Court Opinion

ID: 9554091
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:41:32.398909+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:32:59.264653
License: Public Domain

Mowbray, J.,
dissenting.
Respectfully, I dissent.
The tiny tot, Paul, the victim of these two crimes, who was eventually murdered by the appellant endured a horrible existence prior to his untimely but merciful demise. This dependent 28-month-old child, now deceased, who had nowhere to turn for help, was constantly and continuously abused and both physically and mentally tortured by the appellant, Richard Athey, during the victim’s brief life existence.
A jury after a full trial found the appellant guilty of (1) felony child abuse and (2) murder of the child.
In its opinion today this Court has reversed and relieved the appellant of the first offense — the felony child abuse charge — on the principal ground that there was insufficient independent evidence to support the jury’s verdict on that charge. I disagree. The record, in my opinion, speaks eloquently in support of the jury’s *527verdict of felony child abuse and cries out for support thereof. For instance, I find in the record the following:
First, the pediatrician, Dr. Golden, testified that she noticed faint bruises above Paul’s left eye and on his left earlobe. She also discovered retinal hemorrhages in both of Paul’s eyes. It was Dr. Golden’s opinion at trial that the story related by appellant was not consistent with these physical findings and that Paul was the victim of battered child syndrome. Dr. Carlile, a pediatric inten-sivist, testified that during his examination of Paul he found some linear bruises over his buttocks. Dr. Carlile’s most significant medical finding was that, within just a few hours of reportedly having been well, Paul’s intercranial pressure was tremendously high. In Dr. Carlile’s opinion, the swelling, bleeding and increased pressure of the brain were caused by traumatic force. Dr. Carlile also opined that, because the history did not explain his findings, Paul was a potential victim of child abuse. Dr. Hollander, a medical examiner for Clark County, performed an autopsy. Dr. Hollander testified that she found a number of contusions (bruises) on Paul’s body including one on the left upper eyelid, some along the angle of the right jaw, a number on the left cheek, several small ones on the inside of the upper lip, one on the right upper arm and another on the left upper arm near the elbow, one on the posterior right side, several on the right leg, and a number of fairly large contusions on the lower back and on the buttocks. Her examination revealed bilateral subdural hematoma and that the brain was quite swollen and flattened. Dr. Hollander testified that in her opinion the injuries could not have been sustained by accident, and Paul’s death was homicidal and his injuries were caused by either vigorous shaking or blunt trauma to the head.
Next, let us turn to the lay testimony. The prosecution presented testimony from a number of witnesses regarding appellant’s treatment of Paul during the months prior to Paul’s death. Natalie Sheppherd, appellant’s next door neighbor, testified she noticed a change in Paul from the time before to the time after appellant moved in. Mrs. Sheppherd testified that every time appellant would drive up in his truck, Paul would start to cry and run toward home. On one occasion, Mrs. Sheppherd was talking with Paul on the steps outside their apartments when appellant arrived home. When Paul saw appellant, he started to cry and run, yelling his mother’s name. Appellant sat down on a step, picked up Paul, pulled his diaper down and spanked him “as hard as he could,” so hard that Sheppherd was “scared to death that he was going to break his back.” After he spanked Paul, appellant jerked him by the arm and “literally threw him into the apartment.”
*528Mrs. Sheppherd’s two daughters testified that they noticed a change in Paul after appellant started to live with Paul and his mother. Colleen Sheppherd testified that Paul’s mentality changed, that he wouldn’t respond anymore and just repeated things. Darlene Sheppherd testified that Paul “would stand with his hands limp to his side” and “walked around like the [sic] was in a daze, like he was drugged.”
Darlene Sheppherd further testified that on three separate occasions she saw appellant take Paul and put him on the edge of his pick-up truck bed, with Paul’s feet hanging out of the truck. Appellant told Paul to “hold on,” and Paul “would grab a hold of the lip of the truck . . . and Mr. Athey [appellant] would drive up and down the alleyway between the trash cans where his parking space was and where [her] car was and be laughing and saying ‘Hold on Paul, hold on, ha, ha, ha’ and Paul was petrified.”
Next, Barbara Plascencia, a co-worker of Paul’s mother, and Deborah Monterano, Plascencia’s friend, visited Paul’s mother in mid-September 1987. Plascencia and Monterano took Paul home with them that evening and later while changing Paul’s diaper, Plascencia and Monterano noticed that he had a bruise from the base of his neck all the way to the bottom of his buttocks.
Linda Goss testified that she hosted a Thanksgiving dinner which was attended by appellant, Donna Hutton and Paul. During dinner, Paul stopped eating and appellant refused to excuse him. When Paul started to cry, appellant slammed his fist onto Paul’s plate and shattered it. Appellant then yanked Paul out of his chair and took him to the bathroom. Ms. Goss went to the bathroom and found Paul sitting on the toilet, holding his arms out to her and shaking. Another dinner guest, Jo Schmidt, testified that she went into the bathroom and took Paul off the toilet and dressed him. Appellant told Schmidt that she didn’t understand and that Paul was possessed by the devil.
The jury, under the Nevada Constitution, not this Court, is the exclusive finder of the facts under our system of jurisprudence. Its verdict should not be disturbed on appeal absent a showing of insufficient evidence to support that verdict.
Additionally, and ironically in the instant case the child abuser escapes liability for his heinous earlier child abuse conduct by eventually murdering the child victim of that prior conduct. I simply cannot accept such reasoning as being in accord with justice and the law. Therefore, I would uphold the jury’s verdict in this case in its entirety and affirm the appellant’s judgment of conviction on both counts, the felony child abuse charge and the murder charge. I would not thereby reduce his sentence in the State penitentiary.