State v. Douglas C.

Summary

Justice Mullins, joined by Justice Keller, concurred in the judgment affirming Douglas C.'s convictions for multiple counts of risk of injury to a child. The concurrence agreed that the charges were not impermissibly duplicitous and that the jury-unanimity challenge failed, but rejected the majority's rule that course-of-conduct charging is permissible only when the legislature specifically authorizes it. It would instead adopt a flexible, case-by-case framework preserving prosecutorial discretion subject to judicial review for fairness and constitutional violations. Justice Mullins, concurring, would have reached the result under that framework because the alleged abuse constituted a continuing pattern and the charges adequately protected the defendant's rights.