Barry L. Conley v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: September 22, 2014
• Docket: A14A1237
• Status: Published

Opinion

FOURTH DIVISION DOYLE, P. J., MILLER and DILLARD, JJ.

NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. http://www.gaappeals.us/rules/

September 22, 2014

In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A14A1237. CONLEY v. THE STATE.

MILLER, Judge.

Following a jury trial, Barry Lamar Conley was convicted of three counts of

aggravated sodomy (OCGA § 16-6-2 (a) (2)), two counts of child molestation (OCGA

§ 16-6-4 (a) (1)), and one count of battery (OCGA § 16-5-23.1 (a)).1 Conley appeals

from the denial of his motion for new trial, contending that (1) the trial court erred in

denying his motion for a directed verdict because the State failed to prove force as an

element of aggravated sodomy; (2) the trial court failed to exercise its discretion in

ruling on his motion for new trial; and (3) he received ineffective assistance from trial

counsel. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

1 Conley was also charged with and found guilty of three counts of aggravated child molestation (OCGA § 16-6-4 (c)), but the trial court merged these counts into his convictions for aggravated sodomy. Following a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most

favorable to the jury’s verdict. Wallace v. State, 294 Ga. App. 159 (1) (669 SE2d 400)

(2008). So viewed, the evidence shows that Conley was a longtime friend of the

victims’ stepfather, Jose Garcia. Garcia, the victims – Jonah C. and Jeremiah C. – and

the victims’ sisters regularly visited Conley at his apartment. The victims referred to

Conley as “Uncle Barry.”

Beginning in 2006, the victims started staying overnight with Conley.

Sometimes Garcia would spend the night as well. Generally, Jeremiah slept in

Conley’s bed alongside Conley, and Jonah slept on the floor on Conley’s side of the

bed. During his second overnight stay, Jonah was frequently awakened by “things”

touching him. When Jonah looked to see what had touched him, he saw nothing in

sight, so he went back to sleep. Jonah described how the touching got worse at

subsequent visits, and at one point, he caught Conley rubbing his back. Jonah did not

report the incident because he thought Conley was asleep.

In 2008, Conley moved to an apartment near the airport in Clayton County. The

victims continued to visit Conley at this apartment and spend the night in Conley’s

bedroom. On one occasion when Jonah was 12 years old, Conley went into the

2 bathroom while Jonah was showering. Conley reached into the shower and rubbed

Jonah’s back.

At a subsequent visit, Jonah asked if he could sleep in the downstairs living

room, causing Conley to get mad. Thereafter, while Jonah was sleeping in Conley’s

bed, he felt Conley touching him on his butt. Jonah then moved to another room.

At another overnight visit, while Jonah was sleeping on the couch, Conley lay

down next to Jonah and put his hands on Jonah’s penis. Conley told Jonah to be quiet

as he rubbed Jonah’s penis. At a later visit, Conley sat next to Jonah on the couch and

began rubbing Jonah’s penis. Conley then removed Jonah’s pants and underwear and

performed oral sex on Jonah while he masturbated. Conley stopped once he

ejaculated. Jonah described that he was on the bottom while Conley was on top, and

that he was very scared during the incident.

About a week later, Jonah was asleep in Conley’s bed when he was awakened

by Conley, who had placed his hands under Jonah’s clothes and was rubbing Jonah’s

penis. Conley then removed Jonah’s clothes and performed oral sex on Jonah. While

performing oral sex, Conley masturbated and also bit Jonah’s penis, leaving a visible

mark. After he ejaculated, Conley grabbed Jonah’s penis, applied a lubricant, and put

3 Jonah’s penis inside his anus. Conley told Jonah, who was crying, to be quiet. After

that encounter, Jonah did not want to visit Conley anymore.

During the time that Conley molested Jonah, he also molested Jeremiah at his

Clayton County apartment. Jeremiah described that Conley would touch and rub his

penis, and that Conley forced him to touch Conley’s penis. Conley touched

Jeremiah’s penis more than once, using his hands and penis. In April 2010, Conley

placed his mouth on Jeremiah’s penis and performed oral sex on him. Jeremiah, who

was 11 years old at the time, stated that this happened more than once and that Conley

would remove Jeremiah’s penis from his underwear. Conley begged Jeremiah not to

tell anyone about the incidents and gave Jeremiah a cell phone, toys, and money.

Jonah stated that he did not report the abuse at that time because he was afraid

of what would happen and how people would react. Jonah eventually told his family

that Conley was molesting him, and his family called the police.

At trial, the State presented similar transaction evidence showing that in 1991

Conley pled guilty to aggravated child molestation for placing his mouth on a three

year old’s penis. Other similar transaction evidence showed that in 1993, Conley pled

guilty to child molestation and aggravated child molestation for placing his hand and

mouth on the penis of an eight-year-old boy.

4 1. In related enumerations of error, Conley contends that the trial court erred

in denying his motion for a directed verdict on the aggravated sodomy counts because

the evidence was insufficient.2 “The same standard of review applies to the

enumeration of error for the denial of the motion for directed verdict and to the

enumeration of error for the sufficiency of the evidence, so we will consider these

enumerations together.” (Citation and footnote omitted.) Maynor v. State, 257 Ga.

App. 151 (570 SE2d 428) (2002). Specifically, Conley argues that the State failed to

establish the element of force, which the State was required to do since the victims

were older than ten years of age at the time of the offenses. After a thorough review,

we disagree.

OCGA § 16-6-2 (a) (2) provides in part that “[a] person commits the offense

of aggravated sodomy when he or she commits sodomy with force and against the

will of the other person or when he or she commits sodomy with a person who is less

2 In his enumerations of error, Conley asserts that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the charged offenses and the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict, which was made on all counts. However, in his argument, he asserts only that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict because the evidence was insufficient to sustain his aggravated sodomy convictions. Accordingly, Conley has abandoned any challenge to his convictions for child molestation and battery on sufficiency grounds because he did not provide legal argument or citation of authority. See Jones v. State, 289 Ga. App. 219, 221 (1), n.1 (656 SE2d 556) (2008).

5 than ten years of age.” Sodomy is any sexual act involving the sex organs of one

person and the mouth or anus of another. See OCGA § 16-6-2 (a) (1).

[T]he term force includes not only physical force, but also mental coercion, such as intimidation. Lack of resistance, induced by fear, is force. Moreover, force may be proved by direct or circumstantial evidence. And . . . only a minimal amount of evidence is necessary to prove that an act of sodomy against a child was forcible.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Boileau v. State, 285 Ga. App. 221, 223 (1) (a)

(645 SE2d 577) (2007).

(a) Jonah. The indictment alleged that between May 10, 2008 and May 10,

2010, Conley unlawfully performed a sexual act that involved Jonah’s sexual organ

and Conley’s mouth (Count 1) and Jonah’s sexual organ and Conley’s anus (Count

2).

The evidence discussed above was sufficient to establish the element of force

with respect to both counts. Notably, at the time of the oral and anal sex offenses,

Jonah was approximately12 or 13 years old. When the molestation first started, Jonah

attempted to avoid the abuse by asking to sleep in a different room, and Conley

reacted by getting mad. Jonah also tried to stop the abuse by sleeping on the couch,

instead of Conley’s bed, only to have Conley follow him to the couch and tell him to

be quiet as Conley rubbed his penis. On one occasion when Conley performed oral

6 sex on Jonah, he removed Jonah’s clothes, told Jonah to remain quiet, and was “on

top” of Jonah. On another occasion, Conley bit Jonah’s penis. Jonah was very scared

when Conley performed oral sex on him and he cried when Conley inserted his penis

into Conley’s anus. Moreover, Jonah did not report the abuse because he was afraid.

Since the amount of evidence to prove force against a child, such as Jonah, is

minimal, the jury was authorized to conclude that Conley used force when he

performed oral sex on Jonah (Count 1) and when he inserted Jonah’s penis into his

anus (Count 2). See Boileau, supra, 285 Ga. App. at 223 (1) (a) (evidence sufficient

to convict for aggravated sodomy where victim’s lack of resistence was induced by

fear given the victim’s testimony that she was “very scared” and that she wanted

defendant to stop).

(b) Jeremiah. The indictment alleged that Conley unlawfully performed oral

sex on Jeremiah between April 1, 2010 and July 17, 2011 (Count 9). Jeremiah was

11 years old at the time of the April 2010 offense. The evidence shows that Conley

removed Jeremiah’s penis from his underwear, touched and rubbed Jeremiah’s penis,

and forced Jeremiah to touch his penis. In April 2010, Conley placed his mouth on

Jeremiah’s penis. Conley begged Jeremiah not to tell anyone about the sexual

molestation and bribed him to keep silent. Jeremiah also testified that, after the first

7 incident involving oral sex, he was not sure if he wanted to continue sleeping in

Conley’s room, suggesting that he wanted the abuse to stop.

Given the evidence that Conley was referred to as “Uncle Barry,” he forced

Jeremiah to touch his penis, he removed Jeremiah’s underwear before molesting him,

and he attempted to keep Jeremiah silent, as well as evidence showing that Jeremiah

wanted the abuse to stop, the jury was authorized to conclude that Jeremiah was

forced to engage in oral sex in April 2010. See Boileau, supra, 285 Ga. App. at 223

(1) (a) (defendant’s actions in pulling down the victim’s pants and underwear while

she was asleep is evidence of physical force); Schneider v. State, 267 Ga. App. 508,

510 (1) (603 SE2d 663) (2004) (force may be inferred by evidence of intimidation

arising from a close, family-like relationship).

Accordingly, the evidence was sufficient to support Conley’s three convictions

for aggravated sodomy, and the trial court did not err in denying his motion for a

directed verdict as to these offenses.

2. Conley also contends that the trial court erred by failing to exercise its

discretion and decide on the merits whether he was entitled to a new trial. We

disagree.

8 Where, as here, a defendant asserts that the verdict was “contrary to evidence

and the principles of justice and equity and was decidedly against the weight of the

evidence,” the trial court has “broad discretion to sit as a thirteenth juror and weigh

the evidence on a motion for new trial alleging these general grounds.” Choisnet v.

State, 292 Ga. 860, 861 (742 SE2d 476) (2013); see also OCGA §§ 5-5-20, 5-5-21.

A trial court reviewing a motion for new trial based on these grounds has a duty to

exercise its discretion and weigh the evidence to determine whether a new trial is

warranted. See Hartley v. State, 299 Ga. App. 534, 540 (3) (683 SE2d 109) (2009).

“If the record reflects that the trial court failed to exercise its discretion and sit as the

thirteenth juror, we will vacate and remand for the trial court to fulfill its affirmative

statutory duty.” (Citations omitted.) Id. However,

in interpreting the language of an order overruling a motion for a new trial, it must be presumed that the trial judge knew the rule as to the obligation thus devolving upon him, and that in overruling the motion he did exercise this discretion, unless the language of the order indicates to the contrary and that the [trial judge] agreed to the verdict against his own judgment and against the dictates of his own conscience, merely because he did not feel that he had the duty or authority to override the findings of the jury upon disputed issues of fact.

(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Moore v. Stewart, 315 Ga. App. 388, 391 (3) (727

SE2d 159) (2012).

9 In this case, Conley has not identified anything in the record suggesting that

the trial court failed to apply the proper standard in considering Conley’s new trial

motion. The trial court’s order shows that, in addition to addressing the legal

sufficiency of the evidence, the trial court specifically addressed Conley’s argument

under OCGA § 5-5-20 and concluded that the verdict was not contrary to the

evidence. Although the trial court did not make an express ruling as to OCGA § 5-5-

21, nothing in the record suggests that the trial court applied the wrong standard or

declined to exercise its discretion. For this reason, the verdict must be upheld. “This

[C]ourt will not presume the trial court committed error where that fact does not

affirmatively appear.” (Citation omitted.) Matthews v. State, 294 Ga. App. 836, 841-

842 (4) (670 SE2d 520) (2008). Given that the trial court made a legal sufficiency

determination and expressly considered the OCGA § 5-5-20 claim, there is no need

for a remand in this case. See Brockman v. State, 292 Ga. 707, 714-715 (4) (b) (739

SE2d 332) (2013) (concluding that there was no need for a remand where, although

the trial court did not specifically cite OCGA §§ 5-5-20 and 5-5-21, its order showed

that it made a legal sufficiency and a discretionary determination). Compare Walker

v. State, 292 Ga. 262, 264-265 (2) (737 SE2d 311) (2013) (vacating denial of motion

10 for new trial and remanding case where trial court’s order showed that it evaluated

whether the evidence was legally sufficient). Consequently, Conley’s claim fails.

3. Conley claims that he received ineffective assistance of counsel in several

respects.

To prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance, appellant must show that counsel’s performance was deficient and that the deficient performance so prejudiced the client that there is a reasonable likelihood that, but for counsel’s errors, the outcome of the trial would have been different. Appellant must overcome the strong presumption that counsel’s conduct falls within the broad range of reasonable professional conduct. In reviewing a lower court’s determination of a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, an appellate court gives deference to the lower court’s factual findings, which are upheld unless clearly erroneous; the lower court’s legal conclusions are reviewed de novo.

(Citations omitted.) Boatright v. State, 308 Ga. App. 266, 267 (1) (707 SE2d 158)

(2011). Applying these standards, we turn to address Conley’s claims.

(a) Conley contends that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the

expert forensic interviewer’s testimony that Jeremiah’s testimony was not coached,

because the expert’s testimony was improper witness bolstering. We disagree.

“Decisions regarding when and how to raise objections are generally matters

of trial strategy, and such strategic decisions do not constitute deficient performance

unless they are so patently unreasonable that no competent attorney would have

11 chosen them.” (Punctuation and footnote omitted.) Nesbitt v. State, 296 Ga. App. 139,

142 (3) (d) (673 SE2d 652) (2009).

At the motion for new trial hearing, although trial counsel was asked if he

remembered the expert witness’s testimony about whether Jeremiah was coached, he

was not specifically asked about his decision not to object to such testimony.

Conley’s “failure to ask trial counsel about this matter at the new-trial hearing means

that we must presume counsel was acting strategically, thereby vitiating any

ineffective assistance claim.” (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Jones v. State, 304

Ga. App. 109, 114 (2) (b) (695 SE2d 665) (2010). See also Allen v. State, 299 Ga.

App. 201, 204 (1) (b) (683 SE2d 343) (2009) (any decision not to object is presumed

to be a strategic one that does not amount to ineffective assistance where defendant

failed to question counsel about it at the new trial hearing). Moreover, this Court has

repeatedly held that a witness does not improperly bolster a victim’s credibility by

testifying that the witness saw no evidence of coaching. See, e.g., McCowan v. State,

302 Ga. App. 555, 557 (1) (691 SE2d 360) (2010); Stillwell v. State, 294 Ga. App.

805, 807 (2) (a) (670 SE2d 452) (2008). Therefore, Conley has not established that

trial counsel was ineffective on this basis.

12 (b) Conley also contends that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a

special demurrer to challenge the lack of specificity as to the date of the crimes. We

“To succeed on his ineffective assistance claim, [Conley] was required to show

that his trial counsel’s failure to specially demur materially impacted his ability to

present a defense, thereby creating a reasonable probability that counsel’s deficiency

changed the outcome of the case.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Lewis v. State,

304 Ga. App. 831, 837 (5) (698 SE2d 365) (2010). Further, as this Court has

previously noted, “because a defendant can be re-indicted after the grant of a special

demurrer, a failure to file such a demurrer generally will not support a finding of

ineffective assistance of counsel.” Washington v. State, 298 Ga. App. 105, 106 (679

SE2d 111) (2009).

Here, the indictment gave a range of dates that properly advised Conley of the

charges and gave him the opportunity to prepare a defense to those charges. Since

Conley did not assert the defense of alibi, the specificity of dates would not have been

helpful. See Stanford v. State, 288 Ga. App. 463, 467 (1) (d) (654 SE2d 173) (2007).

Accordingly, trial counsel did not err in failing to request a special demurrer under

the circumstances. See id. See also Chapman v. State, 318 Ga. App. 514, 517 (1) (a)

13 (733 SE2d 848) (2012) (no prejudice resulting from trial counsel’s failure to file a

special demurrer where defendant failed to establish that the alleged lack of

specificity in the indictment affected his defense). Since Conley has failed to establish

that trial counsel was ineffective, the trial court did not err in denying his motion for

new trial.

Judgment affirmed. Doyle, P. J., and Dillard, J., concur.