Gibson v. State

Hunstein, Justice.

Jahanon Gibson was found guilty of felony murder and child cruelty arising out of the beating death of his 25-month-old son, Jaihiem Fair. Gibson appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and the effectiveness of trial counsel. Finding no error, we affirm.

1. The jury was authorized to find that Gibson struck his son with a belt on March 13,1999 because the child, who had a virus and diarrhea, had soiled his pants. Gibson admitted to police that he used enough force to possibly leave bruises on the victim when he struck him with the belt. When asked why he used a…