Opinion ID: 4680148
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Felony Assault

Text: 6 Appellant Jenkins contends that his conviction for felony assault stemming from the January 16, 2012, assault and robbery must be reversed because the government presented insufficient evidence that Mr. Walls sustained significant bodily injury within the meaning of D.C. Code § 22-404(a)(2) (2020 Supp.). He asserts that though Mr. Walls went to the hospital and undoubtedly suffered “upsetting and painful” injuries, there was no evidence that he suffered significant bodily injury or severe pain. We agree that the government produced insufficient evidence of Mr. Walls’ injuries to sustain a felony assault conviction. Felony assault is committed when a person “unlawfully assaults, or threatens another in a menacing manner, and intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes significant bodily injury to another . . . .” D.C. Code § 22-404(a)(2). The statute defines “significant bodily injury” as “an injury that requires hospitalization or immediate medical attention.” Id. But whether “an injured party immediately goes to a hospital or seeks other medical attention is not, in itself, determinative . . . .” Quintanilla v. United States, 62 A.3d 1261, 1264 (D.C. 2013). Nor is the statutory standard satisfied by evidence of “everyday remedies such as ice packs, bandages, and self-administered over-the-counter medications . . . whether administered by a medical professional or with self-help.” Id. at 1265. The professional medical attention required by the statute must be aimed at one of two 7 ends: “preventing long-term physical damage and other potentially permanent injuries” or “abating pain that is severe” rather than “lesser, short-term hurts.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, the relevant inquiry is not whether “immediate medical attention or hospitalization” occurred, but rather “whether medical treatment beyond what one can administer himself is immediately required to prevent long-term physical damage, possible disability, disfigurement, or severe pain.” In re D.P., 122 A.3d 903, 912 (D.C. 2015) (internal quotations omitted). Applying these standards, we conclude that a reasonable jury could not have found that Mr. Walls’ injuries were “significant.” Though the attack on Mr. Walls was undoubtedly violent and traumatic, the evidence fails to show that immediate medical attention was required to prevent long-term physical damage or other potentially permanent injuries. While Mr. Walls received medicine for his pain, a brace, and crutches after going to the hospital, the government failed to elicit any testimony from Mr. Walls about his need for prompt medical attention, and did not call either the paramedics who arrived on the scene or his treating physician to fill that gap in his testimony. Further, nowhere does the record “suggest that [his] injuries demanded treatment of a higher order, requiring true medical expertise, rather than everyday remedies such as ice packs, bandages, and self-administrated 8 over-the-counter medications.” Wilson v. United States, 140 A.3d 1212, 1218 (D.C. 2016) (internal quotations omitted). Although Mr. Walls testified that he thought X-rays may have been taken at the hospital, no evidence was presented that X-rays were actually taken, or what it was about his injuries that would have prompted a doctor to order X-rays. Cf. Cheeks v. United States, 168 A.3d 691, 697-98 (D.C. 2017) (discussing doctor’s testimony describing how “extensive bodily injuries attributable to the beating . . . led her to order CAT tests to determine whether [the victim] had sustained brain damage, broken bones, or other serious internal injuries”). Similarly, the record is silent on “whether the medication [Mr. Walls received at the hospital] required a doctor’s prescription or was available over the counter[,]” or whether Mr. Walls used that medication, the brace, or the crutches after leaving the hospital. Teneyck v. United States, 112 A.3d 906, 911 (D.C. 2015). Nor does the record provide any basis to reach the conclusion that Mr. Walls suffered “long-term physical damage, [] disability, disfigurement, or severe pain” from the loose tooth that he himself pushed back into place. In re D.P., 122 A.3d at 912. In sum, the government’s evidence did nothing more than invite jurors to speculate that because Mr. Walls sought and received medical diagnosis and treatment, his injuries required “hospitalization or immediate medical attention.” D.C. Code § 22-404(a)(2); see 9 also Nero v. United States, 73 A.3d 153, 158-59 (D.C. 2013) (differentiating sufficient evidence of felony assault for a potentially “life-threatening” gunshot wound suffered by one victim from insufficient evidence of felony assault for another gunshot victim requiring only “diagnostic tests, pain medication, and wound care”). Because the government failed to produce sufficient evidence that Mr. Walls’ injury required treatment “of a higher order,” Quintanilla, 62 A.3d at 1265, appellant Jenkins’ conviction for felony assault must be reversed. While the evidence was insufficient to support appellant Jenkins’ conviction for felony assault, the government did introduce sufficient evidence to support a conviction for the lesser included offense of simple assault beyond a reasonable doubt. We therefore remand the case for an entry of conviction on that offense and for resentencing. 1 See D.C. Code § 22-404(a)(1); Wilson, 140 A.3d at 1220 (internal citation omitted). 1 Appellant Parker did not raise the same direct challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence for his felony assault conviction and appears to have served his sentence for felony assault concurrent to his robbery sentence while this appeal was pending. Nevertheless, because the evidence supporting appellant Parker’s felony assault conviction is the same, “the trial court may, after hearing from the parties, determine whether [his] conviction should [also] be reversed” and reentered as a simple assault conviction “in the interest of justice.” Perez v. United States, 968 A.2d 39, 105-06 (D.C. 2009). 10