The Beating

On December 8, 1979, a man was living with the Defendant and her children in North Carolina. That evening, the man beat the Defendant's young son repeatedly with a belt over an extended period of time. Three of her son's siblings testified at trial that the Defendant was present in the room, watching the beating, but did not say anything or do anything to stop it. Her son sustained severe injuries: bruises, abrasions, and blood loss requiring a transfusion, as described by a treating pediatric specialist. The Defendant testified differently — she claimed that the three children had gone out with the man, and that it was the children's father (not the man) who beat her son when he came to the apartment, and that she tried to stop the beating but was struck in her face for intervening. The jury rejected her version. The Defendant was charged under a theory of aiding and abetting: that by being present and failing to intervene while the man beat her son, she aided and encouraged the assault.