Appeals Court Overturns Child Injury Conviction
Posted/updated on: October 20, 2016 at 11:34 amAUSTIN — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned a Tyler couple’s conviction and prison sentence for injury to a child. KETK reports that Kenneth and Shelley Walker were sentenced to 25 years behind bars after being found guilty of placing their two-year-old granddaughter, Bridget Walker, into a bathtub filled with scalding water. The toddler was severely burned on her feet and ankles and was flown to a Dallas hospital for treatment. In September 2014, the two were denied their appeal by the Twelfth Court of Appeals and began serving their sentence immediately. The higher court concluded evidence in the case would “merely raise a suspicion of guilt” and evidence did not support injury to a child beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Given the number of outstanding questions about whether the injury was accidental or intentionally inflicted, how this alleged offense might have been committed, and who might have committed it, we conclude that a rational jury would have had at most only a strong suspicion of guilt under these circumstances, therefore, we hold the evidence insufficient and render judgments of acquittal,” the opinion stated. “Because the evidence is insufficient to establish that either appellant was responsible for Bridget’s injuries, we decline to reform the judgment to any lesser-included offense under these circumstances.”