Opinion ID: 891582
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Sufficiency and Nature of the Evidence

Text: {27} Having clarified the appropriate endangerment standard, we turn to the sufficiency of the evidence necessary to prove a criminal violation. We discuss first the evidence pertaining to the alleged endangerment of the two boys, Juan, age four, and Leo, age two. In this respect, the present case is novel in that we are asked to determine for the first time whether a filthy home environment is sufficient on its own to support a felony endangerment conviction. Our recent decision in Jensen indicates that conditions in a home may, in some extreme circumstances, create a sufficiently dangerous environment to rise to the level of criminal child endangerment. 2006-NMSC-045, ¶ 14, 140 N.M. 416, 143 P.3d 178. However, we stated in Jensen that the State has the burden to identify the specific dangers posed by the living environment and to present evidence to demonstrate that such filthy conditions endangered the child. Id. ¶ 14. We affirm the principles behind that conclusion here, and consistent with how juries are instructed on the subject, the State must present evidence to prove a substantial and foreseeable risk that such filthy living conditions endangered the child. {28} In Jensen, the defendant allowed his fifteen-year-old neighbor, Robbie, to become intoxicated at his house, smoke cigarettes, and look at adult pornographic websites on the defendant's computer every night for more than two weeks. 2006-NMSC-045, ¶ 6, 140 N.M. 416, 143 P.3d 178. When Robbie was reported missing, police went to the defendant's home and discovered unimaginable conditions within. Id. ¶¶ 4-5. Witnesses described the presence of several dogs and even an emu inside the home, which needed to be removed by animal control officers before the police could enter. Id. ¶ 4. An officer testified that, once inside, she observed dog feces and vomit, rotten food, and rodent droppings throughout the home. The officer stated that [i]n the living room area, there were dog feces, dog vomit on the floor, and rat and bird droppings in a cage. The entire kitchen area, including the stove, dishwasher, sink, and counter top, was dirty and littered with rodent droppings. The stove top burners, where Defendant cooked for Robbie, were also littered with rat droppings. The computer table that Robbie frequently used to surf the Internet was covered with trash and had rat or mouse droppings. Black rotten food was in the refrigerator next to some good hamburger meat. There was no place to sit at the dining room table without coming into contact with the extremely dirty conditions. The baseboards looked as though dogs had urinated on them, and the dirty bathroom had empty coke bottles and a filthy looking plastic soda pop jug with a yellowish orange liquid in it. The entire house was littered with dust, papers, bottles, and animal waste that created a constant stench. In fact, an animal control officer who came to take Defendant's emu had to go outside to avoid vomiting from the smell. Id. ¶ 5. {29} The State argued that these conditions endangered Robbie by exposing him to a risk of contracting hantavirus. Id. ¶ 14. Jensen responded that the conditions in his home only created a speculative possibility of danger, which was unsubstantiated by specific evidence sufficient to satisfy the criminal child endangerment standard. Id. ¶ 13. To that extent, we agreed with the defendant, holding that the State failed to present evidence to assist the jury with understanding how one contracts hantavirus and how one would connect that disease to the particular conditions in the defendant's home. Id. ¶ 14. {30} However, the endangerment charge was not premised exclusively on filthy conditions, but rather on a combination of risks including the criminal acts of supplying alcohol to a minor, allowing him to drink in excess to the point of sickness every night for two weeks, and allowing him to view pornography and smoke cigarettes, all within the filthy environment. Given the cumulative effect of this evidence, we affirmed the child endangerment conviction, noting that these factors [distinguish] this case from those cases where only filthy conditions are at issue. Id. ¶ 15. {31} Jensen supports the proposition that particularly egregious living conditions can conceivably fall within the ambit of criminal child endangerment. The conditions in Defendant Chavez's home appear to be factually similar to those described in Jensen, although arguably not as extreme. However, the present case is materially different from Jensen, in part based on the absence of any evidence indicating that Defendant engaged in other, per se unlawful acts to bolster the endangerment charges. Therefore, as we stated in Jensen, [w]hen filthy living conditions provide the exclusive basis for charging a defendant with child endangerment, the State must assist the trier of fact with evidence that supports a finding that there is a [substantial and foreseeable risk] that such filthy conditions endangered the child. We now evaluate the present case in light of the standard we set forth above.