Burns v. State, 132 So. 3d 1238

Defendant babysat a 15-month-old (A.B.); mother left to pay a phone bill and have service reconnected. A ten-year-old called the mother saying A.B. fell from her crib.
Mother returned and found A.B. “unresponsive” with abnormal breathing; paramedics and initial hospital staff thought it looked accidental; later tests revealed extensive internal injuries (bleeding on brain/behind eyes, liver damage).
A nurse practitioner testified injuries were from violent shaking/blunt force and not from a crib fall; injuries occurred within 24 hours before hospital admission and might not be apparent on visual inspection.
State charged aggravated child abuse and child neglect (causing great bodily harm); jury acquitted on aggravated abuse and convicted on lesser-included child neglect not causing great bodily harm.
At trial, State’s theory for neglect was that defendant told the 10-year-old to call the mother rather than 911; defendant moved for judgment of acquittal, arguing insufficient evidence; trial court denied; defendant appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for child neglect conviction	State: defendant’s delay by calling mother (who was away) rather than 911 created a substantial risk and supports culpable negligence	Defendant: no proof of how long mother was away or delay length; evidence showed mother returned within ~10 minutes	Reversed: evidence insufficient to support conviction after viewing facts favorably to State
Whether calling the mother instead of 911 meets "culpable negligence" standard	State: waiting for mother rather than immediately summoning emergency services can be gross, flagrant negligence given child’s distress	Defendant: breathing was "off" but child was breathing; no indication defendant should have known injuries were life-threatening; jury acquitted defendant of causing injuries	Court: conduct might be ordinary negligence but did not rise to willful or culpable negligence required for felony child neglect

Jones v. State, 790 So.2d 1194 (discusses de novo review of judgment of acquittal)
Tibbs v. State, 397 So.2d 1120 (sets substantial competent evidence standard on appeal)
Lynch v. State, 293 So.2d 44 (defendant admits facts and adverse conclusions when moving for judgment of acquittal)
Criner v. State, 943 So.2d 224 (judgment of acquittal granted only when jury could not reasonably view evidence favorably to State)
Jones v. State, 912 So.2d 686 (defines culpable negligence as egregious conduct equivalent to manslaughter-level negligence)
Arnold v. State, 755 So.2d 796 (interprets "willfully" and explains legislative history requiring more than mere negligence)
Moore v. State, 790 So.2d 489 (distinguished: multi-day failure to seek care sustained neglect conviction)