Of the petitions for discretionary review ruled upon by the court since July, 132 were denied and nine were allowed, according to state data.
Despite the odds, Assistant Attorney General Anne M. Middleton argued in her petition that the Court of Appeals decision was contradicted by Supreme Court opinions having to do with sufficiency of evidence. The Appeals Court found the state could not rely on circumstantial evidence to claim that Roach, 26, killed Hailey Resch “just because the child happened to be under the exclusive care of (Roach) when death occurred.” The lower court also took issue with the state’s evidence because it “makes it impossible to determine the timing of the fatal injury.”
Middleton argued that the Appeals Court erroneously based this solely on the testimony of a state medical examiner, who determined that Hailey’s death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head that inflicted injuries within her brain.
Roach’s medical experts during her trial agreed with the medical examiner that bruises on Hailey’s head and hemorrhages in her eyes were consistent with the state’s theory of assault, Middleton claimed. Defense experts argued that Hailey’s death could have stemmed from old injuries on the surface of her brain that didn’t heal properly.
Middleton also argued the subject matter of the case “has significant public interest,” pointing out that the jury in the case served for more than two weeks.
“Where we have imposed this obligation on our citizens, and where a jury met this obligation in a first-degree murder trial that took substantial time away from their ordinary routines and responsibilities, an alleged failure by our courts to abide by the standards for upholding a jury’s verdict should be carefully scrutinized,” she wrote.
pkimbrough@hpe.com | 888-3531
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