Belcher v. State

474 S.W.3d 840, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 9352, 2015 WL 5139309
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 2, 2015
DocketNO. 12-14-00115-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by102 cases

This text of 474 S.W.3d 840 (Belcher v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Belcher v. State, 474 S.W.3d 840, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 9352, 2015 WL 5139309 (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

BILL BASS, justice

Appellant, .Jason Wayne Belcher, appeals his conviction of the offense of aggravated assault of a child, enhanced by a prior conviction for the same type , of conduct. Appellant raises three issues on appeal. We .affirm..

Background

■ Appellant was accused of putting his finger inside the female sex organ of H.C., a child, on or about January 17, 2012. At trial, H.C. testified that ■ Appellant had done this on two occasions.

In February 2014, two months before trial, Appellant’s daughter S. told her second grade teacher, Alicia Collier, that her father had been doing “sex things” with her. S. was taken to the Northeast Texas Child Advocacy Center where she was interviewed by Mary Spurlin. S. told Mary Spurlin that Appellant had anal and vaginal intercourse with her starting when she was four years of age and 'ending around Christmas 2013 when she was eight. S. also told Spurlin that Appellant had sexually abused her younger sister, R., who is severely disabled and cannot communicate verbally.

Immediately prior to trial, the trial court conducted a hearing out of the presence of the jury to determiné if the evidénce of the extraneous sexual offenses alleged to have been committed by Appellant against' children would support a jury finding that Appellant committed the offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. At the hearing, the court also heard Appellant’s objection to the admission 'of that evidence. Appellant argued the evidence should be excluded, because (1) the extraneous offense evidence was irrelevant except to show his propensity to commit sex crimes against children, (2) its probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, and (3) the admission of the evidence under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 38.37, Section 2(b) denied him due process of law. The trial court found the evidence sufficient for admission, and overruled Appellant’s objections.

' S. did not testify at trial. However, both Collier and Spurlin told the jury what S. had told them. Other evidence showed Appellant had a prior conviction for aggravated sexual of a child in another county.

Due Process

In his first issue, Appellant contends the trial court’s admission into evidence at the guilt-innocence stage of the trial of three extraneous sex offenses against children other than the complainant deprived him of due process of law. Therefore, he contends that Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 38.37, Section 2(b), under which the evidence was admitted, is unconstitutional.

Standard of Review and Applicable Law

In reviewing the constitutionality of a statute, we must presume that the statute is valid and that the legislature did not act unreasonably or arbitrarily in enacting it. Ex parte Granviel, 561 S.W.2d 503, 511 (Tex.Crim.App.1978). The person challenging the statute must show that the statute is unconstitutional. Id. .

“The Due Process Clause protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged.” In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, [844]*8441073, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970); Fisher v. State, 887 S.W.2d 49, 52 (Tex.Crim.App.1994), “The .essential guarantee of the Due Process Clause is- that the government may not imprison, or otherwise physically restrain a person except in • accordance with fair procedures.” Long v. State, 742 S.W.2d 302, 320 (Tex.Crim.App.1987), overruled on other grounds, Briggs v. State, 789 S.W.2d 918 (Tex.Crim.App.1990).

To establish a due process violation, it is the appellant’s burden to show that, the challenged statute or rule violates those “fundamental conceptions of justice which lie at the base of our civil and political institutions and which define the community’s sense of fair play and decency.” Dowling v. United States, 493 U.S. 342, 352-53, 110 S.Ct. 668, 674, 107 L.Ed.2d 708 (1990); United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 790, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 2049, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977) (citations omitted).

Effective September 1, 2013, the legislature amended Article 38.37 of the code of criminal procedure. Act of June 14, 2013, 83rd Leg., ch. 387, § 3, Tex. Session Law Serv. 1168, 1168-69 (current version at Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann art. 38.37 (West Supp.2014)). Section 2(b) now provides that in a trial of a defendant for the enumerated sexual crimes against children, evidence that the defendant has committed certain offenses against a nonvictim of the charged offense is admissible for anybear-ing it may have on relevant matters, including the character of the defendant and acts performed in ' conformity with the character of the defendant, Tex, Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 38.37 § 2(b) (West Supp.2014).

Appellant’s Argument

Appellant argues that it has been a fundamental principle of our judicial • system that an accused person must be tried only for the offense charged and not for being a criminal or bad person generally. See Templin v. State, 711 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). “It is for this reason that Anglo-American jurisprudence has always shown a marked reluctance to admit evidence of extraneous offenses or prior misconduct.” Id. Such evidence has been considered admissible only if it is relevant to proving an issue, such as motive, intent, identity, or malice. Id. Appellant argues that the evidence of the three extraneous offenses admitted' under Article 38.37, Section 2(b) was relevant only to show the jury that he had a disposition of character, or propensity to sexually abuse children. The admission of the evidence of offenses relevant only to showing his propensity to commit such crimes, he insists, denied him a fair opportunity to . defend against the particular charge against him. He argues that the admission of the evidence of the prior offenses was so prejudicial as to violate his constitutional right to due process.

History of Propensity Evidence

The ban against propensity evidence in our. jurisprudence is over three hundred years old dating back to seventeenth century cases. See United States v. Castillo, 140 F.3d 874, 881 (10th Cir.1998) (eiting Hampden’s Trial, 9 How. St. Tr. 1053, 1103 (K.B.1684)). The ban therefore would appear to have the historical pedigree essential for constitutional standing. However, “[tjhat the practice is ancient does not mean that it is embodied in the Constitution.” United States v. Enjady, 134 F.3d 1427, 1432 (10th Cir.1998).

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Bluebook (online)
474 S.W.3d 840, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 9352, 2015 WL 5139309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/belcher-v-state-texapp-2015.