Opinion ID: 1188768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The Claimed Inconsistency of Verdicts

Text: The defendant's claim of verdict inconsistency centers on the separate transactions of April 12 and January 30, 1978, each of which resulted in guilty verdicts for two offenses based on the same transaction. Upon close scrutiny of the verdicts, we find no merit in his claim. In connection with the incident of April 12, the defendant initially argues that the guilty verdict for felony child abuse is logically inconsistent with the guilty verdict for reckless manslaughter because the former offense requires the culpable mental state of knowingly and the latter the culpable mental state of recklessly. His argument, however, proceeds from a faulty assumption, namely, that the culpability element of one crime cannot exist simultaneously with the culpability element of another crime. Knowingly, in the context of the statutory definition of child abuse, requires an awareness of conduct or circumstance. Sections 18-1-501(6) and 18-6-401(1), C.R.S. 1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8). On the other hand, recklessly, which is the requisite culpability for manslaughter, involves a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a result will occur or that a circumstance exists. Sections 18-1-501(8) and 18-3-104(1)(a), C.R.S. 1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8). A person committing an act of felony child abuse may be aware that he is inflicting injury on the child while, at the same time, he is consciously disregarding the risk of death to the child from his abusive acts. Thus, there is no logical inconsistency between the guilty verdicts for the crimes of felony child abuse and reckless manslaughter. The defendant next asserts that, with respect to the April 12 transaction, the guilty verdict for felony child abuse is inconsistent with his acquittal of extreme indifference murder and second degree murder. We disagree. Considering first the not guilty verdict for extreme indifference murder, the statutory definition of that offense in section 18-3-102(1)(d) [19] and the jury instruction based thereon included elements separate and distinct from those of child abuse. For example, extreme indifference murder required that the act be committed under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. A reasonable doubt on this or any other element of extreme indifference murder would not be inconsistent with a guilty verdict for felony child abuse. We consider next the significance of the verdict of not guilty to second degree murder in relation to the defendant's claim of inconsistency. In keeping with the statutory definition of felony child abuse in section 18-6-401, the court's instruction to the jury defined the culpability element of knowingly in terms of the actor's awareness of his conduct or the circumstance in which he acted. In contrast, the statutory definition of second degree murder in section 18-3-103(1)(a) and the court's instruction on that crime define the culpability element of knowingly in terms of result namely, an awareness that death is practically certain to follow from the actor's conduct. See People v. Curtis, Colo., 627 P.2d 734 (1981); People v. Marcy, Colo., 628 P.2d 69 (1981); People v. Mingo, 196 Colo. 315, 584 P.2d 632 (1978). Thus, the jury reasonably could be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was aware of his physical conduct towards the child (felony child abuse) and also could entertain a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant was aware to a practical certainty that death would result to the child from his conduct (second degree murder). Lastly, we consider the defendant's claim of inconsistency in the guilty verdicts for misdemeanor child abuse and third degree assault based on the transaction of January 30, 1978. Misdemeanor child abuse, like felony child abuse, defines the culpable mental state of knowingly in terms of conduct or circumstance; resulting bodily injury to the child, however, is not essential to a conviction for the misdemeanor offense. Section 18-6-401(7), C.R.S. 1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8). [20] The components of third degree assault, as submitted to the jury and as defined in section 18-3-204, C.R.S. 1973 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8), consist of (1) acting recklessly, and (2) causing bodily injury to another. [21] As noted previously, a person may be aware that his conduct is an endangerment to the child's life or health and, at the same time, may act recklessly by consciously disregarding the risk that bodily injury will result to the child from his conduct. Thus, there is no inconsistency in the verdicts finding defendant guilty of both misdemeanor child abuse and third degree assault. The judgment is affirmed.