State v. Palmer

758 S.E.2d 195, 408 S.C. 218, 2014 WL 551581, 2014 S.C. App. LEXIS 23
Court of Appeals of South Carolina·Decided February 12, 2014·No. Appellate Case No. 2011-203707; No. 5198·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinions

FEW, C.J.

Robert Palmer and Julia Gorman were convicted in a joint trial of homicide by child abuse, aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse, and unlawful conduct toward a child, in connec[222] tion with the death of Gorman’s seventeen-month old grandson. The State proved conclusively that the child died from blunt force head trauma while in the exclusive custody of Palmer and Gorman. Palmer and Gorman contend, however, the trial court erred in denying their directed verdict motions because the State’s evidence was insufficient to prove (1) which defendant inflicted the child’s injuries, and (2) that either of them aided or abetted the other.1 We affirm their convictions for homicide by child abuse and unlawful conduct toward a child. However, we find insufficient evidence of aiding and abetting, and therefore, we reverse those convictions. We affirm all other issues pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR.

I. Standard of Review

Our task on appeal is to determine whether the trial court committed an error of law in denying Palmer and Gorman’s motions for a directed verdict. See State v. Cope, 405 S.C. 317, 334, 748 S.E.2d 194, 203 (2013) (“In criminal cases, the appellate court sits solely to review errors of law.”); State v. Williams, 405 S.C. 263, 272, 747 S.E.2d 194, 199 (Ct.App.2013) (stating “the appellate court sits to review errors of law only”). Our supreme court recently summarized the standard we employ in reviewing a trial court’s decision to deny a motion for a directed verdict:

In cases where the State has failed to present evidence of the offense charged, a criminal defendant is entitled to a directed verdict. During trial, when ruling on a motion for a directed verdict, the trial court is concerned with the existence or nonexistence of evidence, not its weight. The trial court should grant the directed verdict motion when the evidence merely raises a suspicion that the accused is guilty, as suspicion implies a belief or opinion as to guilt based upon facts or circumstances which do not amount to proof. On the other hand, a trial judge is not required to find that the evidence infers guilt to the exclusion of any other reasonable hypothesis.
On appeal, when reviewing a denial of a directed verdict, this Court must view the evidence and all reasonable infer[223] enees in the light most favorable to the state. See State v. Mitchell, 341 S.C. 406, 409, 535 S.E.2d 126, 127 (2000) (finding that when ruling on cases in which the state has relied exclusively on circumstantial evidence, appellate courts are likewise only concerned with the existence of the evidence and not its weight). If the state has presented ... substantial circumstantial evidence reasonably tending to prove the guilt of the accused, this Court must affirm the trial court’s decision to submit the case to the jury. Cf. Mitchell, 341 S.C. at 409, 535 S.E.2d at 127 (“The trial judge is required to submit the case to the jury if there is ‘any substantial evidence which reasonably tends to prove the guilt of the accused, or from which his guilt may be fairly and logically deduced.’ ”) (emphasis removed) (citation omitted).

State v. Hepburn, 406 S.C. 416, 429, 753 S.E.2d 402, 408-09 (2013) (some citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

II. Facts and Procedural History

On July 2, 2008, the child’s mother — Gorman’s daughter— left the child in Palmer and Gorman’s custody under a temporary guardianship.2 On the evening of July 14, 2008, Gorman made a 911 call from her home reporting the child had “shortness of breath.” A member of the Horry County Fire and Rescue team testified that when he arrived at Gorman and Palmer’s home, the child was seizing and in “a pretty grave condition.” A doctor who treated the child at Conway Medical Center testified the child showed signs of “severe neurological injury,” the cause of which “would have to be tremendous force to the skull.” A CT scan of the child’s head revealed skull fractures and swelling of the brain, which the doctor indicated “raise[d] the concern of child abuse.” Due to the severity of the injuries, the child was flown to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where he was kept on life support for two days. His parents decided to cease support, and the child died July 16,2008.

A forensic pathologist performed an autopsy on the child and found skull fractures on both sides of the child’s head. [224] She concluded the child died from blunt force head trauma, and the manner of death was homicide.

A. Palmer’s and Gorman’s Statements to Police

On July 18, 2008, Palmer and Gorman gave statements to the police. Palmer told police he did not know what happened to the child and denied hurting him. Similarly, Gorman told police she did not know how the injury occurred, but neither she nor Palmer hurt the child.

When asked whether the child’s injuries could have been caused by being shaken, Gorman denied ever shaking the child. However, after the police continued to question her, she admitted she may have shaken the child and demonstrated how she shook him. She stated she did not think she shook him hard and denied shaking him the day he went to the hospital.

Palmer and Gorman both gave police a timeline of what occurred the day of July 14. According to Gorman’s statement, she checked on the child at approximately 5:30 a.m. before she left for work and found him sleeping. According to Palmer’s statement, he woke the child at 9:30 a.m., fed him breakfast and lunch, then laid the child down for a nap at 3:30 p.m. Gorman confirmed this, stating Palmer called and told her that he fed the ehild in the morning and again around noon. Gorman and Palmer both stated Palmer was alone with the child all day while Gorman was at work.

Gorman arrived home between 4:00 and 4:30 p.m. Gorman claimed she checked on the child as soon as she got home, and, similarly, Palmer stated he and Gorman walked to the “edge of the door” and “peeked in” the child’s room to check on him. Gorman stated the child “was breathing fine, everything was fine.” She also told police that “a little bit later,” she and Palmer checked on him again and “still everything was fine.” Palmer’s statement, however, does not mention that they checked on the child a second time. Instead, he claims they went outside to talk “for a little bit” and then Gorman prepared dinner, which they ate around 6:00 p.m.

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State v. Palmer, 758 S.E.2d 195, 408 S.C. 218, 2014 WL 551581, 2014 S.C. App. LEXIS 23 (S.C. Ct. App. 2014).

758 S.E.2d 195 (State v. Palmer) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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