State v. Anderson

VANDE WALLE, Justice.

Barbara Jean Anderson appealed from a jury conviction of aggravated assault. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

In late November 1989, Anderson admitted her ten-month-old son, Douglas, to a Fargo hospital with burns on his four limbs. Anderson said that Douglas had accidentally fallen into a tub of scalding water. Because the medical personnel did not believe the pattern of the burns was consistent with Anderson’s explanation of how Douglas was injured, they reported the incident to Cass County Social Services as a possible case of child abuse. Anderson was…