Craney

A jury convicted respondent Brenda Craney of violating Penal Code section 273a, subdivision (b), a misdemeanor. The trial court dismissed the case under section 1385. The People of the State of California appeal from that order. In the published portion of this opinion, we find that the order is appealable. In the unpublished portion, we find that the evidence was insufficient to support the judgment. We thus affirm the trial court.

Summary

On the morning of April 25, 1999, three-year-old Elijah J. suffered hot water immersion bums. Elijah lived with Craney, his foster mother, and Craney’s adult daughter Leona Hightower. Craney was not at home when Elijah received the bums, but had left him in Hightower’s care. Elijah died of his injuries.

Hightower was charged with second degree murder (§ 187, subd. (a)), assault on a child causing death (§ 273a, subd. (b)), and torture (§ 206). She was also charged with felony child abuse (§ 273a, subd. (a)) arising out of a different incident. Craney was charged with felony child abuse under section 273a, subdivision (a).

The prosecution’s theory of Hightower’s guilt was that she had deliberately placed Elijah into a tub of…