Peabody

The issue is the standard of conduct required for a violation of Penal Code section 273 a, subdivision (1), which proscribes “wilfully” causing or permitting a child to be placed in a situation likely to produce great bodily harm or death. We hold that the standard of conduct condemned by the statute is that of criminal negligence and that the trial court’s failure to so instruct the jury compels a reversal.

Because we are reversing on a point of law, we need only briefly summarize the evidence; Appellant brought her four-month-old child to the hospital because “the baby cried and his arm hurt.” Upon examination, the baby was found to have multiple fractures of the rib cage on both sides and a fracture of the left arm. X-rays indicated that the fractures of the ribs on the right side were fresh while the rib fractures on the left side and of the arm had occurred some 10 to 14 days earlier. The fractures were of a type that might go unnoticed, although there was considerable swelling at the time the baby was examined.

Appellant stated that she did not know what had happened to the baby; however, she said that she had left him with his father for several hours the…