State v. Edwin B.

Syllabus

Convicted of manslaughter in the second degree and risk of injury to a child in connection with the death of his seven week old daughter, the defendant appealed. He claimed that the trial court's failure to give specific unanimity instructions as to both counts against him violated his right to jury unanimity under the sixth amendment to the United States constitution. Held: The trial court's failure to give a specific unanimity instruction with respect to the count charging the defendant with manslaughter violated his sixth amendment right to jury unanimity, as that count was duplicitous because the state alleged two, separate instances of conduct, shaking the victim and delaying seeking medical intervention for the victim, that could have constituted individual bases for the manslaughter conviction, and there was a risk that the jurors were not unanimous with respect to which instance of conduct the defendant engaged in when finding him guilty. The trial court's failure to give a specific unanimity instruction as to the count against the defendant charging him with risk of injury to a child violated his sixth amendment right to jury unanimity, as that count was duplicitous because the state presented evidence of two, separate instances of conduct, shaking the victim and delaying seeking medical attention for the victim, that constituted individual violations of the statute (§ 53-21 (a) (1)) governing risk of injury to a child, which the state concedes, and the state's argument that the defendant was not prejudiced by the duplicitous nature of this count and reversal of his conviction was not required was premised on an assumption rejected by this court with respect to the man- slaughter charge, namely, that the jury unanimously found the defendant guilty of manslaughter on the basis of shaking the victim. Argued December 9, 2024—officially released April 1, 2025