State v. Loss
| Decision Date | 02 February 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 43421,43421 |
| Citation | 204 N.W.2d 404,295 Minn. 271 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Daniel Alan LOSS, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. In prosecutions relating to injuries or death of minor children, it is proper to introduce medical testimony relating to the 'battered child syndrome' and the 'battering parent syndrome.'
2. Where evidence establishes the existence of a battered child syndrome beyond a reasonable doubt, the prosecution need not prove the existence of a battering parent syndrome. Evidence from which a jury may reasonably infer that defendant fits one of the psychological patterns of such a person is proper and can form part of the circumstantial evidence against defendant.
3. The totality of the evidence sustains the finding of defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
4. Circumstantial evidence, in order to support a conviction, must lead directly to the guilt of defendant beyond a reasonable doubt and must exclude any reasonable inference other than guilt. The evidence in this case leads to no other reasonable inference than the guilt of defendant.
5. Evidence allegedly received in error, if not materially prejudicial, is not grounds for reversal.
Rerat Crill Foley & Boursier, Minneapolis, Sands & Falvey, St. Paul, for appellant.
Warren Spannaus, Atty. Gen., William B. Randall, County Atty., Steven C. DeCoster, Asst. County Atty., St. Paul, for respondent.
Heard before KNUTSON, C.J., and OTIS, PETERSON, and TODD, JJ.
Defendant appeals from the judgment and from the denial of his motion for a judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict, or, alternatively, for a new trial following his conviction for manslaughter in the first degree, Minn.St. 609.20. Defendant contends that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including the use of medical testimony regarding the 'battered child syndrome' and the 'battering parent syndrome,' does not form a complete chain leading directly to his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and that it was improper to receive evidence regarding the syndromes. We affirm.
Defendant was the father of Lance Running, the deceased minor child of the age of 6 months. The mother was Lynn Marie Running. The parents had dated for several years and had broken up in the late fall of 1969, subsequent to which the mother discovered she was pregnant and bore the infant victim. Defendant was adjudicated the father, began seeing the mother again, and moved into her apartment in February of 1971, the parties contemplating being married the ensuing summer.
Defendant was employed part time, and on the morning of Saturday, March 13, 1971, arose early and left for his place of employment, returning to the apartment shortly before noon. The mother was contemplating doing the laundry and in preparation had stripped the baby's crib. Normally, the couple took the child with them to a laundromat to do the laundry, but the child had been suffering from a serious cold for about a week, so the mother decided to leave him at home and the defendant was to care for the child. The deceased had been treated by Dr. William Watson, the family doctor, on Wednesday of that week for the cold and also for a foot infection caused by a bite by a puppy belonging to the parties. The doctor testified that when he examined the child on Wednesday, other than suffering from the cold and the apparent infection, the child was in good health and there was no indication of any trauma.
On the day of the tragedy the mother had left the apartment about noon, having placed the child in a twin bed of Holly-wood-type construction. She had placed a blanket over it and had propped the mattress up with pillows so that the baby could not roll off the bed. The bed was approximately 2 feet high from the floor. Defendant testified that the baby was sleeping on the bed when the mother left and that he turned on the TV for a while and then proceeded to straighten up the apartment and stack the dishes in the kitchen. He testified he shut off the TV and then stopped to check the baby. He noticed that the baby was not on the bed but was on the floor at the end of the bed. It looked as if the baby had 'crawled off the end or squirmed or something.' He testified that the baby was on the floor and there was a rug near the bed and a red blanket with the corner hanging down and a brown blanket on the floor just directly beneath the bed. He further testified that he picked the baby up and that the baby seemed tense and started to cry softly for a few minutes; that he gave him a pacifier; and that he put him to sleep in the crib.
Following this incident, defendant continued straightening the apartment when he claimed the mother called and asked how the baby was. He testified he told her about the baby falling off the bed and going back to sleep. The call from the mother was followed by a telephone call in which the caller did not indicate who was calling. The mother had been receiving similar calls apparently from a former boy friend, and she testified that these had angered the defendant. Defendant testified that after the second phone call the dog started barking, whereupon the baby awoke and began to cry. Defendant allegedly attempted to give the baby a bottle but it did not seem to want it. The baby then went back to sleep, so defendant proceeded to do the dishes. Defendant testified that he did not hear the baby breathing, and when he went in to check, the baby was lying there with his hand up in the air and that he, defendant, became scared and grabbed the baby and could barely hear his heartbeat. Defendant then proceeded to give the baby mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and splashed cold water on its face with his fingers. He called the telephone operator and asked for emergency help. The baby was taken by the emergency vehicle to St. Paul Ramsey Hospital and was admitted to the emergency room, and defendant called the mother at her parents' home and met her at the hospital.
At the hospital, defendant related the story to the mother, except the mother indicated in her testimony that defendant told her that, when he found the baby on the floor, it was lying on a blanket. The hospital report simply indicated that the child may have fallen out of bed.
Later in the evening, X-rays were taken which disclosed a skull fracture and a broken leg, and a doctor contacted both parents and advised them that the medical history did not correspond with the objective findings of the X-rays. At this time, Dr. Homer D. Venters, a pediatrician, was contacted by telephone and advised as to the circumstances. A spinal cut was authorized, disclosing blood and indicating hemorrhaging. On the following morning, Dr. Venters examined the child and noted that a bruise on the baby's forehead had increased in size from the time of the admission of the child, indicating it was of recent origin. The child was pronounced dead at noon on Sunday, March 14.
The mother and father had returned to the apartment just prior to the death of the infant, where the father showed the mother what he claimed had happened. On the day following the death, defendant was contacted at the apartment by Carolen F. Bailey, a police officer, who advised defendant of his rights and indicated that she was investigating the death of the child. Officer Bailey testified that defendant told her that when he found the baby on the floor, he was wrapped in a blanket and was lying on another blanket on the floor and was playing with the blankets. Defendant denied that he ever told this to the police officer.
Defendant also told the police officer that about a week before, while shopping at Har Mar Shopping Center, he had been left in charge of the baby and had had a coke at a drug store with a friend of his. He told the officer that at that time the baby had gotten something in its eyes. He took the baby out to the car on that occasion, wrapped it in a blanket, and placed it in the back seat, and when he returned home he explained to the mother that the baby's eyes were red because it had gotten some pepper in them. He subsequently indicated to the mother than the baby had bumped its head on the steering wheel, and on cross-examination he claimed that the bumping of the head on the steering wheel and the pepper incident were two separate incidents. Regarding this incident, the mother testified that she had noticed the reddening of the eyes when she arrived home and that a small bruise by the eye appeared the next day but disappeared quickly.
The mother testified that defendant had a temper; that he crying of the baby annoyed him; that the telephone calls had caused him to lose his temper; and that on one occasion he had thrown her about the apartment when he had lost his temper.
On Thursday, following the death of the baby, defendant was to see Officer Bailey again, but did not keep the appointment. Instead, he went to Owatonna where he contacted a relative and called the mother, saying that he had written a note explaining many things and that he was contemplating suicide. Defendant was arrested in Owatonna, and a grand jury returned an indictment containing counts of third-degree murder, Minn.St. 609.195, and first-degree manslaughter, Minn.St. 609.20, against defendant. Following the trial, the conviction of first-degree manslaughter was returned by the jury.
The prosecution introduced through Dr. Wayne H. Schrader, a pathologist, the results of an autopsy performed on the decedent. Dr. Schrader testified that the examination consisted of an external examination of the body, as well as a pathological examination of the organs of the abdomen, thoracic cavity, and skull. He testified that there were bruises over the head and neck area; there was a tannish-colored bruise measuring about a half inch in the midline center of the forehead; there was a purplish-tan bruise measuring nearly 1 1/2 by 3 inches on...
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