State v. Danforth

Wayne Danforth appeals a judgment convicting him of cruelly maltreating a child, contrary to sec. 940.201,' Stats. He claims that the trial court erred by admitting evidence that he struck the victim on two prior occasions and by refusing to instruct the jury on battery, sec. 940.19(1), Stats., as a lesser included offense. Because the trial court’s error in admitting the evidence was harmless and because battery is not a lesser included offense of child abuse, we affirm the judgment.

The three-year-old victim suffered abdominal injuries from a blow to the stomach. Over Danforth’s objection,…