United States v. White, No. 14-2585 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseA.W., 10 months old, lived with his mother, Maxwell; his father, White; and half-siblings. A.W. was developing normally. On August 30, Maxwell took a walk with the other children, returning 10 minutes later. White met them at the door and stated that A.W. was choking and that he had found a cigarette filter in A.W.’s mouth. At the hospital, A.W. seized, breathed irregularly, had unequal pupils, and had extensor posturing, which can indicate injury at the deepest part of the brain. A doctor noticed bruising, estimated to be hours old, and believed that A.W. had been “shaken.” At a Fargo medical center, doctors found a brain hemorrhage and concluded that A.W. had shaken baby syndrome. His parents raised concerns about Maxwell’s eight-year old son, J.S., who may have played a role in the death of dogs who were thrown against a tree; knocked out another child’s teeth; threw rocks at children; and had previously injured A.W. A.W. survived and was placed into a therapeutic foster home for medically fragile children. A jury found White guilty of assault resulting in serious bodily injury in Indian country, 18 U.S.C. 113(a)(6), 1151, 1153(a). The court granted White’s motion for acquittal. The Eighth Circuit reversed. The government’s case favored guilt. There was evidence about J.S., but also evidence that a reasonable jury could find to be powerful evidence of White’s guilt and evidence that J.S. did not injure A.W. on August 30.
Court Description: Gruender, Author, with Shepherd and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. The district court erred in granting defendant's motion for a judgment of acquittal based on its conclusion that no reasonable juror could find beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant intentionally assaulted his ten-month old son during a ten-minute period when they alone; the circumstantial evidence, including defendant's behavior after the incident, and the medical testimony were sufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude that the infant suffered a non-accidental acceleration-deceleration injury in the ten-minute period he was alone with the defendant.
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