State v. Milby

2020 Ohio 5569
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 7, 2020
DocketCA2019-06-068
StatusPublished

This text of 2020 Ohio 5569 (State v. Milby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Milby, 2020 Ohio 5569 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Milby, 2020-Ohio-5569.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO

WARREN COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, :

Appellee, : CASE NO. CA2019-06-068

: OPINION - vs - 12/7/2020 :

JASON W. MILBY, :

Appellant. :

CRIMINAL APPEAL FROM WARREN COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS Case No. 18CR34562

David P. Fornshell, Warren County Prosecuting Attorney, Kirsten A. Brandt, 520 Justice Drive, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, for appellee

Jeffrey W. Stueve, 530 North Broadway Street, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, for appellant

Joshua G. Burns, 500 Justice Drive, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, for appellant

RINGLAND, J.

{¶1} Jason Milby appeals from his convictions for murder in the Warren County

Common Pleas Court. For the reasons discussed below, this court affirms Milby's

convictions.

{¶2} In 2011, the state charged Milby with felonious assault and child endangering Warren CA2019-06-068

after two-year-old Bryce Shannon sustained a severe brain injury while under Milby's care.1

That brain injury left Bryce in a permanent vegetative state. At Milby's trial, multiple medical

experts opined that Bryce's brain injury was the result of abusive head trauma. The jury

convicted Milby as charged and the court sentenced him to eight years in prison. Milby

appealed to this court, which affirmed his conviction. State v. Milby, 12th Dist. Warren No.

CA2013-02-014, 2013-Ohio-4331.

{¶3} Bryce died in May 2016. An autopsy revealed that the immediate cause of

death was pneumonia due to complications resulting from the brain injury. The state

subsequently indicted Milby on two counts of murder under R.C. 2903.02(B). The

indictments charged Milby with causing the death of another, as the proximate result of

committing an offense of violence, specifically, the offenses of felonious assault and child

endangering of which he had been previously convicted (referred to collectively as the

"predicate offenses").

{¶4} At trial, the state presented exhibits consisting of certified copies of court

records related to Milby's earlier convictions for the predicate offenses, including the

indictment, bill of particulars, verdict forms signed by the jurors, and judgment entry of

sentence. The bill of particulars indicated that the state alleged that on or about July 14,

2011, between approximately 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Milby had caused serious physical

harm and recklessly abused Bryce by inflicting a traumatic brain injury.

{¶5} Bryce's mother, Collette, testified about the struggle of keeping Bryce alive

and well-cared for in the years following the brain injury. Following the brain injury, Bryce

was never able to see, feed himself, talk, or walk. He was a quadriplegic. He suffered

various ailments related to his permanent vegetative state, including seizures, scoliosis,

1. Milby was in a relationship with Bryce's mother, Collette Shannon, and had been left alone babysitting Bryce and Bryce's siblings.

-2- Warren CA2019-06-068

repeated bouts of pneumonia, and sepsis. He was hospitalized multiple times, sometimes

for months at a time.

{¶6} On May 24, 2016, Collette noted Bryce's breathing began to sound "very dry."

Collette called Bryce's respiratory therapist, who said she would prepare a "bubbler" device.

Collette then left Bryce with Bryce's grandmother and left to retrieve the bubbler. She

returned 25 minutes later and installed the bubbler. Subsequently, Bryce's vital monitors

began to alarm. Collette saw that Bryce was not breathing and began CPR. She told her

daughter to call 9-1-1. Bryce never responded to the resuscitative efforts of Collette or the

first responders.

{¶7} Dr. Bryon Casto is a forensic pathologist and testified about performing

Bryce's autopsy. Dr. Casto believed that Bryce appeared well-cared for based on the

condition of his body. Dr. Casto found that Bryce's lungs were "involved in widespread

pneumonia." Dr. Casto indicated that there was a link between Bryce's physical condition

of being in a bedfast state and pneumonia. This is because someone who is mobile and

also has the ability to clear his or her airway has a better ability to avoid respiratory illnesses.

Bryce's scoliosis, which could also be caused by his bedfast state, would also have

contributed to his pneumonia. Ultimately, Dr. Casto opined, within a reasonable degree of

medical certainty, that Bryce's death was the result of lobar pneumonia due to complications

of remote traumatic brain injury.

{¶8} On cross-examination, Milby's defense counsel asked whether Dr. Casto had

determined Bryce's manner of death. Over the state's objection, which was premised on

an earlier agreement between the parties not to present expert testimony concerning the

predicates offenses, Dr. Casto testified that Bryce's manner of death was "undetermined."

Dr. Casto explained that, based on the autopsy and other information he had reviewed, he

could not rule out that Bryce's original brain injury was not an accident. On redirect, Dr.

-3- Warren CA2019-06-068

Casto confirmed that he had not treated Bryce in 2011 and clarified that it was not his

opinion that Bryce's original injury was accidental.

{¶9} Dr. Randall Alexander is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida

and testified as an expert in pediatrics and child abuse, including abusive head trauma. He

had been involved as a consultant in the case since 2012, when he diagnosed Bryce with

abusive head trauma. Dr. Alexander opined that Bryce's initial injury on July 14, 2011, was

the proximate cause of his death in 2016.

{¶10} Milby took the stand in his defense case. He testified that he was watching

Bryce as well as Collette's other children, and that they were all outside playing. He picked

up Bryce and playfully tossed him in the air. As Bryce was in the air, Milby's foot slipped

and then both he and Bryce fell onto concrete. Afterwards, Bryce cried for a short time. But

within a few minutes, they went inside to get something to eat. They ate nachos. Then

Bryce went into his room and played with cars and dinosaurs. Milby went back and forth

checking on the children outside and checking on Bryce inside.

{¶11} At one point, Milby watched as Bryce jump off a dresser onto the bed. Milby

told him to get down. Milby later went to check on Bryce and saw that he was "napping" on

the floor, "hunched over like with his butt in the air." Milby was concerned but left Bryce

"napping" and continued going back and forth checking on the other children. At some

point, he observed that Bryce had vomited on the floor. He put Bryce on a couch, and then

moved him to the floor again, where Bryce again vomited.

{¶12} Milby said he began texting Collette with his concerns, and she told him to call

Bryce's grandmother for assistance. When Bryce's grandmother arrived, she realized that

Bryce was "not awake" and was "doing nothing" and that they needed to call 9-1-1. Then

she decided she would take Bryce herself to urgent care.

{¶13} On cross-examination, Milby confirmed that he had never told this story to the

-4- Warren CA2019-06-068

police and admitted that he had earlier lied to police. The state also confronted Milby with

a pro se motion for judicial release that he filed in 2015.

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