Opinion ID: 1680623
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Child Endangerment Conviction.

Text: To prove Webb guilty of child endangerment, the State had to prove (1) Webb was the parent, guardian or person having custody or control of a child on or about the date in question, (2) the child was under fourteen years of age, and (3) Webb knowingly acted in a manner creating a substantial risk to the child's physical, mental, or emotional health or safety. See Iowa Code § 726.6(1). Webb contends the State failed to prove element one. In his motion for judgment of acquittal, Webb argued the evidence was insufficient to establish that on the date in question he was the parent, guardian, or person having custody or control of Moore's child. He pointed to testimony in the record that he was not the biological father of the child. He also noted there was no evidence that he was a guardian of the child or that he had custody of the child. On the element of control, Webb argued that he was not present at the apartment when the drugs were found. He was not babysitting that day. He had no supervisory responsibilities of that child. Webb makes the same arguments here. Although the State does not contend that Webb was the parent, guardian, or person having custody of the child, it does contend that Webb had control over the child because he was the child's babysitter. And, contrary to Webb's contention, the State asserts [t]he fact that [Webb] may not have been present on the date of the arrest is not determinative. The undisputed testimony of the officers established that [Webb] earned money by babysitting Moore's child. Because the statute does not define control, we refer to its ordinary and common meaning. IBP, Inc. v. Harker, 633 N.W.2d 322, 325 (Iowa 2001). In State v. Johnson, by way of dictum we defined the term control in section 726.6(1) as referring to the state of having restricting or governing power over someone. 528 N.W.2d 638, 641 (Iowa 1995) (citing Black's Law Dictionary 298 (5th ed.1979)). If Webb were babysitting at the time the drugs were found, we could easily say that there was sufficient evidence to generate a jury question on whether the child was under Webb's control. This is because at that moment he would have restricting or governing power over the child. However, the evidence shows Webb was not babysitting the child at the time in question. The evidence does not reveal just what kind of relationship Webb had with the child. All the evidence tells us is that he babysat the child. So whatever control Webb had over the child, he had in the context of his role as a babysitter. Given this limited role, we can hardly say that Webb had restricting or governing power over the child at the time in question. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, we conclude there was not sufficient evidence to generate a jury question on whether Webb at the time in question had control over the child. The district court should therefore have sustained Webb's motion for judgment of acquittal on the child endangerment charge. Its failure to do so constituted reversible error.