People v. Snyder

937 N.Y.S.2d 429, 91 A.D.3d 1206 (2012)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

After the January 1996 death of her daughter (born in 1993), D was arrested and charged with three counts of murder in the second degree, including intentional murder, depraved indifference murder, and depraved indifference murder of a person under 11 years old. D was also charged with the attempted intentional murder of her son (born in 1992), and multiple counts of both assault in the first degree and reckless endangerment. The case was based entirely on the theory that D attempted to cause breathing problems in both of her children by suffocating them for the purpose of collecting government benefits. Extensive testimony was presented from the numerous pediatricians, specialists, nurses, emergency personnel, and social workers who cared for the children or otherwise interacted with D and her children from the birth of D's son in 1992 until the death of D's daughter in 1996. Both children were admitted to the hospital--after experiencing difficulty breathing and being rushed to the emergency room--on numerous occasions following their births for what appeared to be apnea episodes. Each episode occurred during daytime hours. D was the only person present when the symptoms began and she was the sole source of information as to what occurred. Every time at the hospital the results were routinely normal and medical personnel were unable to determine any organic cause for the children's identical breathing problems. One test indicated that the problem was caused by something blocking the child's airway. Other symptoms indicated the problems were caused by suffocation, including blood in their noses or mouths and certain recorded information on heart and respiratory rate monitors, which signified that their lungs were healthy but that the oxygen flow had been interrupted for a period of time. One doctor diagnosed the daughter with a sinus node dysfunction with a possible seizure disorder and recommended surgery to implant a pacemaker. The apnea episodes continued after the surgery. No seizures were ever documented during any hospital stays and none were actually witnessed by medical personnel. The daughter's death was determined to have resulted from a lack of oxygen and inadequate blood flow to the brain. An expert witness testified that, in her opinion, both children's frequent hospitalizations resulted from suffocation, which carried a significant risk of death, and that the death of d's daughter was, in fact, caused by suffocation. In prison, D spoke about the case on one occasion and told a witness that she and her husband had been having financial difficulties and decided to try to get disability benefits for her children after learning that a friend had received such benefits for a child who was having breathing problems. D told Marshall that, on the day her daughter was taken to the hospital just prior to her death, she had attempted several times to put a pillow over her face in order to cause breathing problems. D stated that she 'didn't mean for it to go as far as it did,' but the nurse had arrived late. P attempted to demonstrate a correlation between the timing of the application process and issues regarding the benefits with the occurrence of apnea events. The daughter was the main source of income for D and the events occurred when D needed money. D was convicted and appealed.