State v. Holzknecht

238 P.3d 1233
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 13, 2010
Docket63017-2-I
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 238 P.3d 1233 (State v. Holzknecht) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Holzknecht, 238 P.3d 1233 (Wash. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

238 P.3d 1233 (2010)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Eric Earl HOLZKNECHT, Appellant.

No. 63017-2-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

September 13, 2010.

*1234 Neil Martin Fox, Law Office of Neil Fox, PLLC, Liza E. Burke, Liza Burke Law PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Appellant/Cross-Respondent.

Mary Kathleen Webber, Snohomish County Prosecutors Office, Everett, WA, for Respondent/Cross-Appellant.

PUBLISHED IN PART

ELLINGTON, J.

¶ 1 On December 1, 2007, two-month-old Grace Holzknecht was admitted to Children's Hospital with three leg fractures. Doctors determined the fractures were not caused by accidental trauma. Grace's father was charged with assault. Eric Holzknecht challenges his conviction on numerous grounds, including the constitutionality of RCW 10.58.035, violation of his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation, erroneous jury instructions *1235 and insufficiency of the evidence. We affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2 Amy and Eric Holzknecht's first child, Grace, was born on September 27, 2007. The Holzknechts lived with Eric's family, and Amy stayed home to care for Grace. Eric was also involved in caring for Grace, including changing her diaper. Three or four times, Grace was solely in her father's care.

¶ 3 Grace was a very fussy baby. On one occasion, the young parents called 911 because Grace would not stop crying. Paramedics assured them she was fine. When the crying continued, Amy insisted they take Grace to the emergency room. The staff there also stated that she was fine. The Holzknechts expressed their concerns to Grace's pediatrician, who told them Grace was normal. Sometimes the stress of a fussy newborn made Eric lose his patience. On those occasions, he would go for a walk or a drive to the store. When Amy became frustrated, her in-laws would take Grace into their room.

¶ 4 Grace cried during diaper changes no matter who changed her. At times, Amy thought Eric was rough and moving too fast when changing Grace. On several occasions, Amy asked him to be gentler with her. Sometimes he slowed down, but other times he became irritated and told her she "was being silly about it."[1] There were times Amy thought Eric might have hurt the baby. Amy's aunt, Lorinda Feagles, saw Eric change Grace's diaper and dress her in the hospital. She thought he was too quick and rough, and was "either very comfortable with a newborn or he was maybe showing off."[2]

¶ 5 In early to mid-November 2007, Eric was changing Grace's diaper when she began to defecate. Eric grabbed her legs and pulled her out of the way. When Amy came into the room, Eric was crying. He said, "I think I may have hurt her."[3] Grace's legs were visibly bruised. One leg had two bruises close to the knee; the other had two bruises close to the ankle. By the next day, however, Grace was "[k]icking around, all happy."[4]

¶ 6 Feagles noticed bruises on Grace's legs when the Holzknechts brought her for a visit. Amy "covered them up real quick,"[5] and Feagles took another look later, when she was alone with Grace.

¶ 7 On the afternoon of November 30, 2007, Amy left Grace in Eric's care at about three o'clock while she looked for a job. She returned around five o'clock. Grace was extremely fussy that evening and cried throughout the night. Around midnight, the Holzknechts noticed Grace was holding her right leg up and inward, as if to protect it. The next morning, they took Grace first to a walk-in clinic and then to the emergency room at Providence Hospital in Everett. An x-ray showed a fracture to the right femur. The Holzknechts stated there had been no fall or other trauma, and nobody but them had cared for Grace in the previous 24 hours.

¶ 8 Grace was taken by ambulance to Children's Hospital in Seattle, where she was given a full body x-ray, which revealed a fresh long oblique or spiral fracture to the right femur, a one-to-two week old metaphyseal fracture (also known as classic metaphyseal lesion or CML) of the right tibia, and an even older metaphyseal fracture or CML of the left tibia. Pediatrician and pediatric radiologist Dr. Stephen Done concluded the fractures were the result of nonaccidental trauma.

¶ 9 Social worker Doris Bartel informed the Holzknechts about the fractures. Amy told Bartel she was concerned with how rough her husband had been during diaper changes. Holzknecht admitted he might have pulled too hard on Grace's leg during diaper changes, but stated that if he did, it was unintentional.

¶ 10 The police and Children's Protective Services were called, and Grace was taken *1236 into protective custody. Amy told a police officer that she had seen her husband pick up Grace by her leg, that she had warned him on several occasions to be more careful, and that he sometimes lost his patience with Grace. Holzknecht confirmed Amy's report and signed a statement saying, "There have been times that I might have been rough with Grace's legs when changing her."[6] Describing the defecating incident, he stated:

I was a little frustrated with the situation and accidentally grabbed and pushed a little too hard. After grabbing her, I realized that she had marks on her legs and that she was hurt. I felt horrible for hurting my child. I would never intentionally hurt my child, but I feel that the injuries could be my fault. There have been times when I grabbed Grace by one leg to change her. The break could have happened during one of those changing incidents or last night when I was examining her possible leg injury.[[7]]

The Holzknechts gave similar responses to various other people who interviewed them.

¶ 11 Children's Hospital has a child protective team that handles cases of suspected child abuse. Dr. Naomi Sugar, a pediatrician specializing in child abuse cases, is part of the team. She examined Grace and reviewed her records, including the x-rays. She also ordered a series of tests to determine whether there were possible metabolic or genetic causes for Grace's injuries. The tests, performed by three geneticists, an orthopedist, and an endocrinologist, ruled out any genetic or metabolic cause. After considering all the potential causes, Dr. Sugar concluded Grace's injuries were not accidental but were the result of abuse.

¶ 12 Holzknecht was charged with three counts of assault of a child in the second degree. The State alleged an aggravating factor (that defendant knew or should have known that the victim was particularly vulnerable and incapable of resistance).

¶ 13 A jury convicted Holzknecht of two counts of assault of a child in the second degree and one count of the lesser crime of assault of a child in the third degree. The jury also found the vulnerable victim aggravating factor established as to each count. Holzknecht appeals.

DISCUSSION

Jury Instructions Defining Recklessness and Other Mens Rea

¶ 14 Holzknecht makes a number of arguments not raised below. We do not review issues raised for the first time on appeal unless they are manifest errors affecting a constitutional right.[8] "In analyzing the asserted constitutional interest, we do not assume the alleged error is of constitutional magnitude. We look to the asserted claim and assess whether, if correct, it implicates a constitutional interest as compared to another form of trial error."[9]

¶ 15 The error must also be manifest.[10]

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Bluebook (online)
238 P.3d 1233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-holzknecht-washctapp-2010.