Midgett v. State,

729 S.W.2d 410 (1987)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D is six feet two inches tall and weighs 300 pounds. His son, Ronnie Midgett, Jr., was eight years old and weighed between thirty-eight and forty-five pounds. Ronnie Jr. had been abused by brutal beating over a substantial period of time. The bruises had been noticed by school personnel, and a school counselor, as well as a SCAN worker, had gone to the Midgett home to inquire. Ronnie Jr. would not say how he had obtained the bruises or why he was so lethargic at school except to blame it all, vaguely, on a rough playing little brother. He did not even complain to his siblings about the treatment he was receiving from D. His mother, the wife of D, was not living in the home. The other children apparently were not being physically abused by D. Ronnie's ten-year-old sister testified that D was drinking and would bundle up his fist and hit Ronnie in the stomach and the back. On the day of Ronnie’s death, Ronnie's sister, Sherry, aged ten, testified that on the Saturday preceding D was drinking whiskey (two to three quarts that day) and beating on Ronnie. She said the bruises on Ronnie's body noticed over the preceding six months had been caused by D. She said the beating administered on the Saturday in question consisted of four blows, two to the stomach and two to the back. On Wednesday Ronnie died, D appeared at a hospital carrying the body. He told hospital personnel something was wrong with the child. Ronnie was a very poorly nourished and underdeveloped eight-year-old. There were recently caused bruises on the lips, center of the chest plate, and forehead as well as on the back part of the lateral chest wall, the soft tissue near the spine, and the buttocks. There was discoloration of the abdominal wall and prominent bruising on the palms of the hands. Older bruises were found on the right temple, under the chin, and on the left mandible. Recent as well as older, healed, rib fractures were found. The medical examiner stated that Ronnie died as the result of intra-abdominal hemorrhage caused by a blunt force trauma consistent with having been delivered by a human fist. D was tried and convicted of first-degree murder. D appealed; there was no evidence of premeditation or deliberation.