MOUNT VERNON -- An appeals court has ruled that a man found guilty of battering a newborn baby was properly convicted and sentenced to consecutive terms of imprisonment totaling 24 years.
Kamryn Kerr, who was convicted following a jury trial of three counts of aggravated battery of his girlfriend's baby, appealed the verdict and sentence on several grounds, including that there was insufficient evidence to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
While the Fifth District Appellate Court held there was some error in the instructions to the jury by Judge Kyle Napp of the Madison County Circuit Court, the error did not make any difference when it came to the jury handing down its verdict.
"There was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of three counts of aggravated battery to a child," Appellate Justice Judy Cates wrote in affirming the lower court's verdict, with justices David Overstreet and Melissa Chapman concurring. "The indictment adequately informed the defendant of the charges against him."
The convicted child batterer also appealed against the consecutive sentences of eight years on each charge, alleging that, even if he were guilty, it was one offense and, therefore, the prison terms delivered violated the "one-act, one-crime" rule.
But evidence was given in court that the child, O.W., suffered different injuries over the seven weeks between birth and being taken to the hospital in September 2014. The appellate court revealed details of that visit, which prompted medical staff to report potential abuse and led to Kerr being charged with aggravated battery.
At the emergency room at Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City, X-rays revealed recent fractures on the left side of the rib cage, and older ones on the right side. Following a more detailed examination at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, the baby was found to have suffered "multiple rib fractures, an injury to the right tibia, a skull fracture, and a brain injury."
In his appeal, Kerr argued there was not sufficient evidence to "establish that he committed any form of battery" on the baby.
Cates wrote, "After considering the testimony of the witnesses, the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of aggravated battery of a child. We cannot say that the jury’s findings and conclusions are so unreasonable or improbable as to justify a reasonable doubt about the defendant’s guilt. "