Mathews (Donovine) vs. State (Nev. Supreme Ct. – Aug. 23, 2018)
A defendant, Mathews’ conviction stems from an incident involving his girlfriend’s two-year-old son, who incurred burns on his hands while Mathews was babysitting him and his sibling. Mathews maintained that the burns happened accidentally, while the State argued that Mathews intentionally burned the child. The Supreme Court of Nevada determined whether the trial court abused its discretion in excluding Mathews’ expert witness.
On the morning of January 5, 2016, Mathews babysat his girlfriend Jasmin’s two children, C.J. and J.J., at Jasmin’s apartment while she went to a meeting at her apartment complex. Mathews’ account of the incident as told to detectives is that while he was babysitting, he boiled water on the stove and poured it into a mug to make instant coffee. After putting the water in the mug, he set it on the counter and went to change J.J.’s diaper. When he returned to the kitchen, C.J. was screaming, the backs of his hands were burned, and the mug was on the floor. Mathews maintains that C.J. accidentally spilled the water in the mug and burned himself, while the State contends that Mathews intentionally burned C.J.
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