People v. Whitehurst

On September 26, 1990, Mr. Whitehurst (defendant) and his wife Donna were discussing custody plans for Whitehurst’s son Stephen and his five stepchildren. During the discussion, Whitehurst’s nine-year-old stepdaughter Natalie came into the room and interrupted the discussion for the fifth time. Whitehurst backhanded Natalie on the left side of her rib cage, and she fell to the floor and cried. Shortly thereafter, Donna called her cousin, Dorothy McGill, to ask whether she and the children could stay with McGill. Donna told McGill during the conversation that Whitehurst had hit Natalie and kicked Stephen. When Donna and the children later arrived at McGill’s home, McGill noticed bruises on both Natalie and Stephen. McGill contacted child protective services to report the incident the next day. On October 1, 1990, Donna returned home to Whitehurst with the children, but before they left, Natalie told McGill she was afraid to return home. In interviews with the police in November 1990, Donna reported that Whitehurst physically and emotionally abused the children, but then later claimed it was the children’s fault. Whitehurst was subsequently charged with two counts of inflicting corporal punishment on a child resulting in a traumatic condition for the injuries to Natalie and Stephen. At trial, both Donna and Whitehurst acknowledged that Whitehurst had hit Natalie, but denied that he hit her hard. The jury convicted Whitehurst on one count of misdemeanor battery and acquitted him on the other charge. Whitehurst then appealed his conviction.