Opinion ID: 891826
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Is There Sufficient Evidence to Support the Convictions for Negligent Child Abuse of Jasmine and Adrian?

Text: {¶ 23} The State argued that Arrendondo fired at least two gunshots into the home where Jasmine and Adrian, both minors, were situated at the time of the shooting. The jury convicted Arrendondo of negligent child abuse of both Jasmine and Adrian. Arrendondo contends that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew of the children's presence in the house, and therefore he could not have had the requisite mens rea to endanger them. To prove negligent child abuse, the State had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) Arrendondo caused Jasmine and Adrian to be placed in a situation which endangered their lives; (2) Arrendondo acted with reckless disregard and without justification, meaning that Arrendondo knew or should have known that [his] conduct created a substantial and foreseeable risk to Jasmine and Adrian and he was wholly indifferent to the consequences of his conduct toward them; (3) Jasmine and Adrian were both under the age of eighteen; and (4) this happened in New Mexico on or about November 22, 2003. UJI 14-604 NMRA; NMSA 1978, § 30-6-1 (1973, as amended through 2001). {¶ 24} The following evidence would support the elements for both counts of negligent child abuse. Regarding the endangerment element, eyewitnesses testified that they observed Arrendondo fire his weapon into the house. Chief Stevens, Sergeant Arthur, and Ms. Babcock testified that the bullets that landed in the house matched those fired from Arrendondo's handgun. This testimony supports a jury finding that Arrendondo shot into the house, thereby placing both Jasmine and Adrian in a situation that endangered their lives. Gloria and Emilio testified that Jasmine was only two or three weeks old at the time of the shooting. Adrian was eleven years old at that time. These facts support the fourth element on both counts, that both children were under the age of eighteen. Finally, there is no dispute as to when the shooting occurred. Thus, the crux of Arrendondo's argument rests upon whether there was sufficient evidence for a jury to reasonably find that Arrendondo acted with a reckless disregard with respect to the children's safety. {¶ 25} The mens rea element requires the State to prove that Arrendondo knew or should have known that [his] conduct created a substantial and foreseeable risk to Jasmine and Adrian, a risk which he recklessly disregarded. UJI 14-604. This element may be proven with evidence that the defendant was or should have been aware that the child was present within the zone of danger. State v. Gonzales, 2011-NMCA-081, ¶¶ 1, 32, 150 N.M. 494, 263 P.3d 271, cert. granted on unrelated issue, 2011-NMCERT-008, ___ N.M. ___, 268 P.3d 514. In Gonzales, the Court of Appeals concluded that the State failed to prove negligent child abuse with respect to a drunk driver who, while driving recklessly, hit a car that was occupied by two children. Id. ¶¶ 4, 27. The Court of Appeals determined that although the State proved that the defendant had accidentally endangered two children while driving recklessly, this proof was insufficient to support the mens rea element of criminal negligence. Id. ¶¶ 15, 27. The Court of Appeals concluded that unless it read Section 30-6-1(D)(1) to require the State to prove that the defendant was aware that the child victims were present in the zone of danger, the statute would create a strict liability crime, contrary to the statutory language requiring a mental state of at least negligence. Gonzales, 2011-NMCA-081, ¶¶ 29-31, 150 N.M. 494, 263 P.3d 271. The Court therefore held that it is insufficient for the State to prove a substantial and foreseeable risk by simply establishing that the possibility exists that a hypothetical child will be injured thereby ... even though that child was not known to be endangered at the time. Id. ¶ 31. Instead, the Court held that the criminal negligence mental state requires that Defendant know, or at least should know, that her conduct is endangering a child. Id. ¶ 30. {¶ 26} Therefore, the question we must answer is whether the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Arrendondo knew or should have known that the child victims were present in the zone of danger he created. Otherwise, the neglect of the children would be accidental or unknowing rather than negligent, and accidental conduct cannot support a conviction for negligent child abuse. Id. ¶ 26.
{¶ 27} Regarding Jasmine, there is sufficient evidence to affirm the conviction for negligent child abuse. On the issue of whether Arrendondo acted with reckless disregard of Jasmine's safety, Gloria testified that she told Arrendondo before the shooting that there was a newborn baby in the house. This would allow a reasonable jury to have found that Arrendondo knew or should have known that his conduct created a substantial risk to Jasmine, who was approximately three weeks old at the time of the shooting. The jury could have also reasonably found that Arrendondo disregarded that risk by shooting into the house, despite having been informed of a baby's presence in the house. Therefore, the State presented sufficient evidence to support the conviction for negligent child abuse of Jasmine, and we affirm this conviction.