Conviction in child's death overturned

Redd Rock Serawop may have been acting in the heat of passion when he killed his 3-month-old daughter, but that alone isn't enough to sustain a conviction of voluntary manslaughter under federal law, an appeals court has ruled.

A jury must also determine that a defendant acted with an intent to kill or do serious bodily injury or with depraved recklessness — details that jurors in Serawop's December 2003 trial were never instructed upon, according to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling, which for the first time outlines the legal difference between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, overturns Serawop's conviction and subsequent 10-year prison sentence.

Federal prosecutors initially charged Serawop, a member of the Ute Indian tribe, with one count of second-degree murder for the Nov. 3, 2002, death of 3-month-old Beyonce. Jurors found him guilty of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

At trial, Serawop, who was caring for his daughter at his home on the Uintah-Ouray Indian Reservation while the child's mother served a short jail sentence, admitted to becoming frustrated with the baby's constant crying and then throwing her down, causing her to hit her head on either the sink or the toilet. Defense attorneys acknowledged Serawop played a role in the baby's death, but maintained it was not intentional nor premeditated.

In Monday's opinion, the appeals court ruled U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell should have instructed jurors that both elements — heat of passion and intent to kill — need to be satisfied in order to return a guilty verdict to voluntary manslaughter.

"By refusing to instruct the jury on (the intent) component of voluntary manslaughter, the court gave an erroneous instruction that might have resulted in Serawop being convicted of voluntary manslaughter when his conduct merited an involuntary manslaughter conviction," the opinion states.

Although the evidence set forth at trial presents "a convincing case for voluntary manslaughter," the 10th Circuit said it is possible jurors could have found Serawop guilty of the lesser charge and ordered a new trial in the case. Because Serawop was essentially acquitted of the original second-degree murder charge, the new trial will go forward on the lesser manslaughter charges.

Monday's ruling specifically addresses the mental state required for second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, elements that "federal homicide statutes fail to articulate expressly," the appeals court said.