Opinion ID: 55743
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Events of February 8 and 9, 2005

Text: Gutierrez is married to Tiffany Hines, a soldier in the United States Army. In February 2005, Gutierrez, Hines and their seven-month old daughter, C.G., lived in military housing on Fort Gordon, a military base near Augusta, Georgia. Gutierrez watched C.G. during the day while his wife was at work. On February 8, 2005, Hines came home from work at lunchtime and noticed that C.G. was quiet and not as active as she normally was. C.G. also cried when Hines picked her up. Gutierrez told Hines that C.G. “was just sore.” The next morning Hines noticed that C.G.’s arm was swollen and had a disagreement with Gutierrez over whether they should take C.G. to the hospital. Gutierrez convinced Hines to wait to see if the swelling would subside. During the day, Gutierrez asked a neighbor, Lee Anna Sayers, if she would babysit C.G. for an hour while he helped another neighbor move. Sayers agreed. Before Gutierrez left, he told Sayers that C.G.’s arm was injured as a result of a 2 bug bite and that he had already taken C.G. to a doctor. Gutierrez advised Sayers to leave C.G. in her car seat and try not to touch the arm because it was irritated. After Gutierrez left, Sayers noticed that the bottle Gutierrez had provided was dirty and that the formula inside it was “chunky” at the bottom as if it had been refilled without first being cleaned. Sayers emptied the bottle, cleaned it and filled it with fresh formula. In addition, C.G.’s car seat and blanket were dirty and smelled like old formula and “spit up.”1 When Sayers took C.G. out of the car seat, Sayers noticed that C.G.’s arm was swollen to more than twice the size of her other arm. C.G. became very upset when Sayers touched her elbow. Gutierrez returned for C.G. approximately four hours later. That evening, Gutierrez and Hines brought C.G. to the emergency room at Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon. Dr. Ivey Shuman diagnosed C.G. with a fracture in her right arm above the elbow and referred her to an orthopedist. Gutierrez explained to Dr. Shuman that he had placed C.G. in a car seat on a couch and C.G. had fallen over. Gutierrez also offered this explanation to his wife for the first time. Dr. Shuman was concerned about C.G.’s injury because 1 Two other neighbors, who had watched C.G. for Gutierrez on occasion, also testified at trial. These neighbors stated that when Gutierrez would drop C.G. off, he would often fail to provide any supplies such as a bottle or diapers. In addition, C.G. and her clothes were very dirty and smelled of sour milk. One neighbor described Gutierrez providing a bottle that had mold growing in the formula. 3 it was not consistent with a fall and suspected that the injury may have been the result of abuse. Once C.G. was admitted to the hospital, she was examined by Dr. Jason Lanham, the chief resident for inpatient services. Gutierrez told Dr. Lanham that he had placed C.G. unrestrained in a car seat on a sofa about three feet off the ground. Gutierrez said that he left the room for a moment, heard C.G. crying and returned to find C.G. on the ground. When Dr. Lanham obtained C.G.’s history from her parents, they indicated that there had been no past injuries or illnesses. However, after reviewing x-rays, Dr. Lanham discovered a break in C.G.’s left clavicle that was healing, which meant that it did not occur at the same time as the break in C.G.’s right elbow. Gutierrez told Dr. Lanham that, on another occasion three weeks earlier, C.G. “was in a car seat unrestrained on the sofa and had fallen out of the car seat on to the floor.” Dr. Lanham opined that C.G.’s injuries were the result of abuse rather than an accidental fall given the type and locations of the fractures and C.G.’s young age. Dr. Thomas Gibson, the chief of pediatric orthopedic surgery, performed surgery to repair C.G.’s broken bone in her right arm. According to Dr. Gibson, the three fractures most highly suggestive of child abuse are fractures to the humerus, clavicle and ribs, all of which C.G. sustained. Dr. Gibson opined that 4 C.G.’s injuries were the result of abuse because they would not be caused by the fall described by Gutierrez. Dr. Clarence Joe, a radiologist, reviewed C.G.’s x-rays. Dr. Joe noted a healing clavicle fracture, two rib fractures and two fractures in C.G.’s right arm. One of C.G.’s arm fractures, an oblique fracture of the proximal humerus, was the result of a twisting motion. The other arm fracture was a horizontal fracture of the distal humerus, which was caused by a direct blow. The rib fractures were more likely caused by pressing a finger into the rib rather than from a fall. Based on C.G.’s having suffered multiple fractures that were in different stages of healing, Dr. Joe opined that the injuries were an indication of child abuse.