Kareem Daniel Farrell v. State of Florida

186 So. 3d 1046, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 7069, 2015 WL 2214148
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 13, 2015
Docket4D13-2589
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 186 So. 3d 1046 (Kareem Daniel Farrell v. State of Florida) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kareem Daniel Farrell v. State of Florida, 186 So. 3d 1046, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 7069, 2015 WL 2214148 (Fla. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

LEVINE, J.

Appellant appeals his conviction for aggravated child abuse and sentence of thirty years’ imprisonment. Appellant raises multiple issues on appeal, the majority of which we find are without merit. The only issue we address is that regarding the state’s cross-examination of one of appellant’s expert witnesses. Because we find the cross-examination did not constitute reversible error,, we affirm.

The state charged appellant with aggravated child abuse under section 827.03(2), Fla. Stat.- (2010), alleging that he shook his eight-month-old nephew, causing the child to suffer severe retinal bleeding and brain injuries.

At trial, the child’s mother testified that her brother, appellant, was living with her and her two children at the time of the incident. The mother statéd that the victim had been acting normally until the day prior to the incident, when she noticed he was not eating his whole bottle and cried more than usual. On the day of the incident, the child was more active, but still not eating normally.

At some point during the day, the mother left appellant to watch the children while she did laundry in another part of the home. She checked on them and noticed the child was sitting on the floor and “it looked like he was falling asleep and he kinda like limped over to his side.” When the mother picked up the child, she noticed he had a small 'amount of blood on his mouth, which she-washed off. She tasked appellant with putting the child down for a nap. ,

[1049]*1049Approximately ten to fifteen minutes later, the mother went to go check on the child and was met in the hallway by appellant, who. was holding the child and stated that the. child was not breathing properly. Appellant called 911 while the mother gave the child CPR until an ambulance arrived.

The mother testified that the child now can no longer eat normally and is fed via a tube. She also testified that she thinks he can see her, but cannot walk or .talk.

The state 'called Dr. Lee Friedman, a pediatric ophthalmologist, who testified that he examined the child on the day after the incident. The'doctor stated the' child had “multiple, multilayer deep hemorrhages in the back of the right eye — massive throughout the retina from the optic nerve to the macula all the way to the' periphery of the eye.” The doctor testified there were less severe hemorrhages scattered throughout the left eye as well.

He testified that the eye injuries, when combined with the appearance of bruises on the body and bleeding in the brain, are commonly seen in cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome or “non-accidental head trauma.” The doctor stated that the eye hemorrhages are thought to be caused by “shearing forces from the gel in the eye” and were “extremely unlikely” to be caused by a short distance fall. He testified that injuries as extensive as the ones seen in this case were unlikely to be caused by more substantial head traumas, such as falling from a jungle gym or a car accident, and were not of the sort caused by increased intracranial pressure. The doctor also testified that the injury definitely occurred “within the past couple of days,” based on the presence of active blood and no sign of healing.

A detective from the Port St. Lucie Police Department interrogated appellant a few days after the child’s injuries. The detective identified an apology letter that appellant wrote to the mother at the end of his interview. An audio/video recording of appellant’s interrogation was played for the jury.

' In the recording, appellant told the detective that the child was not sleeping well and may have had an ear infection, but was otherwise fine. Appellant later stated that the child had been “acting strange” all week. On the day of the incident, appellant walked into the room, and the child “just flopped over” from where he was propped up next to his mattress. Appellant stated he alerted the mother and they “sat him on the sofa and he took a breath and stopped breathing just like that.”

Later in the same interview, the detective began to ask appellant if what happened was “intentional” or “unintentional.” Appellant stated that he was worried about the mother losing her children. He denied that anything could have been intentional. The detective told appellant this was a “fixable” mistake. Appellant eventually stated, “I did it — I did it — I did it, ma’am.” When asked what happened, appellant stated, ‘T shook him.” The detective continued questioning appellant:

Q: I don’t want — I don’t want to worry about whether or not [the mother] is going to lose her kids. What I want to know is what happened to this little boy to cause this and I want the truth.,
A: He was shaken.,
Q: Who shook him?
A: I did.
Q: What happened?
A: I did it, ma’am.
Q: What happened?
A: Just — I’m—I’m telling a lie. I can’t ■ do it ma’am, I can’t lie. I can’t— [The mother] ⅛ only 26-years-old....
[1050]*1050A: I shook him. I just walk up to him and shake — [the child] had his meltdown, I was so scared. I ain’t know if he was alive, I ain’t know what to do_ [H]e wouldn’t come back.

Appellant reiterated that he shook the child “to bring him back” and that he “wasn’t shaking the life out of him.” He also stated this was unintentional and he never meant to hurt his nephew. Appellant later clarified that he shook the child “two hours — or a hour before — 30 minutes at least” before appellant walked into the child’s room to find him “flopped over” near his mattress.

The state called Dr. Randall Alexander, a professor of pediatrics who serves as. a statewide medical director for all of Florida’s Child Protection Teams. The professor reviewed the child’s medical records and noted that the child had skin irritation marks on his body and bruising on his chest that was not typical of CPR. The medical records also showed the child had internal injuries, including bruising on the lungs, fluid in the abdomen, and swelling in the brain. The .professor testified that the victim’s brain injury would have been fatal without medical intervention. The injury could not have occurred a week prior, because there was brand new blood in the head and the injury had not yet started to heal. The professor' further testified that the injuries in this ease were not consistent with a short fall or intracra-nial pressure. The child’s brain showed substantial damage and he would probably süffer from cerebral palsy of his left side, vision problems, and developmental delays. The professor also testified that Shaken Baby Syndrome was globally recognized by major medical organizations.

Appellant’s first expert witness was Dr. Willey, a pathologist and former medical examiner. The pathologist testified that he, as well as a number' of other people in the medical community; deny the validity of Shaken- Baby Syndrome, although he recognized this viewpoint is in the minority. He also- testified that he believed the alleged bruises on the victim’s lungs were actually fluid in the chest caused by medical care, and that the .shaking described by appellant would be insufficient to cause the damage seen in the victim.

Appellant next called Dr. Lloyd, a biom-echanist with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Appellant asked Dr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
186 So. 3d 1046, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 7069, 2015 WL 2214148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kareem-daniel-farrell-v-state-of-florida-fladistctapp-2015.