People v. Dollar CA3

BACKGROUND

On November 11, 2010, Oroville Police officers were dispatched to the Oroville Medical Center regarding Deagan Jackson, a 16-month-old toddler who had sustained “severe head trauma,” including “multiple skull fractures, subdural hematoma, and brain swelling.” Upon arrival, officers encountered Deagan’s mother, Sabrina, who was visibly upset and concerned for her child. Sabrina explained that she had full custody of her son, but the child had been visiting his father, defendant, at the time he was injured. Officers also met with defendant, who was “calm and relaxed” and had an “odor of marijuana emit[ing] from [his] person.” Officers observed defendant talking on the phone in the hospital waiting room and “laughing several times during the conversation.” Deagan was transported by life flight to the UC Davis Medical Center, where he died. An autopsy determined that Deagan died from “craniocerebral injuries, due to massive blunt force trauma to the head.” On August 7, 2013, an information was filed charging defendant with one count of assault on a child causing death. (§ 273ab, subd. (a); count 1.) On January 22, 2014, the information was amended to add one count of…