MADISON - A state appeals court Thursday, Nov. 15 upheld a Green County man's homicide conviction involving his two-year-old son, rejecting Casey J. Shelton's contention that evidence of his habit of reacting violently to his boys was inadmissible at trial.
Jurors convicted Shelton, 36, in 2009 of first-degree intentional homicide for causing the death of Christopher Shelton on Feb. 28, 2007. At trial, Shelton contested testimony that he had previously stuffed rags into the mouths of Christopher and his twin brother, Charles, for crying, and also testimony that two days before Christopher died, Shelton threw Charles on the floor for vomiting. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Shelton's attorney contended that the rags testimony was inadmissible because it wasn't relevant to the cause of death and throwing Charles to the floor didn't establish a predictable habit of how Shelton dealt with an uncooperative child.
While Green County Circuit Court Judge James Beer did not provide a detailed analysis of why he allowed the evidence, the District 4 Court of Appeals concluded that the testimony about throwing Charles, although prejudicial to Shelton, was admissible because it provided a motive, therefore relevant.
"(We) conclude that the evidence showing that Shelton threw Charles to the ground when he spit up was admissible ... to show Shelton's motive for acting violently toward Christopher the evening Christopher allegedly suffered his fatal injury - that motive being an obsession with cleanliness and order," according to the 14-page opinion.
Other testimony Shelton's attorney attacked on appeal included Shelton's harsh treatment of his stepson and threats he made to kill the family of Amy Uptegraw, the twins' mother and Shelton's live-in girlfriend, if she said anything.
"(T)hat evidence was nevertheless admissible as part of the panorama of evidence relevant to a particularly probative and damning piece of evidence, namely that Shelton threatened Uptegraw on the way to the hospital on the evening Charles died," according to the opinion.
Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl, who prosecuted the case, echoed that conclusion saying the testimony about Shelton's treatment of his sons and others was helpful for jurors to understand what Shelton was capable of doing.
"It was useful to give them an understanding, a complete picture, of how he acted and why he acted," said Kohl.
Uptegraw's testimony about the threat also explained why she told police immediately after Christopher's death that Shelton was a good father, but within two months said Shelton was abusive toward her, her adolescent son, her parents and Christopher and Charles, according to the opinion.
Shelton's attorney, State Public Defender Martha Askins said she was "disappointed, obviously, with the result and was reviewing the court's reasoning in the opinion," before deciding whether to seek further appeal of the case.
Shelton is incarcerated at Dodge Correctional Institution.
Jurors convicted Shelton, 36, in 2009 of first-degree intentional homicide for causing the death of Christopher Shelton on Feb. 28, 2007. At trial, Shelton contested testimony that he had previously stuffed rags into the mouths of Christopher and his twin brother, Charles, for crying, and also testimony that two days before Christopher died, Shelton threw Charles on the floor for vomiting. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Shelton's attorney contended that the rags testimony was inadmissible because it wasn't relevant to the cause of death and throwing Charles to the floor didn't establish a predictable habit of how Shelton dealt with an uncooperative child.
While Green County Circuit Court Judge James Beer did not provide a detailed analysis of why he allowed the evidence, the District 4 Court of Appeals concluded that the testimony about throwing Charles, although prejudicial to Shelton, was admissible because it provided a motive, therefore relevant.
"(We) conclude that the evidence showing that Shelton threw Charles to the ground when he spit up was admissible ... to show Shelton's motive for acting violently toward Christopher the evening Christopher allegedly suffered his fatal injury - that motive being an obsession with cleanliness and order," according to the 14-page opinion.
Other testimony Shelton's attorney attacked on appeal included Shelton's harsh treatment of his stepson and threats he made to kill the family of Amy Uptegraw, the twins' mother and Shelton's live-in girlfriend, if she said anything.
"(T)hat evidence was nevertheless admissible as part of the panorama of evidence relevant to a particularly probative and damning piece of evidence, namely that Shelton threatened Uptegraw on the way to the hospital on the evening Charles died," according to the opinion.
Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl, who prosecuted the case, echoed that conclusion saying the testimony about Shelton's treatment of his sons and others was helpful for jurors to understand what Shelton was capable of doing.
"It was useful to give them an understanding, a complete picture, of how he acted and why he acted," said Kohl.
Uptegraw's testimony about the threat also explained why she told police immediately after Christopher's death that Shelton was a good father, but within two months said Shelton was abusive toward her, her adolescent son, her parents and Christopher and Charles, according to the opinion.
Shelton's attorney, State Public Defender Martha Askins said she was "disappointed, obviously, with the result and was reviewing the court's reasoning in the opinion," before deciding whether to seek further appeal of the case.
Shelton is incarcerated at Dodge Correctional Institution.