State v. Dumlao

491 A.2d 404, 3 Conn. App. 607, 1985 Conn. App. LEXIS 916
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedApril 30, 1985
Docket2884; 2954
StatusPublished
Cited by65 cases

This text of 491 A.2d 404 (State v. Dumlao) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dumlao, 491 A.2d 404, 3 Conn. App. 607, 1985 Conn. App. LEXIS 916 (Colo. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

Borden, J.

The defendants, Paulino and Aurora Dumlao, were charged with the crimes of assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-59 (a) (3)1 and injury or risk of injury to a child in violation of General Statutes § 53-21,2 and were tried together. The jury found each of them not guilty of the charge of assault but convicted them each of injury or risk of injury to a child. The defendants appeal separately from their convictions, claiming in large part that the court erred in admitting certain evidence and that the evidence was insufficient for conviction. We find no error.

The jury could reasonably have found the following facts: On March 7,1983, the defendants’ two year old daughter was hospitalized at Yale-New Haven Hospital after being transferred from the Naval Hospital in Groton where she was referred by a local pediatrician. The child, at the time the defendants took her to the pediatrician and she was hospitalized, was in pain, generally unresponsive to her environment, covered with abrasions and bruises, including an open lesion the size of a nickel under the left eye, severely dehydrated, and had internal abdominal injuries which were later diagnosed as a fractured spleen, pancreatitis and liver dys[609]*609function. The child’s overall symptoms were properly diagnosed as battered child syndrome. Because her injuries were life-threatening, she was placed in intensive care. She had to be fed intravenously for two weeks. The medical history given by the defendant Paulino to the doctors was inconsistent with the child’s injuries. The injuries occurred within approximately seven days prior to the child’s arrival at the hospital.

The trial court granted the defendants’ motion in limine in part, barring any reference in the evidence to the terms “battered” or “abused child,” but permitting the use of the term “battered child syndrome.” The court denied the defendants’ motions for judgment of acquittal, made at the close of the state’s case and when the defendant Paulino had rested,3 on the basis that the state had made out prima facie cases which should be submitted to the jury.

I

Appeal of the Defendant Paulino Dumlao

A

We first address the claims of the defendant Paulino Dumlao, beginning with his argument that the court improperly admitted expert testimony on the issue of the battered child syndrome. The defendant argues that such testimony was inflammatory, implying misconduct by the defendants, and was an opinion on the ultimate issue of the case, effectively depriving the jury of their function to determine guilt or innocence. We disagree.

Expert testimony is permitted, in the court’s discretion, “ ‘if the witness has a special skill or knowledge, beyond the ken of the average juror, that, as properly [610]*610applied, would be helpful to the determination of an ultimate issue.’ ” State v. Esposito, 192 Conn. 166, 175, 471 A.2d 949 (1984). Battered child syndrome has become a well established medical diagnosis. Commonwealth v. Labbe, 6 Mass. App. 73, 77, 373 N.E.2d 227 (1978); State v. Tanner, 675 P.2d 539, 542-43 (Utah 1983); see State v. Tucker, 181 Conn. 406, 411, 435 A.2d 986 (1980). Expert medical testimony that a child suffered from battered child syndrome has consistently been held admissible in other jurisdictions. See, e.g., United States v. Bowers, 660 F.2d 527 (5th Cir. 1981); Bell v. State, 435 So. 2d 772 (Ala. Crim. App. 1983); People v. Jackson, 18 Cal. App. 3d 504, 95 Cal. Rptr. 919 (1971); Commonwealth v. Labbe, supra; State v. Goblirsch, 309 Minn. 401, 246 N.W.2d 12 (1976); State v. Wilkerson, 295 N.C. 559, 247 S.E.2d 905 (1978); State v. Tanner, supra, 543; annot., 98 A.L.R.3d 306.

“[T]he ‘battered child syndrome’ simply indicates that a child found with [certain types of injuries] has not suffered those injuries by accidental means. This conclusion is based upon an extensive study of the subject by medical science.” People v. Jackson, supra, 507; State v. Wilkerson, supra; State v. Tanner, supra. A diagnosis of battered child syndrome is often indicated when a child’s injuries do not jibe with the history given by the parent. See State v. Tanner, supra, 542; McCoid, “The Battered Child and Other Assaults Upon the Family: Part One,” 50 Minn. L. Rev. 1, 18-19 (1965). A properly qualified expert medical witness, therefore, may appropriately explain the syndrome to the jury and express his opinion that the victim suffers from it. Cf. People v. Reid, 123 Misc. 2d 1084, 475 N.Y.S.2d 741 (1984). We agree with the Utah Supreme Court that “trial courts [must] weigh carefully the probative value against the potential for undue prejudice that may be created by the use of the term ‘battered child syndrome.’ The term should not be applied broadly or as [611]*611a generalization. The expert should be able to testify in detail regarding the nature of the child’s injuries and whether the explanation given for the injuries is reasonable. Any deficiencies in the testimony, however, go to its weight rather than to its admissibility. The weight and credibility to be given an expert’s testimony are matters to be decided by the factfinder. Defense counsel may of course challenge the testimony on cross-examination, but such challenge goes to the weight to be given the testimony, not to its admissibility. See State v. Clayton, Utah, 646 P.2d 723, 726 (1982).” State v. Tanner, supra, 543-44.

The expert witness should not be permitted to testify whether “the battered child syndrome from which this victim suffered was in fact caused by any particular person or class of persons engaging in any particular activity or class of activities”; State v. Wilkerson, supra, 570; the purpose of this kind of testimony is “not accusatory” and has no bearing on the defendant’s culpability. S tate v. Tanner, supra, 542. On the other hand, evidence of battered child syndrome, coupled with other proof, such as a continuing opportunity to inflict the injuries, may permit an inference not only that the injuries were not accidental but also that they were incurred by one who regularly cares for the child. People v. Jackson, supra; State v. Tanner, supra, 542 n.2; see also United States v. Bowers, supra; People v. Henson, 33 N.Y.2d 63, 74, 304 N.E.2d 358, 349 N.Y.S.2d 665 (1973).

William Hellenbrand, a physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital, testified in detail about the child’s injuries. He stated that battered child syndrome is an accepted medical term that is diagnosed “when a child suffers an injury or injuries . . .

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Bluebook (online)
491 A.2d 404, 3 Conn. App. 607, 1985 Conn. App. LEXIS 916, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dumlao-connappct-1985.