Wortham v. State

366 S.W.3d 871, 2012 WL 1662110, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 3767
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 9, 2012
Docket09-11-00231-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 366 S.W.3d 871 (Wortham v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wortham v. State, 366 S.W.3d 871, 2012 WL 1662110, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 3767 (Tex. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

OPINION

DAVID GAULTNEY, Justice.

A jury convicted Ronald Eugene Wort-ham, Jr. of injury to a child, and the trial court sentenced Wortham to forty years in prison. Wortham challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction and the trial court’s denial of his request for jury instructions on lesser-included offenses. Because the evidence supports the jury verdict and the trial court did not err in denying the request on this record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Background

Wortham lived with C.G. and C.G.’s two-year-old daughter C.B. In March 2010, C.B. was admitted to the emergency room. She was in full cardiac arrest, had no respiration, pulse, or blood pressure, and was unresponsive. C.B. had an acute subdural hematoma, hypoxic ischemia, in-traventricular hemorrhaging, and static epilepticus seizures. She needed an endo-tracheal tube to help her breathe.

[873]*873Detective Katherine Wick testified she was dispatched to the hospital. At the hospital, Wick observed that C.B. had a busted lip, the back of her head and her ear were swollen, and she was on a breathing machine. Wick suspected child abuse. Texas State Trooper Christopher Richmond, Deputy Jason Bell, and Detective Darryl LaMott each testified that Wort-ham claimed C.B. had been sleeping and that he later found C.B. with a plastic bag on her face. In his explanation to LaMott, Wortham stated that he removed the bag and then noticed that C.B. was not breathing. He attempted to revive her by tapping her on the face and shaking her. Wick searched C.G.’s house and found plastic bags that contained various items, but Wick did not find an empty plastic bag lying on the floor.

Dr. Sunil Kumar Saraf testified that neither a plastic bag nor suffocation would have caused a subdural hematoma. Dr. George Boutros, a radiologist, testified that there is no reasonable medical probability that a plastic bag blocking C.B.’s airway could have caused her injuries. He testified that an acute subdural hematoma causes seizures that restrict air flow to the brain. He explained that C.B.’s air flow was impaired and she needed an endotra-cheal tube to breathe. Dr. Sheela Lahoti, a medical doctor and an associate professor of pediatrics, testified that a bag on C.B.’s face would not explain the bleeding in her brain. Lahoti explained that a person who has been suffocated does not usually have bleeding in the brain, but that the effect on the brain is the same as suffocation when a child is knocked unconscious and stops breathing. Lahoti testified that suffocation, as she would use the term, did not cause C.B.’s injuries, but Lahoti also explained that “blood in [the child’s] head” interrupts the child’s normal ability to breathe, which causes a lack of appropriate blood flow and oxygen to the brain.

Lahoti found that, given C.B.’s subdural hemorrhage, retinal hemorrhages, and multiple bruises, C.B.’s injuries were “highly concerning for nonaccidental trauma.” Based on the blood in C.B.’s brain and eyes and no explanation for any trauma, Lahoti concluded that C.B. suffered from nonaccidental head trauma. Saraf testified that C.B.’s injuries could be caused accidently, but he saw no evidence of accidental trauma, nor did he find any indication of a birth defect that could have caused C.B.’s injuries. Boutros did not believe that a fall or birth defect would cause C.B.’s injuries. Lahoti testified that C.B.’s hematoma occurred within forty-eight hours of the “CAT scan finding,” and that someone caused C.B.’s injuries.

Because C.B. suffered injuries to both sides of her brain, Boutros concluded that C.B. had been shaken. Saraf explained that shaken baby syndrome occurs when a “[y]oung child is shaken vigorously with rapid acceleration that can cause [ ] trauma[,]” including a subdural hematoma, brain hemorrhaging, and long bone fractures. He testified that, although he cannot diagnose shaken baby syndrome in the emergency room, he could not say that shaken baby syndrome was not the cause of C.B.’s injuries. Lahoti testified that signs of shaken baby syndrome include a subdural hemorrhage and bleeding in the ventricles. Both were present here.

Saraf explained that an acute injury would be present within an hour of the injury. Lahoti testified that a person with the types of injuries suffered by C.B. would immediately show symptoms, such as seizures, decreased level of consciousness, disorientation, nausea, vomiting, or difficulty walking. Saraf, Boutros, and Lahoti testified that C.B.’s injuries created a substantial risk of death to C.B. and [874]*874created a protracted loss or impairment to her bodily members or organs. Lahoti believed C.B. would have died without a breathing tube and immediate medication.

Social worker Kristen Soudelier testified that she took a statement from C.G. (the child’s mother), in which C.G. stated that C.B. had fallen and injured her mouth the day before the offense. C.G. also stated that C.B. bruises easily. C.G. last saw C.B. when Wortham drove C.G. to work. There is evidence in the record that Wort-ham was babysitting C.B. that day. C.G. told Soudelier that she has never had concerns about Wortham’s treatment of C.B., and she denied any history of domestic abuse. Wortham’s sister testified that she has never seen Wortham abuse her two children, his two biological children, or C.B. She testified she would feel safe leaving her children with Wortham. Wort-ham’s ex-wife testified that she never saw Wortham abuse their two children or C.B.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In issue one, Wortham challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction for injury to a child. The 11 Jackson v. Virginia legal-sufficiency standard is the only standard that a reviewing court should apply in determining whether the evidence is sufficient to support each element of a criminal offense that the State is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.” Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 893, 895 (Tex.Crim.App.2010). We assess all the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution to determine whether any rational trier of fact could find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Hooper v. State, 214 S.W.3d 9, 13 (Tex.Crim.App.2007). We give deference to the jury’s responsibility to fairly resolve conflicting testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts. Hooper, 214 S.W.3d at 13.

The indictment alleged that Wortham intentionally or knowingly caused serious bodily injury to C.B., a child fourteen years of age or younger, by shaking C.B. and restricting her airflow causing suffocation. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 22.04(a)(1) (West Supp.2011).1 The jury charge tracked this language. The term “suffocate” means to “deprive of oxygen by any means.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 2285 (2002). Wortham contends the State failed to establish suffocation.

The jury heard evidence that a plastic bag on C.B.’s face would not have caused her injuries and that her injuries were not accidental.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ronald Eugene Wortham Jr. v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014
Wortham, Ronald Eugene Jr.
412 S.W.3d 552 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 2013)
Wortham v. State
366 S.W.3d 871 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
366 S.W.3d 871, 2012 WL 1662110, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 3767, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wortham-v-state-texapp-2012.