Dequisha Jackson v. State ( 2015 )

ACCEPTED
12-15-00003-CR
TWELFTH COURT OF APPEALS
TYLER, TEXAS
10/30/2015 11:41:02 PM
Pam Estes
CLERK
Cause No. 12-15-00003-CR
FILED IN
12th COURT OF APPEALS
TYLER, TEXAS
In the Court of Appeals for the
10/30/2015 11:41:02 PM
Twelfth Judicial District at Tyler, Texas PAM ESTES
Clerk
Dequisha Jackson,
Appellant
v.
State of Texas,
Appellee
On Appeal from Cause No. 2013-0731 in the 159th
Judicial District Court of Angelina County, Texas
State’s Brief
April Ayers-Perez
Assistant District Attorney
Angelina County D.A.’s Office
P.O. Box 908
Lufkin, Texas 75902
(936) 632-5090 phone
(936) 637-2818 fax
State Bar No. 24090975
aperez@angelinacounty.net
Oral Argument Not Requested
Identity of Parties and Counsel
Dequisha Jackson, Appellant
TDCJ Number: 01972267
Crain Unit
1401 State School Road
Gatesville, Texas 76599
John Tatum II.
Attorney for Appellant (trial)
P.O. Box 582
Lufkin, Texas 75902
SBN: 00789674
Katrina Carswell
District Attorney
Attorney for the State (trial)
Angelina County District Attorney’s Office
P.O. Box 908
Lufkin, Texas 75902
SBN: 104822700
April Ayers-Perez
Assistant District Attorney
Attorney for the State (appeal)
Angelina County District Attorney’s Office
P.O. Box 908
Lufkin, Texas 75902
SBN: 24090975
ii
Table of Contents
Identity of Parties and Counsel ................................................................... ii
Table of Contents .......................................................................................iii
Index of Authorities .................................................................................... iv
Statement Regarding Oral Argument .......................................................... v
Issue Presented .......................................................................................... v
Statement of Facts ...................................................................................... 1
Summary of the Argument ........................................................................ 10
Argument .................................................................................................. 11
Reply Issue #1: The evidence is legally sufficient to sustain
the jury’s guilty verdict for manslaughter . ........................................ 11
Applicable law......................................................................... 11
Standard of review .................................................................. 12
The Actions and Inactions of the Appellant Rise to the
Level of Reckless Conduct .................................................... 13
The Evidence Against the Appellant was More
Compelling than the Evidence Against Isaiah Tolliver ............ 18
Prayer ....................................................................................................... 19
Certificate of Compliance .......................................................................... 20
iii
Certificate of Service ................................................................................. 20
Index of Authorities
Cases Page
Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 839 (Tex.Crim.App. 2010) ........................... 12
Clayton v. State, 235 S.W.3d 772 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007) .......................... 12
Hooper v. State, 214 S.W.3d 9 (Tex.Crim.App. 2007)............................... 12
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) ............................................ 12, 13
Kitchens v. State, 823 S.W.2d 256 (Tex.Crim.App. 1991) ......................... 13
Paulson v. State, 570 S.W.3d 570 (Tex.Crim.App. 2000).......................... 13
Temple v. State, 390 F.3d 341 (Tex.Crim.App. 2013) ......................... 12, 13
Rules
Tex. R. App. P. 9.4(i)(1) ............................................................................ 20
Tex. R. App. P. 39.1 ................................................................................... v
Statutes
Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 19.04(a) (West 2011) ........................................... 11
Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 6.03(c) (West 2011) ............................................. 11
iv
Statement Regarding Oral Argument
Pursuant to Tex. R. App. P. 39.1, the State feels oral argument is
unnecessary, as the facts and legal arguments are adequately presented in
the briefs and record and the decisional process would not be significantly
aided by oral argument.
Issue Presented
Reply Issue #1: The evidence is legally sufficient to sustain the
jury’s guilty verdict for Manslaughter.
v
Statement of Facts
On August 13, 2013 Imauri Jackson was born to Dequisha Jackson
and Isaiah Tolliver at Methodist Hospital in Baytown, Texas.1 Jackson
received discharge instructions from Methodist Hospital stating that she
was supposed to follow up with a physician three days after discharge for
Imauri.2 An appointment for Imauri was made for August 19, 2013.3
Jackson never showed up for the appointment with Imauri, nor did anybody
ever take Imauri to a physician again until his death on October 11, 2013.4
On August 28, 2013 Jackson, Tolliver, and baby Imauri moved to Lufkin,
Texas, in Angelina County, to live with Linda Bankhead, Jackson’s Aunt at
1506 Williams Street.5
On October 11, 2013 Desmond Garcia, a paramedic with the city of
Lufkin, Texas, responded to a call of an infant not breathing at 1506
Williams Street.6 Garcia’s unit was the first on the scene,7 and it took about
six to seven minutes for Garcia’s unit to arrive on scene after receiving the
1
VI R.R. at 110.
2
Id. at 111.
3
Id. at 112.
4
Id.
5
Id. at 109.
6
V R.R. at 38-41.
7
Id. at 41.
1
911 call.8 Upon entering the house Garcia went to the right into a bedroom
where an infant, Imauri Jackson, was lying on the floor on its back, while
the Appellant, Dequisha Jackson, was sitting on the bed, and her co-
defendant, Isaiah Tolliver, was pacing.9 Garcia noted that Jackson and
Tolliver were not behaving as typically parents behave during these
situations based on his experience.10 Garcia said, in his experience,
parents are more irate and distraught than anything he saw from Jackson
and Tolliver, whereas, in this instance, Jackson and Tolliver were not acting
as if this was an emergency.11 The first thing Garcia did was to pick Imauri
up, who was already in cardiac arrest and stiff, and began resuscitation
efforts including attempting to get intravenous access, establish the airway,
and push medications through.12 One of Garcia’s first thoughts was that
Imauri was a preemie, or premature, because of its size.13 After checking
Imauri’s pulse, and finding none, and noting Imauri was blue and cold to
the touch, Garcia’s partner, Dillon Millender, scooped Imauri up and ran to
the ambulance with him.14 Garcia and his unit were only at the residence
8
Id. at 50.
9
Id. at 43.
10
Id. at 43-44.
11
Id. at 44, 52.
12
Id. at 46.
13
Id. at 47.
14
Id. at 47-48.
2
for two to three minutes.15 After arriving at the hospital, Woodland Heights,
Garcia transferred care to the nurses and stayed at the hospital for 35-40
minutes to check on the status of baby Imauri.16 It took a total of
approximately ten to twelve minutes to arrive in the hospital’s emergency
room.17
After Garcia and his unit left with Imauri, Jarrod Hennigan, a patrol
officer with the Lufkin Police Department, was one of the first officers to
arrive on scene at 1506 Williams Street.18 One of the first people Officer
Hennigan spoke to was Linda Bankhead, who was nonchalant and stated
that she did not know much, except that Jackson woke her up to tell her the
baby was not breathing, and Bankhead called 911.19 After learning of the
Imauri’s death, Hennigan, along with Debra Walsh, a crime scene
technician, walked around the house taking photographs.20 In the bedroom
where Jackson, Tolliver, and Imauri were staying the baby carrier, which
had a lot of blankets and pillows, looked as though it was being used as a
bed for Imauri.21 In the room Imauri was staying in there were no baby
15
Id. at 50.
16
Id. at 48-49.
17
Id. at 50.
18
Id. at 57-58.
19
Id. at 63.
20
Id. at 64-65.
21
Id. at 76-77.
3
supplies, diapers, supplies of diapers, and only one used diaper in the trash
can.22 In the closet in the bedroom Officer Hennigan found one new diaper
as well as some diaper wipes.23 There were five cans of formula on top of
the refrigerator, as well as some cereal, and no other formula found in the
house.24 Also in the kitchen Officer Hennigan located some sippy cups,
commonly used by older children.25 Officer Hennigan noted that another
Officer, Offficer Brooks, looked through the city trash can that was outside
the house for dirty diapers, and because Officer Brooks did not take any
photographs it was assumed no dirty diapers were found in the trash can.26
Linda Bankhead, the aunt of Jackson, and the renter of the two-
bedroom house at 1506 Williams Street, stated that, in addition to Jackson,
Tolliver, and Imauri, Bankhead’s children –Robert, age 26, Zyron, Chyrieka,
age 20, and Zyron, age 16, all lived at the house as well.27 During the
month Jackson, Tolliver, and Imauri were living with Bankhead, Bankhead
had only held Imauri once and had never changed his diaper, given him a
bath, or fed him.28
22
Id. at 77-79.
23
Id. at 80-81.
24
Id. at 81-84.
25
Id. at 95-98.
26
Id. at 101-03.
27
Id. at 120-21.
28
Id. at 124-25.
4
Bankhead stated that Jackson would fix bottles for Imauri, with cereal
in them, though, when pressed, Bankhead could not remember if she had
ever actually seen Jackson do this.29 Due to the appearance of Imauri,
Bankhead told Jackson she needed to take Imauri to a doctor.30 Bankhead
further noted that the weight of Imauri alarmed her, even going so far as to
ask Jackson if the two month old baby Imauri was a preemie.31 Jackson
had an appointment for the baby for October 14, 2013.32 Bankhead bought
formula for Imauri once, but never bought diapers or bottles.33 Bankhead
had encouraged Jackson, and shown her, how to sign up for WIC.34
Bankhead told Nick Malone with the Lufkin Police Department that upon
touching Imauri before calling 911 Imauri was stiff and cold.35
Only two physicians offices in Lufkin saw children with medicare, Dr.
Andrew Fercowitz and Angelina Pediatrics.36 The Custodian of Records for
Dr. Fercowitz, Donna Bailey, did not have any record of Imauri Jackson.37
Sharon Shaw, the Custodian of Records for the Health District of Angelina
29
Id. at 128-29.
30
Id. at 132.
31
Id. at 157, 161.
32
Id. at 134.
33
Id. at 140-41.
34
Id. at 144-46.
35
VI R.R. at 107.
36
V R.R. at 191-92, 216-17.
37
Id. at 193.
5
County, testified that it was on October 4, 2013 that Jackson requested her
WIC be transferred from Liberty County, and that Imauri was never in the
system up until October 4, 2013.38 However, after Imauri’s death, it was
discovered that Jackson had Medicaid and thus Imauri was covered as
well.39
Dr. Melissa Handley, a pediatrician, was the on call pediatrician for
the hospital when Imauri was brought in as a cardiorespiratory
emergency.40 It took five minutes for Dr. Handley to arrive at the hospital
after being paged.41 When Dr. Handley arrived the Emergency Room
Physician, Dr. Monroe, had begun resuscitation on Imauri.42 Imauri also
had two intravenous lines put in his leg, been given three runs of
epinephrine, and given fluid boluses to support Imauri and had received no
response.43 Imauri was in asystole and had no cardiac electrical activity
since his arrival.44 Imauri arrived at the hospital with no heartbeat and his
38
Id. at 197-98.
39
VI R.R. at 42-43.
40
V R.R. at 219.
41
Id. at 220.
42
Id.
43
Id.
44
Id. at 220-21.
6
temperature was 94.7, well below the average for a baby Imauri’s age of
99.5.45 Dr. Handley noted Imauri did not look healthy:
The most dramatic thing is that he was just emaciated. He looked –
he was -- he did not look like a healthy two-month-old. He had – his
skeletal, you could easily see his ribs. He didn’t have a lot of the
subcutaneous fat that a normal two-month-old baby would have, the
chubby cheeks, the thick neck, the pudgy arms. He didn’t have any
of that. He was emaciated.46
Dr. Handley continued resuscitation efforts for 25 minutes with no response
from Imauri, before pronouncing Imauri dead at 10:40 a.m.47 Imauri was
very stuff and his pupils were fixed and dilated by the time he arrived at the
hospital, and he was already in rigor mortis.48 Imauri weighed five pounds
six ounces when he died on October 11, 2013, whereas his weight should
have been around nine and a half pounds49 Imauri weighed six pounds six
ounces two months earlier when he was born.50 Dr. Handley further noted
that Imauri’s fontanel was sunken, which is consistent with dehydration,
and is something that occurs late in time from dehydration, occurring only
after the body is more than 10% dehydrated.51
45
Id. at 221-22.
46
Id. at 222.
47
Id. at 222-23.
48
Id. at 223, 229.
49
Id. at 227, 267.
50
VI R.R. at 68.
51
V R.R. at 250-51.
7
After Dr. Handley was informed of the timeline of events, based on
Jackson’s information to emergency responders, she was concerned
because the fact that Imauri was in rigor mortis, which does not occur until
three to eight hours after death, did not fit the timeline Jackson was
providing.52 The timeline given to Dr. Handley was that Jackson and
Tolliver were handling Imauri for about fifteen minutes until he stopped
breathing, it took five minutes for the ambulance to get to the house, it took
ten minutes for the ambulance to get to the hospital, and when Dr. Handley
saw Imauri right after he arrived he was already in rigor mortis.53 Dr.
Handley said the timeline was not correct because Imauri died sooner than
what Jackson was claiming.54 Further, when rigor mortis set in, Imauri was
lying flat, not in the car seat like the story that had been told to the EMT.55
Imauri also had blanching, which is where everything stays in place after
the time of death.56 Essentially, whatever part of the body pressed up
against a surface will not refill with blood when moved because there is no
52
Id. at 232.
53
Id.
54
Id. at 233.
55
Id. at 233-34.
56
VI R.R. at 38.
8
more blood pressure.57 Blanching does not occur until eight to twelve
hours after death, and was just starting to occur to Imauri.58
Dr. Handley noted that all emergency room instructions are virtually
the same, that babies are going to eat one to three ounces every two to
four hours.59 Dr. Handley noted that Jackson would have received
discharge papers stating that when she left the hospital with Imauri.60 Dr.
Handley also noted that the fact that Jackson received paperwork telling
her to take Imauri to a Dr. within three days after discharge also would
have been normal.61
On October 12, 2013 Dr. Candace Schoppe of the Dallas County
Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Imauri Jackson.62 Her
initial notes on Imauri’s condition were:
“There were no – he had no external injuries. The major findings
were just his extreme emaciation. The muscles on [his] temporals,
they’re wasted. The fat pads in [his] cheeks were almost depleted.
You could see his ribs through his skin. There was almost no fat in
the skin – underlying the ribs.
The skin had what we call decreased turgor. So when somebody
gets really dehydrated with you, an example, if you kind of pinch their
skin, it sticks. It doesn’t just flatted back out. And his skin did that.
57
Id. at 39.
58
Id. at 36-37.
59
V R.R. at 235-36.
60
Id. at 236.
61
Id. at 246.
62
VI R.R. at 63, 66-67.
9
He also had a green discoloration of his abdomen. He didn’t have
much residual rigor mortis. So he wasn’t very stiff anymore. His
eyes had clouded over, and he had fixed lividity on his back.”63
Dr. Schoppe also noted that many of the organs of Imauri, including his
liver, stomach, and skull, were showing signs of malnutrition and
dehydration.64 Further, Imauri had a heightened level of cortisol, which is a
sign of stress in an infant caused by dehydration and malnutrition.65
Despite a myriad of tests Dr. Schoppe found no diseases or conditions that
Imauri had that would explain any sort of malnutrition or dehydration.66
While in the Angelina County Jail, Jackson told Misti Davis, a fellow
inmate, that when Imauri would cry Jackson would just give him a pacifier
instead of feeding him.67 Jackson also told Davis that Tolliver would never
change Imauri’s diaper or feed Imauri.68
Summary of the Argument
Dequisha Jackson had little regard for her son, Imauri Jackson. She
purposefully withheld food, telling a future inmate that when two month old
Imauri would cry for food she would put a pacifier in his mouth to make him
63
Id. at 68-69.
64
Id. at 80-82.
65
Id. at 83-84.
66
Id. at 84-86.
67
Id. at 133.
68
Id. at 135.
10
stop. Jackson ignored discharge instructions from the hospital after giving
birth, refused to take Imauri to the Dr., and let him waste away before dying
from malnutrition and dehydration.
Jackson, not Isaiah Tolliver, was the person primarily responsible for
Imauri’s care, and the person ultimately more culpable for Imauri’s demise.
Argument
Reply Issue #1: The evidence is legally sufficient to sustain the
jury’s guilty verdict for Manslaughter.
Applicable law
A person commits the offense of manslaughter if [s]he recklessly
causes the death of an individual.69
A person acts recklessly, or is reckless, with respect to circumstances
surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he is aware of
but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the
circumstances exist or the result will occur. The risk must be of such a
nature and degree that its disregard constitutes a gross deviation from the
standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise under all the
circumstances as viewed from the actor’s standpoint.70
69
Tex. Pen. Code Ann. §19.04 (a) (West 2011).
70
Tex. Pen. Code Ann. §6.03(c) (West 2011).
11
Standard of review
The State must prove every element of the crime charged beyond
a reasonable doubt.71 In reviewing the legal sufficiency of the
evidence in support of a conviction, the court considers the evidence
in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether –
based on evidence and reasonable inferences – the jury was
rationally justified in finding guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.72 The
jury is the sole judge of credibility and weight to be attached to the
testimony of witnesses.73 Although the court allows juries to draw
multiple inferences from facts, as long as those facts are supported
by evidence presented at the trial, the jury is not allowed to draw
conclusions based upon speculation, because in doing so the jury
would not be supporting a finding of beyond a reasonable doubt.74
The definition of “beyond a reasonable doubt”, and “reasonable
71
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 313-14 (1979).
72
Temple v. State, 390 S.W.3d 341, 360 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (citing Jackson, 443
U.S. at 318-19 & Brooks v. State, 323 S.W.3d 839, 912 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010)); Hooper
v. State, 214 S.W.3d 9, 13 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007); Clayton v. State, 235 S.W.3d 772,
778 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007).
73
Id.
74
Id.
12
doubt” itself are left to the jury, and the trial court is discouraged from
defining it for the jury.75
A criminal case may, however, be based solely upon
circumstantial evidence, and that circumstantial evidence can be
sufficient by itself to support a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable
doubt.76 In circumstantial cases not every fact and circumstance
needs to point “directly and independently to the defendant’s guilt.”77
The Actions and Inactions of the Appellant Rise to the Level of
Reckless Conduct
The actions, and inactions, of Jackson are beyond the level of just
criminally negligent, and rose to the level of reckless, thus making Jackson
guilty of manslaughter, not just endangering a child. The State alleged, in
its indictment, that Jackson committed the reckless conduct one of three
separate ways: providing inadequate nutrition, providing inadequate fluids,
or providing inadequate medical care. As long as there is evidence to
support any one of the acts as reckless as alleged in the indictment the
verdict is sufficient.78
75
Paulson v. State, 570 S.W.3d 570, 573 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000)
76
Temple, 390 S.W.3d at 359.
77
Id.
78
Kitchens v. State, 823 S.W.2d 256, 258 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991).
13
Dequisha Jackson did not behave like a mother who had just lost her
child, and this was the first sign of consciousness of guilt for those who saw
Jackson’s reactions or lack of reactions. Desmond Garcia, the EMT who
first arrived on scene, noted that Jackson was not behaving typically:
“Typically – mothers, in particular, tend to be more irate, screaming, you
know. You know, just really irate, screaming and hollering, walking around
with their baby. Usually the mother has the baby in their hands. Most of
them, they’re holding the baby. You basically have to pry the baby out of
the mom’s arms pretty much.”79 Officer Malone also saw the lack of
empathy: “Both parents had significantly less grief than what you would
expect and didn’t seem near as sad and upset as parents in other cases of
child deaths that I’ve been involved with.”80 Only one clean diaper was
found in the house Imauri was living in with Jackson and Tolliver, only two
bottles were found that were sufficient for Imauri to use, and only about a
weeks worth of formula was found, in all different brands.81
Despite Imauri’s very visible emaciation82, Jackson never once took
Imauri to a Doctor, to a hospital, or any type of facility.83 In fact, despite
79
V R.R. at 51.
80
VI R.R. at 104.
81
V R.R. at 77-79, 81-84, & 95-98.
82
See State’s Exhibits 39-43.
83
VI R.R. at 111.
14
hospital discharge instructions telling Jackson to take Imauri to a physician
within three days, Jackson made an appointment and never showed up.84
Meanwhile, Imauri lost over a pound from his birth weight until his untimely
death at two months old, and this still did not concern Jackson enough to
take Imauri to a doctor.85 Further, after Imauri’s death, Jackson admitted
that she would just put a pacifier in Imauri’s mouth instead of feeding him.86
Jackson’s concern was not Imauri, her concern was her boyfriend, Isaiah
Tolliver.87
Linda Bankhead, Jackson’s Aunt and the person Jackson, Tolliver, and
Imauri were living with, did her best to try to defend Jackson. However,
when asked if she actually saw Jackson feed Imauri Bankhead repeatedly
struggled to answer that question, just saying she knew Imauri was fed.88
Bankhead initially told Officer Malone that Imauri was cold to the touch and
stiff when she initially touched him89, however at trial Bankhead changed
her mind and decided that Imauri was actually warm when she touched
him.90 Bankhead had more inconsistencies in her statement, which largely
84
Id. at 112.
85
V R.R. at 227.
86
VI R.R. at 133.
87
Id. at 138.
88
V R.R. at 127-29.
89
VI R.R. at 107.
90
V R.R. at 147.
15
was positive toward Jackson, when Bankhead claimed Imauri was on the
bed91 however Garcia saw Imauri on the floor92, and levidity prove Imauri
was on a flat surface, not the bed93. Despite Bankhead’s best efforts to
defendant Jackson, even she was concerned, as best as she could be, with
Imauri, trying to convince Jackson to get on WIC, to make an appointment
with a physician, and even making a comment on the day of Imauri’s death
that “I told them they need to get the baby checked out… I told them
something was wrong with the baby. The baby needed to be checked
out”.94
One of the biggest signs of evidence the jury heard was the picture of
Imauri at the time of his death, emaciated, and the reactions from all the
first responders to the condition of Imauri. It started with Desmond Garcia,
the EMT from Lufkin and one of the first responders, who said Imauri “was
blue in color, and he was cold to touch, and he was visibly malnourished.
You could see his ribs, cheekbones. His jaw – his cheeks were sunken in.
He looked like an older person, like a geriatric, you know, kind of.”95 Next
Dr. Handley saw Imauri and she, too, was surprised and shocked by the
91
V R.R. at 148.
92
Id. at 221.
93
VI R.R. at 36.
94
V R.R. at 45.
95
Id. at 46.
16
appearance of this two month old: “The most dramatic thing is that he was
just emaciated. He looked – he was – he did not look like a healthy two-
month-old. He had – his skeletal, you could easily see his ribs. He didn’t
have a lot of the subcutaneous fat that a normal two-month-old baby would
have, the chubby cheeks, the thick neck, the pudgy arms. He didn’t’ have
any of that. He was emaciated.”96 The next day, October 12, 2013, when
Dr. Schoppe performed the autopsy on baby Imarui, she too was shocked
by his appearance: “There were no – he had no external injuries. The
major findings were just his extreme emaciation.”97 Finally Officer Malone
of the Lufkin Police Department also observed Imauri: “I had never seen
anything like it. You know, it was obviously a young infant, and you could
see the majority of his bone and skeletal structure. I don’t know how else
to describe it, just a child who was very under weight.” A picture of Imauri
at the time of his death shows just how dramatic, and obvious, his condition
was.98
When all of the evidence is added up, particularly Jackson’s lack of
remorse or grief, Bankhead’s inconsistencies coupled with her claim that
Jackson fed Imauri, Jackson’s not appearing at a doctor’s appointment for
96
Id. at 222.
97
VI R.R. at 68.
98
C.R., See State’s Exhibit 39-43.
17
Imauri and never taking Imauri to a doctor in his two months alive,
Jackson’s own admission to Misti Davis that she did not feed Imauri and
instead just gave him a pacifier when he was hungry, combined with the
sheer horror of the image of an emaciated Imauri, the overwhelming
evidence points to reckless behavior on the behalf of Jackson, and in a
light most favorable to the jury’s verdict of guilt for manslaughter, the
evidence is sufficient to support that.
The Evidence Against the Appellant was More Compelling than the
Evidence Against Isaiah Tolliver
By her own admission, it was Dequisha Jackson who was home with
Imauri during the day, not Isaiah Tolliver for the most part. The evidence
points toward more culpable actions and inactions out of Jackson than
Tolliver, thus the jury’s guilty verdict of manslaughter for Jackson and
endangerment of a child for Tolliver is correct and the totality of the
evidence was not substantially similar between Jackson and Tolliver.
When Dequisha Jackson left Methodist Hospital in Baytown, Texas
she received discharge instructions on how to care for Imauri, and to bring
Imauri to a physician within three days.99 Jackson not only did not follow
the instructions she was aware she had, she did not ever take Imauri to a
99
VI R.R. at 112.
18
physician, despite claiming to others that she had.100 It was Jackson, not
Tolliver, who was home all day with Imauri, and in charge of feeding Imauri
while home. Tolliver was out during the day looking for a job, and once
Tolliver began working for Pilgrim’s Pride, he was gone all night while
Jackson was in charge of Imauri’s care.101 Furthermore, Jackson was the
one who told Misti Davis she would just put a pacifier in Imauri’s mouth,
rather than feed him.102 Jackson also apologized to Tolliver for putting him
in this position.103
Jackson was always at the center of all of the malnutrition and
dehydration problems baby Imauri had. Between Jackson’s own
admissions, coupled with Jackson’s time with Imauri being so much greater
than Tolliver’s time with Imauri, the totality of the evidence was not similar
between Jackson and Tolliver, and thus a guilty verdict on endangering a
child, and not manslaughter, for Tolliver should have no impact on the
guilty verdict of manslaughter for Jackson.
Prayer
The State of Texas prays that this Court of Appeals affirm the
judgment of the trial court.
100
VII R.R. at 52.
101
Id. at 69.
102
VI R.R. at 133.
103
VII R.R. at 100.
19
Respectfully Submitted,
/s/ April Ayers-Perez
Assistant District Attorney
Angelina County D.A.’s Office
P.O. Box 908
Lufkin, Texas 75902
(936) 632-5090 phone
(936) 637-2818 fax
State Bar No. 24090975
ATTORNEY FOR THE
STATE OF TEXAS
Certificate of Compliance
I certify that this document contains 4,033 words, counting all parts
of the document except those excluded by Tex. R. App. P. 9.4(i)(1). The
body text is in 14 point font, and the footnote text is in 12 point font.
/s/ April Ayers-Perez
Certificate of Service
I certify that on October 30, 2015, a true and correct copy of the
above document has been forwarded to John Reeves, 1007 Grant Ave.,
Lufkin, TX 75901, by electronic service through efile.txcourts.gov.
/s/ April Ayers-Perez
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