Opinion ID: 2132673
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Corroboration of Miranda's Testimony.

Text: The district court concluded that Miranda was Clarence's accomplice and, therefore, pursuant to Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.21(3), her testimony describing the time, place, and details of Frankie's abuse required corroboration if it was to support the court's conclusion that Clarence was responsible for three or more separate acts of child endangerment. Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.21(3) provides: A conviction cannot be had upon the testimony of an accomplice or a solicited person, unless corroborated by other evidence which shall tend to connect the defendant with the commission of the offense; and the corroboration is not sufficient if it merely shows the commission of the offense or the circumstances thereof. Corroborating evidence, which may be direct or circumstantial, `need not be strong and need not be entirely inconsistent with innocence.' State v. Bugely, 562 N.W.2d 173, 176 (Iowa 1997) (quoting State v. Dickerson, 313 N.W.2d 526, 529 (Iowa 1981)). The evidence is sufficient as long as it support[s] some material part of the accomplice's testimony and tend[s] to connect the accused to the commission of the crime. Id. The district court found Miranda's testimony was corroborated by the testimony of Frank Charbonneau, Sr., Dr. Ronda Dennis-Smithhart, Linda and Heather Horn, Dr. Michael Rubin, and Dr. Karen Gerdes. The bulk of Frank's testimony focused on the period of time during which Frankie lived with his father and grandmother, and included testimony about the injuries that led to the investigation by the DHS in April 2000. Dr. Dennis-Smithhart examined Frankie on April 10 after the abuse concerns were raised, and testified to her findings during that examination. Linda and Heather Horn witnessed the incident when Clarence set Frankie down forcefully on the trunk on September 3 and testified about that event, particularly the force applied by Clarence. Finally, Dr. Gerdes and Dr. Rubin, who had both provided care to Frankie in the aftermath of September 3, testified to the nature and cause of the injuries inflicted that day. Both physicians concluded Frankie suffered from shaken baby syndrome. [3] Clarence challenges the sufficiency of this evidence, asserting Miranda's testimony was insufficiently corroborated. He first argues that the testimony relating to Frankie's injuries established only that Frankie was injured and did not further corroborate Miranda's account of how the injuries were caused. He also claims that Miranda's testimony was inherently flawed because it came after the corroborating witnesses' depositions were taken thus allowing Miranda to simply parrot the others' testimony. However, after examining the record as a whole, we believe the district court properly determined Miranda's testimony relating to the four separate incidences of abuse was sufficiently corroborated. The evidence indicated that each of Frankie's injuries occurred only after Clarence moved in with Miranda. In fact, there was no evidence that Frankie suffered abnormal injuries at any time other than when he resided in the same household as his mother's boyfriend. See State v. Doss, 355 N.W.2d 874, 880 (Iowa 1984) (affirming the district court's finding that limited testimonial evidence of defendant's presence at planning and execution of murder plot was corroborating). Frankie was injury-free before Clarence moved in in March 2000 and between mid-April and late July when he lived with his father and grandmother. Thus, there was evidence of a direct correlation between Frankie's injuries and Clarence's regular presence in his life. Moreover, the impact of Clarence's presence was further borne out by the testimony of witnesses who corroborated Miranda's testimony relating to the timing and extent of Frankie's abuse, particularly the occasions when he was bruised and his foot was broken. In the case of the bruises, Dr. Dennis-Smithhart testified to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Frankie had been bruised as a result of being palmed by the head, a conclusion which was consistent with Miranda's testimony that Clarence had at one point picked Frankie up by the head and slammed him into a chair. Both Dr. Gerdes and Dr. Rubin testified to the reaction a child would have as a result of breaking a bone in his foot. This testimony corroborated Miranda's description of Frankie's reaction  crying and limping away  after falling to the floor after being thrown against a wall by Clarence in mid-August. The events of September 3 were likewise corroborated. The first stage of Clarence's abuse of Frankie that day was actually witnessed by Linda and Heather Horn who later testified about Clarence setting Frankie down forcefully on the trunk of the car. Dr. Gerdes and Dr. Rubin corroborated Miranda's testimony about the second stage of the September 3 abuse. Both testified that Frankie suffered from shaken baby syndrome, a specialized diagnosis that indicated not only that Frankie was injured, but also that he was injured in an especially traumatic way that deviated from the initial explanations that Frankie had merely hit his head while playing or falling off the couch. [4] Although Clarence later argued at trial that Frankie struck his head after being jerked from his seat in the car by his mother, Dr. Rubin testified, even if Frankie had struck his head, such an incident would not cause the injuries Frankie suffered. [5] Thus, Dr. Gerdes' and Dr. Rubin's findings corroborated Miranda's claim that Frankie's most horrific injuries were tied directly to Clarence slamming Frankie's head into the toilet at Casey's. Ultimately, Miranda's testimony about each of the four abuse events the district court determined Clarence caused was sufficiently corroborated. Clarence's argument to the contrary fails in the face of the substantial evidence of his cruelty and its effect on Frankie.