Opinion ID: 2524910
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Hastings

Text: On January 31, 1996, Kim L. Hastings (Hastings) was at home recuperating from back surgery and took medication, including Diazepam, for pain control. Hastings's son brought some friends home, including a girl he introduced to his mother as Desiree. Desiree was in fact a thirteen-year-old runaway named Angelina. Hastings testified at trial that she believed Angelina to be one of her son's eighteen-year-old friends, who is actually named Desiree. She claimed that she did not find out Angelina was thirteen until the following day. Angelina testified that Hastings offered Angelina some of her pain medication pills. Hastings disagreed, and testified that although Angelina asked Hastings for Valium (a brand of Diazepam), Hastings refused, and instead gave Angelina two ibuprofen pills. The next morning, police knocked on Hastings's door, looking for Angelina, whom they knew to be a runaway. They took Angelina to the police station where she told the officers that Hastings had given her six brownish pills; police then brought Angelina to the hospital for examination. Hospital staff told police that Angelina's symptoms and demeanor were consistent with use of Diazepam. The police executed a search warrant of Hastings's apartment wherein they seized the remaining Diazepam pills, which were green in color. Police brought Hastings to the police station for questioning; during her interview, Hastings initially denied giving Angelina any pills. She then confessed to giving Angelina two Diazepam tablets but subsequently recanted the confession, asserting that it was obtained by coercion. Hastings was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. See § 18-6-701. Her trial began on October 1, 1996.