Court Opinion

ID: 9530948
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:05:30.802706+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:17.949443
License: Public Domain

CROCKETT, Justice
(dissenting).
I do not disagree with the statements of law in the opinion. What I disagree with is their application to the evidence. Therefore, I dissent from the reversal of the conviction. I agree with the view of the trial court, that there was sufficient basis in the evidence upon which reasonable minds, acting fairly and reasonably thereon, could believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants were guilty of manslaughter in the death of the child.
It is not surprising that there is no direct evidence as to how the baby suffered the injuries from which she died. In this, as in most types of crime, it is not usually committed in the presence of witnesses. The only means of ascertaining what occurred is from the circumstances shown; and it should be borne in mind that the jury is entitled to consider not only the direct evidence, but to draw all reasonable inferences that fairly can be deduced therefrom. See State v. Tryfonas, 26 Utah 2d 140, 486 P.2d 389; State v. Laub, 102 Utah 402, 131 P.2d 805.
From the indisputable facts shown: the subdural hemorrhage in the head; the bruising about the ear; and the broken ribs, there is ample evidence for a reasonable belief that the child had received severe traumatic blows which resulted in her death. Upon the basis of that evidence, and the further fact that the baby was under the care and control of the defendants, I think the trial court was justified in submitting the question of the defendants’ guilt or innocence to the jury. They have had what they are entitled to, a full and fair trial and the jury found them guilty. I would affirm their conviction.