Boyd v. State

1987 OK CR 211, 743 P.2d 674, 1987 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 485
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 24, 1987
DocketF-84-411
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 1987 OK CR 211 (Boyd v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyd v. State, 1987 OK CR 211, 743 P.2d 674, 1987 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 485 (Okla. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

BRETT, Presiding Judge:

Cindy Kay Boyd, a/k/a Cindy Kay Pense, and Gerald Keith Tibbs, appellants, were tried by jury for the crime of Injuring a Minor Child in violation of 21 O.S.1981, § 843 in Case No. CRF-83-123 in the District Court of Rogers County. Appellants were represented by counsel. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and set punishment at twenty (20) years’ imprisonment for each appellant. The trial court sentenced appellants in accordance with the jury’s verdict. From this judgment and sentence, appellants appeal to this Court.

During the evening of May 16, 1983, Rachael Pense, age eighteen months, was brought by appellants to the emergency room at Claremore Indian Hospital in Claremore, Oklahoma. Dr. Jerry Manning Lyle, a pediatrician, performed an examination. During the examination, the doctor observed that the child was in a coma, suffered a stiffening of the arms and legs and an arching of the back. Dr. Lyle also noted eight bruises on the child’s body. He also discovered that the child’s eyes were dilated and he observed retinal hemorra-hages. Dr. Lyle diagnosed the child’s condition as possible child abuse.

Within thirty minutes of the examination, the child was transported by helicopter to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Appellants drove to St. Francis Hospital. The child was examined by Dr. James Warren Hendricks, a pediatrician. After completing his examination, Dr. Hendricks spoke with the appellants. Dr. Hendricks was working with the “S.C.A.N.” team. S.C.A.N. is the acronym for Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect.

Appellant Pense told Dr. Hendricks that she was not home when Rachael fell off the toilet and hit her head. Appellant claimed that the child fell off the toilet and bloodied her nose and bruised her face. Appellant Pense also told Dr. Hendricks that a couple days earlier, the child had fallen while trying to climb up onto the bed. She stated that Rachael fell backwards and hit her head on the wall. Appellant Pense also claimed that she was in another room when this occurred.

Appellant Tibbs also told Dr. Hendricks that he was in another room on the day when Rachael fell from the toilet. He claimed that he heard Rachael cry and that he went to check on her. He found her bleeding from the nose and face. Appellant Tibbs told Dr. Hendricks the same story concerning the bedroom incident.

At trial, Dr. Hendricks testified that it was his opinion that Rachael had been an abused and beaten child. When asked if the injuries were consistent with the accidents described by the appellants, the doctor replied, “absolutely not.”

Dr. David Allen Fell, a neurosurgeon, was the treating physician for Rachael Pense. He testified that at the time of treatment, Rachael was having convulsions. He also stated that she had multiple bruises, retinal hemorrhages, and was comatose. Dr. Fell also concluded that Rachael’s injuries were inconsistent with the explanation given by the appellants.

Dr. James Townely Price, Ph.D., testified for the defense. He stated that the child had suffered a stroke which was not properly diagnosed by her physicians upon her admission into the hospital.

In appellant’s first assignment of error, they assert that there was insufficient evidence to support their convictions. Specifically, appellants urge that the State’s circumstantial evidence did not exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. In Smith v. State, 674 P.2d 569 (Okl.Cr.1984), this Court held that circumstantial evidence need not exclude every *676 hypothesis, nor must it negate every other possibility than guilt. This Court further stated that where there is competent evidence from which the jury could reasonably conclude the defendant was guilty of the crime charged against him, this Court will not interfere with the verdict, even though there is a conflict in the evidence from which different inferences may be drawn.

Furthermore, in Spuehler v. State, 709 P.2d 202 (Okl.Cr.1985), this Court stated that the relevant question concerning sufficiency of the evidence is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence from which any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. We find this assignment of error to be without merit.

In their second assignment of error, appellants contend that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence five photographs of the victim. Specifically, appellants complain that any probative value of the pictures was outweighed by the prejudicial impact. However, the only evidence of the exhibits before this Court are xerox copies of the pictures in the original record. An examination of these copies reveals an insufficient record upon which we can determine the issue. It is the burden of the party urging error to present to this Court a sufficient record upon which this Court may determine the issue raised. Failure to do so waives the alleged error. Dollar v. State, 674 P.2d 48 (Okl.Cr.1984).

Appellants claim in their third assignment of error that they were denied a fair trial due to prosecutorial misconduct. Initially, appellants assert that the prosecutor improperly elicited testimony regarding the medical condition of the child after June 4, 1983. The trial court had earlier sustained a motion in limine excluding any medical evidence after June 4th. At trial, the prosecutor asked Dr. Coldwell if the child was, “currently a patient of yours?” The doctor replied that she was. However, even though the evidence was improperly admitted, we are of the opinion that its exclusion would not have caused the jury to arrive at a different verdict. This Court has stated many times that even if there is error during a trial, this alone is not sufficient to require reversal. The error must injure the defendant and the burden is on him to establish that he was prejudiced in his substantial rights by the error. Smith v. State, 656 P.2d 277 (Okl.Cr.1982). The record reveals that after the statement, there was no testimony connecting the child’s current condition to her prior injuries. Thus, appellants have failed to show that sufficient prejudice resulted from the testimony and therefore we find the error was harmless.

Appellants next argue that evidence of medical treatment after June 4th was raised again in the examination of Dr. Fell, the neurosurgeon. When asked by the prosecutor if he had a continuing involvement in Rachael Pence’s case, Dr. Fell responded, “yes, I have been involved in her case all the way up through last week.” In the absence of a timely objection, appellate review is waived except for fundamental error. Abbott v. State, 719 P.2d 1289 (Okl.Cr.1986), cer t. denied, — U.S. —, 107 S.Ct. 438, 93 L.Ed.2d 386 (1986). We fail to find that the statement so fundamentally prejudiced the appellants that the trial court could not, by instructions to the jury, have corrected the error. Therefore, the error, if any, was waived.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1987 OK CR 211, 743 P.2d 674, 1987 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 485, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boyd-v-state-oklacrimapp-1987.