People v. Jennings

Facts

D was tried together with his wife, Michelle. D and  Michelle had been together since Michelle ran away from home in 1989, when she was 14 years of age and D was 29. Arthur was born prematurely on November 16, 1990. D and Michelle placed Arthur in the care of D's mother, who soon thereafter became terminally ill. D's half-sister began caring for Arthur when he was four months old. Arthur had several medical problems when he was born, but most seemed resolved by the time he was five years of age. In early November 1995, D wanted Arthur back. D had a newborn daughter, Pearl, that he had obtained employment, that the family had moved into a trailer near Apple Valley adjacent to the Mojave Desert, and he and Michelle were prepared to raise the children together. D paid for the half-sister and Arthur to travel by bus from Montana to California. During the 10-day visit, the sister warned D that Arthur wet the bed was afraid of the dark, and could be difficult when he did not get his way. The sister told D and Michelle that she would take Arthur back if he proved to be too much of a problem. Arthur weighed approximately 64 pounds and he was happy and in good health. Within a few weeks, D and Michelle began to abuse the boy. A number of neighbors noticed signs of abuse. Phillip and Kevin Orand visited the home. Phillip saw Arthur with two black eyes and a mark on his mouth. Arthur was making an odd sound, rocking back and forth but staring straight ahead. D said Michelle had “knocked him out.” She had “socked the damn little brat between the eyes, knocked him out.” Louis Blackwood saw Arthur eat two full plates of food and ask for a third, only to be reprimanded. Arthur's hand was bandaged. Arthur had burned himself by touching the wood stove. Two weeks later, Blackwood saw Arthur with a bruise on the side of his face from the hairline down to the jaw line, it was “not a normal injury.” Arthur looked “whipped” and unhappy. D told Blackwood that Arthur had gone missing in the middle of the night and that he and Michelle had spent three hours looking for Arthur before they finally found him hiding behind a bush in the desert. Bernard Romaine saw Arthur with two black eyes one swollen shut and seeping blood-and a bandaged hand that appeared to have been burned. Pauline Morris saw Arthur with bandages on his head and hands, dried blood on his face, and blood in the whites of his eyes. D told his father that Arthur was injured when he fell against a wood stove. Arthur was very thin and, when offered milk, “swigged it down.” D’s father made a report to child protective services (CPS), but CPS did not follow up on the complaint. Michelle interfaced with CPS on other matters and wished there was something she could do with Arthur and inquired whether (on a number of times) CPS might have an adoptive home for Arthur. The Jennings’ explained that they could not control Arthur and that they had many concerns about his behavior. Cora Grein saw D strike Arthur on the back of the head with a fireplace shovel as D interrupted D’s attempt to kiss Cora. D threatened Cora with death if she said anything. Arthur died an hour later. They initially buried Arthur's body in a shallow grave inside an old chicken coop. They eventually threw the body in a nearby desert mine shaft. The Jennings’ then attempted to scrub the blood off Arthur's bedroom walls. D also burned Arthur's sheets and the gloves used to bury him, and placed Arthur's diaper, clothes, and glasses in the trash. Two days they reported Arthur missing.  In separate interviews, D and Michelle admitted that Arthur had been dead since February 4. They also independently led officers to the mine shaft in the desert where Arthur's unclothed body was found wrapped in a blanket. D acknowledged that at various times he pushed, elbowed, kicked, shook, and hit Arthur. After initially blaming Michelle and then Grein, D eventually admitted striking Arthur on the back of his head with the fireplace shovel on the day he died. D did state, however, that he did not want Arthur to die. Nevertheless, when later asked whether he ever had attempted to suffocate Arthur, D responded, “I don't know, maybe.” D acknowledged he and Michelle had discussed “killing” and “getting rid of” Arthur. Michelle said D wanted to shoot Arthur in the head, but she suggested returning him to Wilma or giving him to D's father. D admitted that two days prior to Arthur's death, he and Michelle drove around the desert looking for a place to “dump the body.” The Jennings’ admitted giving Arthur the drug Unisom, an over-the-counter sleep aid, as well as Vicodin and Valium. Michelle gave him one Vicodin and two sleeping pills at D's behest on the day he died. D claimed he cut the pills in halves or in quarters before giving them to Arthur. When D was asked what he thought the pills would do to “a five-year-old that weighed 35, 40 pounds,” D maintained he “didn't think about it.” A criminologist testified that the blood spatter patterns found in 12 areas of the bedroom came from several separate events-most the result of medium-energy impact and a few from low-energy incidents and smearing. Arthur was 3 feet 10 inches tall and weighed only 35 pounds. He was “severely emaciated and malnourished”; he had almost no body fat or fatty tissue, his muscles were wasted, and he had no food in his stomach when he died. Arthur's condition indicated it was not something that had occurred over a short period of time. Injuries that occurred shortly before death were most consistent with smothering. An internal examination revealed extensive hemorrhaging to the deeper layers of Arthur's scalp that extended across the entire front of his forehead, indicating some kind of blow or impact to the area. He had other head injuries there were at least 10 days old. He had been shaken violently, possibly causing permanent brain damage. He had acute pneumonia at the time of his death. Dr. Sheridan attributed this infection to the breakdown of Arthur's immune system and his overall failure to thrive. The boy had enough Unisom in his system to cause seizures and cessation of breathing. He also had Vicodin and valium as well. On the death certificate, was listed the “main cause of death” as “combined drug toxicity,” because although the level of Unisom alone was potentially fatal and the levels of Vicodin and Valium alone were not toxic, the three drugs together had a certain “additive effect” on sedation. Under the heading “Contributing Causes”-which Dr. Sheridan explained is “where you can list something else that contributed to death but is separate from the main one”-he listed “acute and chronic physical abuse and neglect.” The term “acute” referred to Arthur's injuries inflicted shortly before death, and the term “chronic” referred to Arthur's older injuries as well as to the “very, very severe” emaciation and malnutrition. Also listed as a contributing cause was acute pneumonia, which was a complication of Arthur's emaciated state. Arthur was in a “downhill slide” and “very near to the end of his life” because of malnutrition and “the whole body not functioning properly.” Without the drugs, Arthur likely would have died within a fairly short period of time if he were not given medical attention and food. D was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. 

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

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