State v. Larson
| Decision Date | 05 October 2022 |
| Docket Number | 29712-a-SPM |
| Citation | 2022 S.D. 58 |
| Parties | STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. TRISTIN LARSON, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
ARGUED APRIL 26, 2022
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT HUGHES COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA THE HONORABLE BOBBI J. RANK Judge
BRAD A. SCHREIBER Pierre, South Dakota Attorney for defendant and appellant.
MARK VARGO Attorney General PAUL S. SWEDLUND Solicitor General Pierre, South Dakota Attorneys for plaintiff and appellee.
[¶1.] Tristin Larson was indicted for aggravated battery of an infant and alternative counts of second-degree murder or first-degree manslaughter for the death of Easton Felix (Easton). The circuit court denied Larson's motion to suppress statements he made to law enforcement and his motion for judgment of acquittal. The jury convicted him of second-degree murder and aggravated battery of an infant. Larson appeals. We affirm.
[¶2.] Larson and Elizabeth Felix (Felix) were in a romantic relationship for nearly a year. Felix had a two-year-old son Easton. Larson, Felix, and Easton lived in a house with Larson's mother, Melissa Marmo, in Pierre, South Dakota. On April 16, 2020, Larson watched Easton while Felix was at work. Larson got mad at Easton because he was not listening to him. Larson pushed Easton on the forehead, which caused him to fall to the floor and hit his head.[1] Easton began crying and stood up but fell a second time. After his second fall, Easton began to convulse.
[¶3.] Larson called Felix, told her he pushed Easton and explained that Easton was not getting up. Felix told Larson to call the police, but he told her he did not want to do that. Felix and Larson remained on the phone during the 20 minutes it took Felix to walk home. Larson told her he pushed Easton because Easton was not listening and that she should not call the police because he did not want to get into trouble. Larson also told her to blame their dog if anyone asked what happened. When she arrived at the house, Easton was lying on the couch, and Larson was pacing back and forth. Larson resisted Felix's requests to call 911 but agreed to call his mother. Marmo arrived promptly and took Easton to the hospital.
[¶4.] Law enforcement talked with Larson, Felix, and Marmo at the hospital. Larson and Felix said Easton was knocked off the bed by the dog. Because of bleeding in his brain, Easton was flown to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for further care.
[¶5.] On April 17, 2020, Felix talked with Kirsten Persson, a physician's assistant from Child's Voice in Sioux Falls, and told her that she had previously lied and that Larson pushed Easton. Felix spoke with law enforcement on the same day, and she placed a recorded call to Larson. During this call, Larson denied pushing Easton. During a second recorded call the next day, Larson admitted pushing Easton.
[¶6.] Easton passed away on April 18, 2020. That same day, Larson went to the Pierre Police Department for an interview with law enforcement. At the beginning of the interview, Detective Dusty Pelle read Larson his rights:
[¶7.] During his interview with Detective Pelle, Larson admitted that he lied about the dog knocking Easton off the bed and that he pushed Easton on the head, causing him to fall to the floor. Larson explained that he told Easton to get into the shower, but Easton did not follow his directions. Larson described his response as follows:
He just wouldn't turn around, so I finally got mad and I said well get, get the fuck away from me and I pushed him. And I like, I like shoved his head and he flew back and [hit] his head on the ground pretty hard and then he started to like get up, he started crying and started to get up and then his legs like went out from under him and he fell back and hit his head again[.]
Later in the interview, Larson explained:
I was just getting overwhelmed I fuck-I don't know why I pushed him, I didn't mean to kill him, I didn't know I was gonna kill him, just pushing him you know what I-I mean yeah, I shoved him kind of hard, but people fall all the time.
Ultimately Larson acknowledged: "Like I knew I did it on, I, I after I did it, I knew I did it too hard on accident." Once the interview concluded, Detective Pelle arrested Larson for first-degree manslaughter.
[¶8.] A Hughes County grand jury indicted Larson for a count of second- degree murder, alternative counts of first-degree manslaughter under SDCL 22-16-15(1) and (2),[2]and a count of aggravated battery of an infant under SDCL 22-18-1.4.[3] [¶9.] Larson filed a motion to suppress the statements he made during his interview with Pierre law enforcement on April 18, 2020. Larson argued that he was so emotionally distraught that the waiver of his Miranda rights was not legally valid. The State asserted that Larson was not in custody at the time of the interrogation but argued that even if there was a custodial interrogation, Larson voluntarily waived his rights because he understood his rights and agreed to answer questions.
[¶10.] Detective Pelle was the only witness that testified at the evidentiary hearing on Larson's motion to suppress. He testified that the interview lasted approximately 40 to 45 minutes, with a break where he talked to Larson's mother. He noted that he read Larson his Miranda rights, and Larson agreed to waive them. Detective Pelle testified that Larson was not placed in restraints during the interview and had no difficulty understanding his questions. Detective Pelle stated that he did not tell Larson he was free to leave and admitted that he probably would not have been allowed to leave. Detective Pelle arrested Larson at the end of the interview.
[¶11.] Ultimately, the circuit court concluded that Larson was subjected to a custodial interrogation[4] but had been advised of all the required Miranda warnings. The circuit court determined that Larson had voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waived his Miranda rights. The circuit court determined that Larson's emotional state during the interview "did not affect his ability to understand his rights, the waiver of his rights, or [Detective Pelle's] questions." The circuit court concluded that Larson "had no problem responding to [Detective Pelle] regarding the understanding and waiver of his rights and clearly expressed his desire to waive his rights and speak to [Detective Pelle]."
[¶12.] Next, the circuit court addressed the issue of whether Larson's statements were voluntary. The circuit court stated that there was "no undue pressure or conduct" exerted by Detective Pelle during the interview and that the interview was conducted "in a calm and respectful manner." The circuit court determined that "Larson was emotional at times during the interview and seemed to sleep when [Detective Pelle] stepped out to talk to his mother, [but] there is no indication that these matters eradicated his capacity to resist pressure." The circuit court specified that Larson was "focused and able to quickly and completely respond to [Detective Pelle's] questions throughout the interview." The circuit court denied the motion to suppress.
[¶13.] On the first day of the jury trial, Felix testified that Larson told her to blame their dog for what happened to Easton because he did not want to go to jail. She acknowledged that she did not call 911 immediately when she heard about Easton's injuries because she was worried about what Larson would do to her or Easton. She also admitted lying to law enforcement at the hospital and going along with the dog story. However, she testified that she later told Kirsten Persson that Larson pushed Easton.
[¶14.] Dr. Gokhan Olgun, a pediatric intensivist from Sanford Children's Hospital in Sioux Falls, testified about Easton's various injuries. Easton scored the lowest possible score on the Glasgow Coma Scale, a tool used to understand the alertness or responsiveness of a patient. Easton had increased intracranial pressure caused by diffused tissue swelling, brain swelling, and edema. Dr. Olgun stated that Easton suffered a significant neurological injury and did not respond to physical stimuli, and an electroencephalogram showed no electrical activity in his brain. He also noted that Easton was not breathing independently and was on a ventilator. Dr. Olgun testified that Easton's heart stopped beating at 2:25 p.m. on April 18, 2020.
[¶15.] Dr. Jaime Liudahl, an emergency room physician, testified about Easton's condition when he first arrived at the Avera St. Mary's Hospital in Pierre. He stated that Easton showed decreased responsiveness, and his pupils were unequal, indicating a brain injury. Dr. Liudahl said Easton was experiencing decorticate posturing (involuntary flexing of muscles that looks like seizure activity) caused by a brain injury or brain irritation. Dr. Liudahl testified that Easton suffered from bradycardia caused by increased intracranial pressure from bleeding in his brain. Bradycardia is when the heart slows below the normal range. A computed tomography (CT) scan of Easton's head revealed that he had an intraventricular subdural hemorrhage, a bilateral frontal subdural hemorrhage, and a likely subarachnoid hemorrhage. Dr. Liudahl explained that acceleration-deceleration forces cause these types of...
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