Jackson v. State

Carmen Jackson was convicted of malice murder, felony murder and cruelty to children in the death of her fifteen-month-old daughter, Tytanna Jackson. She appeals from the denial of her motion for new trial.1 Finding no error, we affirm. 1. The evidence adduced authorized the jury to find that the victim was beaten so severely that her pancreas and duodenum were ruptured and that the contents of the victim’s intestines leaked into her abdomen and led to her death within two to four hours due to toxic shock.2 Expert testimony established that two to four hours was the maximum time that occurred between the injuries and the victim’s death because of the absence of other indicators that would have manifested themselves had the injuries been inflicted earlier. Expert testimony also established that the victim would have begun vomiting immediately after the fatal injuries were inflicted and that the victim would have been in extreme pain. In her trial testimony and statement to police, Jackson claimed that she arrived home from work around 8:30 p.m. on September 18, 1998; that she changed the victim’s diaper and put her in her playpen before going to her own bed; and that she did not notice anything wrong with the child until her live-in boyfriend and co-defendant, Timothy Murphy, informed her the victim was having difficulty breathing. Jackson stated she promptly called for medical assistance, which arrived within 10-15 minutes at 12:56 a.m., September 19, at which time the evidence established that the victim had no pulse, was not breathing, was cold to the touch and had fixed and dilated pupils.

We find this evidence sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Jackson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charged crimes. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Banks v. State , 271 Ga. 59 1 518 SE2d 415 1999. The trial court did not err by denying Jackson’s motion for a directed verdict. See Estes v. State , 251 Ga. 347 1 305 SE2d 778 1983 directed verdict of acquittal appropriate only when there is no conflict in the evidence.