State v. Burke

Summary

The New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed Robert Burke’s conviction for criminal restraint. The court held that evidence that Burke bound the hands of an elderly, disabled woman who needed her hands to rise from a seated position was sufficient for a jury to find that she was exposed to a risk of serious bodily injury. The court also concluded that Burke’s possession of a knife was irrelevant on these facts because he did not threaten or use it against the victim.

Holdings

1. The State need not prove an actual, identifiable risk of serious bodily injury; it is sufficient to prove that the defendant exposed the victim to the possibility of severe, permanent, or protracted loss of or impairment to the health or function of a part of the body.
2. The evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Burke exposed the victim to a risk of serious bodily injury by binding her hands while she was seated and physically unable to rise safely without using them.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove that Burke confined the victim in circumstances exposing her to a risk of serious bodily injury under RSA 633:2.
2. Whether the phrase "risk of serious bodily injury" requires proof of an actual, identifiable risk rather than a possibility of serious bodily injury.

Disposition

affirmed