State v. Davis

616 S.E.2d 89, 217 W. Va. 94, 2004 W. Va. LEXIS 170
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 2, 2004
DocketNo. 31679
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 616 S.E.2d 89 (State v. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Davis, 616 S.E.2d 89, 217 W. Va. 94, 2004 W. Va. LEXIS 170 (W. Va. 2004).

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

This is an appeal by Marybeth Davis from an order of the Circuit Court of Greenbrier County denying her a new trial, on the basis of newly discovered evidence, on charges that she had murdered her infant daughter and had attempted to injure, by poisoning, her infant son. The appellant was sentenced to life in the penitentiary, without mercy, on the murder charge, and to from three to eighteen years in the penitentiary on the attempt to injure charge.

I.

FACTS

In November 1996, the appellant was indicated for the homicide of her infant daughter Tegan, and for attempting to injure, by poisoning, her infant son Seth. The case was subsequently tried before a jury, and during the trial, the State presented evidence indicating that at the time of Tegan’s death, her body contained lethal levels of caffeine. The State also presented circumstantial evidence suggesting that the appellant had administered the caffeine.

To support the charge that the appellant had attempted to injure her infant son Seth, by poisoning, the State introduced evidence showing that Seth was taken to a hospital suffering from an extraordinarily low level of blood sugar. Subsequent tests revealed that the child’s insulin level was extraordinarily high. The tests also suggested that the insulin was not manufactured by Seth’s body, but came from an exogenous or outside source. Further, circumstantial evidence introduced by the State suggested that the appellant, who was a nurse, had administered the insulin.

To counter the State’s evidence suggesting that she had poisoned her daughter Tegan, the appellant introduced the testimony of Dr. James R. Shipe, who had reviewed the.medical examiner’s report and the toxicology report which formed the basis of the State’s evidence. Dr. Shipe expressed the opinion that Tegan’s blood concentration of caffeine was elevated, but not extremely high, and he also stated that caffeine was not the cause of her death. He noted that the toxicology [95]*95report showed varying concentrations of caffeine in Tegan’s blood and tissues, suggesting that the toxicology report was inaccurate.

The appellant, to explain how her daughter Tegan died in the absence of caffeine poisoning, took the position that she had died of Reye’s Syndrome or a genetic mimic of it. She introduced expert evidence indicating that Tegan exhibited the symptoms of, and met the criteria of having, Reye’s syndrome.

At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found the defendant guilty of murdering her daughter and of attempting to injure her son by poisoning. The appellant appealed her conviction to this Court, and this Court in State v. Davis, 205 W.Va. 569, 519 S.E.2d 852 (1999), affirmed the appellant’s conviction.

After this Court affirmed the conviction, the appellant filed a number of motions with the Circuit Court of Greenbrier County requesting a new trial on the basis of new or after-discovered evidence. Ultimately, the motions were consolidated, and the trial court took them under consideration. After reviewing the evidence and the motions, the trial court denied the motions. It is from the trial court’s denial of the motions for a new trial that the appellant now appeals.

On appeal, it appears that the appellant claims that after trial, she discovered certain speetrographic evidence and tissue slides, which proved that her daughter Tegan died of Reye’s Syndrome and that caffeine poisoning was not possible. Secondly, the appellant claims that genetic tests performed after trial proved that her son Seth was» a victim of a genetic disease, rather than insulin poisoning. Lastly, the appellant claims that the State provided the jury with false information on the level of caffeine in her daughter’s body.

II.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In the present appeal, the question is not whether the evidenced adduced at trial was sufficient to support the jury’s verdict. That question was disposed of by this Court in State v. Davis, id. Instead, in the present appeal, the question is whether the circuit court properly denied the appellant’s motions for a new trial on the basis of after-discovered evidence.

This Court has indicated that as a general proposition, it will review a circuit court’s ruling on a motion for a new trial under an abuse of discretion standard. In re State Public Building Asbestos Litigation, 193 W.Va. 119, 454 S.E.2d 413 (1994). The Court has also indicated that in reviewing such rulings, the Court will not disturb the lower court’s ruling unless the lower tribunal’s conclusions are plainly wrong or against the weight of the evidence. State v. Crouch, 191 W.Va. 272, 445 S.E.2d 213 (1994).

Additionally, in State v. Helmick, 201 W.Va. 163, 495 S.E.2d 262 (1997), the Court indicated that for a convicted defendant to prevail on a motion for a new trial based on newly-discovered evidence, the defendant has the burden of proving five.elements. Those elements are summarized in the Syllabus of State v. Frazier, 162 W.Va. 935, 253 S.E.2d 534 (1979), as follows:

A new trial will not be granted on the ground of newly-discovered evidence unless the case comes within the following rules: (1) The evidence must appear to have been discovered since the trial, and, from the affidavit of the new witness, what such evidence will be, or its absence satisfactorily explained. (2) It must appear from facts stated in his affidavit that plaintiff was diligent in ascertaining and securing his evidence, and that the new evidence is such that due diligence would not have secured it before the verdict. (3) Such evidence must be new and material, and ■ not merely cumulative; and cumulative evidence is additional evidence of the same kind to the same point. (4) The evidence mu§t be such as ought to produce an opposite result at a second trial on the merits. (5) And the new trial will generally be refused when the sole object of the new evidence is to discredit or impeach a witness on the opposite side.

DISCUSSION

As has previously been indicated, the appellant on appeal argues that after trial, she [96]*96discovered spectrographic results and tissue slides which showed that her daughter Tegan could not have died of caffeine poisoning as was claimed by the State during her trial. She claims that in light of the discovery of this new evidence, the circuit court should have granted her a new trial.

After the death of the appellant’s daughter, Tegan, an autopsy was performed by Dr. Anne Hooper, a physician selected by the appellant. Dr. Hooper requested that toxicology studies be performed by the State Medical Examiner’s Office, and she provided samples of Tegan’s body fluids and tissue, so that the Medical Examiner’s Office could perform the studies. The spectrographic results and tissue slides in issue in the present appeal were apparently prepared as a part of the toxicology studies. The studies resulted in a toxicology report which was examined by Dr. Hooper and various other medical experts who testified at the appellant’s trial.

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Bluebook (online)
616 S.E.2d 89, 217 W. Va. 94, 2004 W. Va. LEXIS 170, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-davis-wva-2004.