State v. Sheikhuna

492 P.3d 659, 312 Or. App. 57
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 3, 2021
DocketA164153
StatusPublished

This text of 492 P.3d 659 (State v. Sheikhuna) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Sheikhuna, 492 P.3d 659, 312 Or. App. 57 (Or. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Argued and submitted January 15, 2019, affirmed June 3, 2021

STATE OF OREGON, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. AWES SHEIKHUNA, aka Awes Sheikhuma, Defendant-Appellant. Multnomah County Circuit Court 15CR25774; A164153 492 P3d 659

Defendant appeals a conviction for first-degree assault, ORS 163.185, and first-degree criminal mistreatment, ORS 163.205. Defendant assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal on both counts. Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he intention- ally or knowingly caused injury to his three-month-old infant, who suffered cat- astrophic brain damage while in his care. Held: The evidence presented by the state was sufficient to support a finding that defendant acted with a “knowingly” mental state, because the evidence supported an inference that the cause of the infant’s injures was assaultive in nature and that defendant would have been aware of the assaultive nature of his conduct. The trial court did not err in deny- ing defendant’s motion. Affirmed.

Bronson D. James, Judge. Meredith Allen, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant. Also on the briefs was Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Defender, Criminal Appellate Section, Office of Public Defense Services. Timothy A. Sylwester, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent. Also on the briefs were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General. Before DeHoog, Presiding Judge, and DeVore, Judge, and Aoyagi, Judge.* DeHOOG, P. J. Affirmed. ______________ * DeVore, J., vice Hadlock, J. pro tempore. 58 State v. Sheikhuna

DeHOOG, P. J.

Defendant’s three-month-old infant suffered cata- strophic brain damage while in defendant’s care. Defendant was tried by a jury and now appeals a judgment of conviction for first-degree assault, ORS 163.185, and first-degree crim- inal mistreatment, ORS 163.205, raising four assignments of error. We reject his first and second assignments of error without discussion. We write to address his third and fourth assignments, in which he contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal (MJOA) on both counts, because, in his view, the evidence was insuf- ficient to prove that he intentionally or knowingly caused injury to the child. As explained below, we conclude that the trial court did not err in denying defendant’s MJOA, and, therefore, we affirm.

In a supplemental assignment of error, defendant asserts that instructing the jury that it could return nonunanimous guilty verdicts constituted a structural error requiring reversal. Although the instruction violated the Sixth Amendment, Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 US ___, ___, 140 S Ct 1390, 1396, 206 L Ed 2d 583 (2020), the Oregon Supreme Court has held that providing a nonunanimous jury instruc- tion is not a structural error that requires reversal in every case, State v. Flores Ramos, 367 Or 292, 319, 478 P3d 515 (2020). The verdicts here were unanimous, and, therefore, the error was harmless. Id. at 329. We reject that supple- mental assignment.

When reviewing a trial court’s denial of an MJOA, “we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the state to determine whether a rational trier of fact, making rea- sonable inferences, could find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” State v. Peterson, 309 Or App 31, 34, 482 P3d 68 (2021) (internal quotation marks omitted). “Where the state has sought to establish an ele- ment of the crime by reasonable inference, whether suffi- cient evidence supports the inference is a question of law for the court.” State v. Garibay, 307 Or App 722, 724, 478 P3d 1006 (2020) (internal quotation marks omitted). We state the pertinent facts accordingly. Cite as 312 Or App 57 (2021) 59

The victim in this case is defendant’s son, N, who was three months old at the time of the incident giving rise to defendant’s convictions. N suffered a traumatic brain injury, a ligamentous spine injury, and bruising on his thigh. Most of his brain tissue died; he is blind, cannot understand anything that is spoken to him, cannot make intentional body movements, has no sensation of touch, cannot make or retrieve memories, and is fed through a feeding tube. The part of his brain that is intact, the brainstem, controls his respiration and heartbeat. N’s mother, Gallow, and defendant, both of whom immigrated to the United States as adults, are married under the cultural practices of their native country. They have two children together: N, and N’s brother, H, who is a year older than N. At the time of the underlying inci- dent, Gallow lived in an apartment with the two children and worked the swing shift as a janitor. Defendant did not live with Gallow and the children, but he would come to her apartment and provide childcare while she was at work. N was a fussy baby. Unlike H, who was a calm and good baby, N cried a lot. On June 15, 2015, Gallow cared for the children in the morning and left for work that afternoon at around 3:00 p.m. Defendant cared for the children after Gallow left. According to Gallow, N had been sick in the days leading up to June 15; he was crying a lot, throwing up, would not take milk, and had been running a fever. The night before, “he was fussing so much [Gallow] didn’t get enough sleep.” That afternoon, defendant took N to an urgent care appointment with a physician’s assistant, Norman, at the medical office where N had been seen two prior times. Norman understood that defendant had brought N in for the appointment because he had nasal congestion and was not feeding properly. Norman performed a physical exam on N that included an examination of N’s head, which did not raise any concerns for Norman. N was alert, was not lethargic, and did not exhibit any difficulty breathing. Norman noted that N had nasal congestion, and she showed defendant how to clear N’s nasal passages so that he could eat while breathing through his nose. 60 State v. Sheikhuna

After the medical appointment, defendant returned to the apartment with the two children. According to defen- dant, N continued to cry and would not take his bottle; at some point defendant put N in an infant swing. At 6:11 p.m., defendant called 9-1-1 and requested an ambulance. He told the dispatcher that he had “a little kid here” and that “some- thing is wrong with him.” He said, “I don’t know what’s going on with this kid. He can’t even take breaths.” He also reported that “it almost seems like he’s died,” and “he doesn’t cry. He doesn’t move.” An ambulance was dispatched, and N was transported to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) hospital. Upon arrival in the emergency department, N was minimally responsive and had minimal breathing; he was immediately intubated and ventilated, and he was in very serious condition and unstable for the first 24 to 36 hours. N was eventually admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. He spent approximately six weeks in the hospital, and multiple physicians independently diagnosed him with abusive head trauma. Due to N’s injuries, defendant was indicted on one count of first-degree assault, ORS 163.185

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
492 P.3d 659, 312 Or. App. 57, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sheikhuna-orctapp-2021.