State v. Villa-Garcia, Unpublished Decision (3-23-2004)

2004 Ohio 1409
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 23, 2004
DocketCase No. 03AP-384.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2004 Ohio 1409 (State v. Villa-Garcia, Unpublished Decision (3-23-2004)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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State v. Villa-Garcia, Unpublished Decision (3-23-2004), 2004 Ohio 1409 (Ohio Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Gerardo Villa-Garcia ("appellant"), appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas sentencing him to prison after a jury convicted him of two counts of child endangering and one count of felonious assault. For the following reasons, we affirm that judgment in part and reverse in part, and remand the matter for resentencing.

{¶ 2} By indictment filed November 8, 2002, appellant was charged with one count of child endangering in violation of R.C.2919.22(B)(1), one count of child endangering in violation of R.C. 2919.22(A), and one count of felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(1). These charges stemmed from injuries Madison Freditz ("Madison"), a five-month old baby, sustained in September 2002. At that time, Madison and her mother, Trish Fredritz-Nonato ("Trish"), were living with appellant. After appellant pled not guilty to all of the charges, the case proceeded to a jury trial. The testimony presented at trial revealed the following facts.

{¶ 3} On September 19, 2002, Trish and her mother, Patricia Fredritz ("Mrs. Freditz"), took Madison to a doctor's appointment to get her immunization shots. The doctor noticed a bruise on Madison's back, but blood tests and X-rays revealed nothing unusual. Trish testified that the bruise could have occurred earlier in the week when Madison slipped while Trish washed her in the bathroom sink. Trish had to work after the doctor's appointment, so Mrs. Fredritz kept Madison for the night. Mrs. Fredritz testified that although Madison was a little feverish, nothing occurred that night to cause her any concern.

{¶ 4} The next morning, Mrs. Fredritz fed and bathed Madison. Nothing occurred that morning to cause her any concern for Madison. Ms. Fredritz returned Madison to Trish later that afternoon. Trish then dropped Madison off with Jocelyn Garcia ("Ms. Garcia"), appellant's relative. Ms. Garcia testified that Madison was acting normally when Trish dropped her off at her house. Ms. Garcia gave Madison a bottle around 5 p.m. that night. Although Madison spit up a bit of the formula, Ms. Garcia was not concerned. After Madison had a nap, Ms. Garcia fed her another bottle, which she took without a problem. Ms. Garcia then put Madison to bed. While Madison slept, Ms. Garcia noticed that Madison's head was moving from side to side. Ms. Garcia was a bit worried and called Trish. Trish told Ms. Garcia that Madison was probably just reacting to her shots. Appellant came to Ms. Garcia's house around 10 p.m. and took Madison back to his house. Ms. Garcia testified that Madison seemed normal when appellant picked her up.

{¶ 5} Trish testified that she spent the next day, September 21, 2002, with Madison. After Madison woke up at 7:30 a.m., Trish bathed and fed her a bottle. Trish gave Madison another bottle at about 1 p.m. Trish gave Madison a third bottle around 4 p.m., which Madison did not finish. After that feeding, Trish and appellant laid Madison on the floor. Madison was restless and crying. Around 5 p.m., Trish went to work, leaving appellant and Madison alone in the apartment. When she left, Madison was sleeping on the floor.

{¶ 6} Appellant testified that on September 21, 2002, he gave Madison a bottle around 4:30 p.m., and she took half of the bottle. He and Trish then laid a blanket down on the floor and put Madison to sleep. Madison had her normal color but was moving her head from side to side while she slept. After Trish left to go to work around 5 p.m., appellant took Madison off the floor and placed her into her cradle. She did not wake up or cry and he did not observe anything abnormal. Appellant went back to the living room and eventually fell asleep. He woke up around 8:35 p.m. and realized that he had not fed Madison. He went to the kitchen to prepare a bottle. He then woke Madison and she began to cry. Appellant realized that Madison's diaper was soiled. Appellant then changed her diaper. Madison continued to cry.

{¶ 7} Appellant left Madison and went to the kitchen to turn the stove off. When he returned from the kitchen, he noticed that Madison was having a hard time breathing. He picked Madison up and began shaking her. He testified that he would grab her and shake her a little bit so that she would respond. Appellant testified that he shook Madison once and then shook her again, this time harder, when she did not respond. He denied hitting Madison, although he testified that her head was rattling when he shook her. Ten to 15 minutes later, appellant called Trish. Appellant did not call 911 because he does not speak English. After calling Trish, appellant held Madison in his arms. He testified that Madison was not crying or responding and was almost fainting. Appellant had no idea how Madison received the injuries she sustained.

{¶ 8} Trish received appellant's phone call at work around 8:30 p.m. Appellant told her that something was wrong with Madison and that she should come home. Appellant sounded upset and panicked on the phone. When she returned home, Trish saw Madison in appellant's arms. Madison appeared pale and limp and Trish could not tell if she was breathing or not. Appellant was jiggling Madison to keep her alert. Trish then called 911.

{¶ 9} When paramedics from the Columbus Fire Department arrived, Trish met them with Madison. Paramedic Henry Windle took Madison to his ambulance and assessed her condition. Madison was alert and conscious although a bit lethargic. Windle also felt that Madison was somewhat pale and had a slightly abnormal heartbeat. The paramedics transported Madison to Children's Hospital where she was treated.

{¶ 10} Dr. Mary Ranee Leder is a pediatrician and member of the Child Abuse Team at Children's Hospital. Dr. Leder examined Madison and reviewed her medical records, blood tests and X-rays. Dr. Leder testified that the emergency department records indicated that Madison had several bruises on her body on admission, but that they had all healed by the time she examined Madison a few days later. After reviewing Madison's head scans and X-rays, Dr. Leder determined that Madison's skull was fractured and that she had a subdural hematoma, or bleeding in two areas on the surface of her brain between the brain and the skull. Dr. Leder described Madison's head injuries as severe. She testified that a subdural hematoma occurs as the result of a tearing of the blood vessels that run between the brain and the skull. These injuries are typically caused by an impact or by a severe acceleration force applied to the baby, such as may occur in severe motor vehicle accidents, where a baby falls from a substantial height, or where a baby is vigorously shaken.

{¶ 11} Dr. Leder further testified that she asked Trish about Madison's condition the week before Madison was brought to the hospital. Trish stated that Madison was in her usual good state of health during that week. Trish told Dr. Leder that she bathed and fed Madison at 7:15 a.m. on September 21, 2002, and fed her later that day at 4:30 p.m. Trish told Dr. Leder that Madison seemed to be in good health that day and had no problems taking her 4:30 p.m. bottle. However, Trish indicated that she felt Madison was restless, meaning that Madison did not sleep as soundly as normal.

{¶ 12} Dr. Leder further testified that absent evidence of an accidental cause, Madison's injuries were the result of shaken baby/impact syndrome. Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
2004 Ohio 1409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-villa-garcia-unpublished-decision-3-23-2004-ohioctapp-2004.