sunday, T.J. was getting back to her normal self, appeared to be clear of any cold symptoms, and joined in the festivities. Randy testified that, because of the day's festivities, he did not remove the bandages on T.J. or clean her wounds that day. When T.J. went to sleep that evening she appeared to be fine, but awoke in the early morning hours, complaining of a pain in her side. Randy thought she had probably overdone it during the festivities, so he gave her a heating pad and took her temperature, which did not indicate a fever. He laid down with her for a while, but left her room when Carissa suggested that T.J. would get more rest if he were not there.
{¶ 9} Randy went to sleep in another bed, but was awakened by Carissa screaming. He found Carissa in T.J.'s room; T.J. was unresponsive. Randy performed CPR on T.J., who vomitted. Carissa called 911. The 911 dispatcher testified at trial, and Carissa's call to 911 was played for the jury. The dispatcher described hearing Randy in the background, sounding "panicked," and heard him say "I knew it, I knew it." Randy testified that he said "I knew it" to mean that he knew he should not have left T.J. that morning to sleep in another bed. According to the dispatcher, although Randy was "panicked," Carissa was "calm."
{¶ 10} T.J. was transported by ambulance to an emergency room where, among others, Dr. Jamal Alarafi, attended to her. She passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital. Dr. Alarafi testified that he smelled necrotic, or dead, flesh on T.J. Dr. Alarafi did not remove the bandages on T.J.'s feet, but described them as "dirty," observed pus draining from T.J.'s feet, and observed an abscess on her leg. The doctor believed that it would have taken days and weeks of non-management of the wounds for them to develop to the point that they had, and that the smell would have been noticeable within one to two weeks. After viewing pictures of the wounds with the bandages removed, Dr. Alarafi admitted that they actually depicted wounds in various stages of healing.
{¶ 11} Over the defense's objections, Dr. Alarafi was permitted to testify that it was his opinion that T.J. was malnourished.3 He testified that her stomach was distended, and that she was very small and emaciated. The doctor admitted that he did not know if T.J. had always been a small child and that he did not look at any growth charts.
{¶ 12} In speaking with Randy and Carissa after T.J.'s death, Dr. Alarafi found Carissa to be "kind of indifferent," and found that "very strange." According to the doctor, Randy told him that T.J. had had a cold and had recently complained of chest pain, they were treating her with over-the-counter medicine, and they did not believe in modern medicine. The statement regarding disbelief in modern medicine was not reflected in the doctor's notes, however, and Randy testified that he never said that and that he and Carissa did believe in modern medicine. Dr. Alarafi also initially testified that Randy told him that T.J. had not been immunized, but later admitted, after reviewing his notes, that Randy said he was not sure whether she had been immunized; the record indicates that T.J. had, in fact, been immunized.
{¶ 13} Dr. Alarafi opined that T.J. "probably" would have survived if a medical professional had been involved in her care. He testified that T.J.'s condition "shocked" him, that he had been in medicine for over 20 years, and T.J.'s situation was the "worst case I've ever seen of anything like this." Dr. Alarafi contacted the police to investigate T.J.'s death.
{¶ 14} Officer Timothy Casto spoke with Randy at the hospital. Randy told him that he and Carissa had taken T.J. to a doctor a month earlier for a physical, but Randy was unable to tell the officer the doctor's name or office location.
Autopsy
{¶ 15} An autopsy was performed on T.J.'s body on February 19, 2013, the day following her death. Deputy medical examiner Dr. Andrea McCollum, who supervised the autopsy, testified at trial. The cause of death was "polymicrobial sepsis," "acute necrotizing bronchopneumonia," and "staphylococcus, left leg abscess" and the manner of death was designated as homicide.
{¶ 16} Dr. McCollum explained that T.J. had an abscess, or a swollen area filled with pus, in her left leg near her ankle. The abscess became infected with a bacterium called staphylococcus (a staph infection), the infection festered, traveled into her bloodstream, and caused her to develop severe pneumonia in her lungs.
{¶ 17} Dr. McCollum testified that the manner of death was designated as homicide based on the Joneses' inaction:
{¶ 18} Dr. McCollum admitted that T.J. could have developed the infection without having had the foot ulcers, and that the infection could have developed within a matter of hours or days. But she also testified that wounds on T.J.'s feet were to the point where T.J.'s tissue was actually dying, and that would have taken days to weeks to progress to that point.
{¶ 19} Further, Dr. McCollum testified about injuries T.J. had on her neck, head, torso, right arms and legs, and left leg, and that T.J. had bedsores. Dr. McCollum also testified that T.J. was in the 10th percentile on the body mass index and below the 5th percentile for stature for age and weight for her age.
{¶ 20} Neither defense counsel for Randy nor Carissa questioned Dr. McCollum on cross-examination.
{¶ 21} Dr. Thomas Gilson, the chief...
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