State v. Williams

Facts

Walter Williams, a twenty-four-year-old laborer with a sixth-grade education, and his wife, Bernice Williams, a twenty-year-old with an eleventh-grade education, lived with Bernice's seventeen-month-old son, William Joseph Tabafunda. Walter was not the child's biological or adoptive father, but he assumed parental responsibility with Bernice to provide care, clothing, and medical attention. Both defendants loved the child. Both parents worked, and Walter's eighty-five-year-old mother cared for the children. In April 1968, Walter had taken the child to a doctor for medical care. Between September 1 and September 12, 1968, the child was ill. The autopsy surgeon testified that an abscessed tooth had developed into a mouth and cheek infection, became gangrenous, and led to malnutrition and pneumonia. Between September 1 and September 5, the baby was fussy, could not keep food down, and developed a swollen cheek that turned bluish. The defendants did not realize the child was in danger of dying. Thinking the baby had a toothache, they gave him aspirin and waited for the swelling to subside. They did not take him to a doctor because they feared the welfare department would take the baby away from them, having heard that Walter's cousin lost a child that way. They knew medical help was available from past experience, and no evidence showed they were physically or financially unable to obtain a doctor. On September 12, 1968, the child died.

Issues

1. Does a parent or custodian commit statutory manslaughter under Washington law when a failure to provide necessary medical attention to a dependent child results from simple or ordinary negligence rather than gross negligence?
2. Does a husband who is not the biological or adoptive parent of a child owe a legal duty to provide necessary medical care when he assumes parental responsibility for the child's maintenance?
3. Were the defendants put on notice under the standard of ordinary caution that the child required medical care in time to prevent the child's death?

Holding

The trial court's findings supported the manslaughter convictions. Violating the parental duty to furnish medical care can support statutory manslaughter, and Walter Williams's assumption of responsibility for the child imposed that duty on him. The evidence was sufficient for the court to find that the child's symptoms from September 1 to September 5, 1968, put the defendants on notice, under ordinary caution, to obtain medical care, and their failure was ordinary negligence that proximately caused the death.