United States v. Stanley

60 M.J. 622, 2004 CCA LEXIS 172, 2004 WL 1724882
CourtUnited States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedJuly 1, 2004
DocketACM 34825
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 60 M.J. 622 (United States v. Stanley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Stanley, 60 M.J. 622, 2004 CCA LEXIS 172, 2004 WL 1724882 (afcca 2004).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

STONE, Senior Judge:

The appellant pled not guilty to two charges stemming from the death of his infant son. A military judge, sitting alone at a general court-martial, found the appellant guilty, as charged, of involuntary manslaughter by culpable negligence, a violation of Article 119(b)(1), UCMJ, and maiming, a violation of Article 124, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. [623]*623§§ 919(b)(1), 924. The convening authority approved the adjudged sentence of a dishonorable discharge, confinement for 6 years, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to the grade of E-l.

The appellant raises two issues for our consideration. First, he contends that the involuntary manslaughter charge is legally and factually insufficient. In this regard, he argues that the proximate cause of his son’s death was not the injuries the baby received from being severely shaken; rather, he contends the removal of artificial life support before his son was considered brain dead was an intervening cause of death. Alternatively, if this Court rules adversely to him on the first issue, he argues that because the involuntary manslaughter and maiming charges arise from the same act of shaking, conviction for both offenses violates the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the appellant’s actions were the proximate cause of his son’s death and hold that the involuntary manslaughter charge is legally and factually sufficient. Even so, we agree that conviction for both maiming and involuntary manslaughter violates the principle of double jeopardy. We order conditional relief on that basis.

FACTS

Timothy Stanley was born on 29 April 2000 at the Ehrling Bergquist Hospital, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. He resided with his mother, Senior Airman (SrA) Anna Jackson, and his father, the appellant. At the time, SrA Jackson and the appellant were engaged.

On 11 June 2000, SrA Jackson left Timothy in the sole care of the appellant while she went to a local video store. Upon her return 30 minutes later, she observed the appellant sitting on the couch holding their six-week-old son. Sensing that something was seriously wrong, she took Timothy from the appellant’s arms and discovered that the baby was “completely limp and was not breathing.”

She insisted they immediately go to the Ehrling Bergquist Hospital, an eight to ten minute drive away. Upon arrival at the emergency room, Timothy still was not breathing and appeared “limp and ashen.” An experienced emergency room nurse promptly administered CPR, and the baby was resuscitated. Soon thereafter, Timothy was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.

At Children’s Hospital, Timothy was placed on a respirator because he was unable to breathe on his own. He later began to breathe more or less spontaneously. However, the respirator was kept in place to further assess and evaluate his condition. Additionally, he received a nasogastric tube and intravenous fluids to provide nutrition and hydration. Doctors initiated artificial life support measures because Timothy lacked a gag reflex and suck response, and thus was unable to ingest food or liquids on his own.

Doctors immediately assessed the infant’s condition as non-accidental trauma. The specific diagnosis was shaken baby syndrome (SBS). This is an established medical diagnosis typically involving very small children who are violently shaken. According to experts who testified at trial, SBS involves a constellation of injuries to the bones, eyes, and brain. Timothy’s bodily injuries involved all these areas. Radiological testing revealed he suffered three acute fractures to his extremities. He also sustained two fractured ribs, most probably due to squeezing during the course of being severely shaken. Additionally, a pediatric ophthalmologist identified massive retinal hemorrhages and damage to the nerve sheath around both eyes. Finally, expert witnesses provided extensive testimony concerning Timothy’s brain injuries, all concluding that he suffered severe, widespread damage to his brain. Because the brain injury was so traumatic, Timothy stopped breathing almost immediately after being shaken. Lack of oxygen caused significant cerebral atrophy and ultimately the death and permanent loss of significant portions of his brain.

The appellant made numerous statements to investigators, friends, and co-workers [624]*624about how Timothy was injured. Although he never admitted to shaking Timothy in a manner consistent with the trauma the child sustained, he told several individuals his actions must have been the cause of the baby’s injuries.

PROXIMATE CAUSATION

A. Issue

At trial, the defense counsel argued that the evidence was insufficient to establish shaking as the proximate cause of Timothy’s death. On appeal, the appellant continues to challenge the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence as it relates to proximate cause. He asserts that the withdrawal of artificially administered hydration and nourishment was a superseding intervening cause relieving him of criminal liability for involuntary manslaughter. In support of this argument, the appellant emphasizes that Timothy was not considered brain dead at the time of withdrawal, and that the child was able to breathe on his own for eight days once artificial respiration was removed. He contends that even though the medical examiner and other experts testified that Timothy would have died eventually after living for a period of time in a persistent vegetative state, the immediate cause of death, and the reason the baby’s body stopped functioning, was dehydration.

B. Removal of Life Support

Dr. Ivan M. Pavkovic, a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital, examined Timothy and testified at trial that he found the child “neurologically devastated.” It was Dr. Pavkovic’s opinion “to a reasonable degree of medical certainty” that Timothy’s “brain dysfunction was so severe or so global in nature as to render the outcome of this child as being in a persistent vegetative state.” He defined “persistent vegetative state” as a condition that prevents an individual from having any meaningful interaction with the environment—no self-awareness, no consciousness, no cognitive or sensory perception, and no emotional development. He testified that individuals in a persistent vegetative state have only minimal brain stem function, consisting, at best, of some level of reflexive motor activity.

He contrasted persistent vegetative state with “brain death” by explaining that one who is brain dead has a total absence of brain function, to include no brain stem function or electrical activity. Dr. Pavkovic testified that Timothy did not meet these medical criteria because he retained some brain stem function and because tests revealed some electrical activity, albeit highly abnormal. From a medical standpoint, he said, Timothy was never considered brain dead.

Nonetheless, many of Timothy’s brain stem functions were either impaired or absent. According to Dr. Pavkovic, the most significant brain stem functions Timothy lacked were a gag reflex and a sucking response. For the long-term treatment of the child, Dr. Pavkovic testified, Timothy would need to receive sustenance through artificial means.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
60 M.J. 622, 2004 CCA LEXIS 172, 2004 WL 1724882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-stanley-afcca-2004.