Charles v. People

60 V.I. 823, 2014 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 33
CourtSupreme Court of The Virgin Islands
DecidedJune 20, 2014
DocketS. Ct. Criminal No. 2013-0071
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 60 V.I. 823 (Charles v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Charles v. People, 60 V.I. 823, 2014 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 33 (virginislands 2014).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

(June 20, 2014)

Hodge, Chief Justice.

Appellant Gibson Charles appeals the Superior Court’s September 17, 2013 Judgment and Commitment, which adjud[828]*828icated him guilty of several crimes including aggravated rape in the first degree, aggravated rape in the second degree, unlawful sexual contact in the first degree, and child abuse in the first degree. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the Superior Court’s Judgment and Commitment as to all of Charles’s convictions. But we also remand for clarification on issues involving the sentence imposed in this case, including resentencing in conformity with 14 V.I.C. § 104.

I. STATEMENT OF RELEVANT FACTS AND PROCEDURAL POSTURE

Charles resided with his girlfriend, Rosa Mendez, and six children in Paradise Mills apartments located in Fredriksted, St. Croix, starting in 1997 until May 2005. In April 2005, Vincent Liger, employed with the Office of Intake and Emergency Services of the Department of Human Services, received a referral that Mendez’s boyfriend was sexually and physically abusing several minor children in the home. Liger conducted an investigation regarding two minor girls residing with Charles and Mendez: X.P., the daughter of Mendez, and A.C., the daughter of Charles. As a result of his investigation, Liger suspected that both girls were being sexually abused and recommended that X.P. and A.C. be removed from the home and be examined by a physician. The physician examinations revealed evidence of sexual activity in both X.P. and A.C. Liger reported the matter to the police who conducted their own investigation, and concluded that both minor girls had been regularly sexually and physically abused by Charles over a six-year period. Charles was subsequently arrested and charged with twelve crimes.2

Trial began on July 10, 2007. The People’s first witness was Miriam Harris, a neighbor of Charles and Mendez in Paradise Mills who testified that she had seen X.P. sit inappropriately on Charles’s lap outside, in their shared back yard. Harris further testified that when X.P. got off his lap, Charles was clearly aroused with his pants unzipped, exposing his erect [829]*829penis. She also testified to hearing sounds of child abuse emanating from Charles’s apartment and subsequently seeing X.P. with a black eye. Next, the People called another neighbor of Charles and Mendez, Donna Webb, who also testified to seeing X.P. sit on Charles’s lap inappropriately. She described witnessing, outside their apartment, Charles touch X.P.’s breasts and buttocks “as [her] boyfriend would touch [her].” (J.A. 222.)

The People then called X.P.’s brother, who also lived with Charles and X.P. in Paradise Mills. He testified that Charles frequently called X.P. into a bedroom and locked the door. Upon leaving the bedroom, both X.P. and Charles were always sweaty. Charles would explain that X.P. was cleaning the bedroom, however X.P.’s brother found this suspicious because the bedroom was never clean after these instances. X.P.’s brother also testified to seeing Charles “feel [X.P.] up” and kiss her neck while X.P. sat on his lap. (J.A. 238.)

X.P. also testified. In her testimony, X.P. confirmed that she had lived with Charles in the Paradise Mills apartment since she was three years old and that Charles was her mother’s boyfriend. X.P. testified that she was molested by Charles starting at the age of five. She described that she was first raped by Charles in 1999, when she was nine years old, the same year she first began menstruating. X.P. explained that Charles called her into his room, locked the door, and told her that since she had her period “[her] hole ha[d] to be opened.” (J.A. 262.) Charles then pinned her down to the bed, forcibly undressed her, forced her legs open, put pillows over her face to deafen her screams, and raped her. X.P. maintained that Charles continued to rape her every day until she was fifteen. The sexual activity would normally occur in Charles’s bedroom when Mendez was at work.

X.P. also testified that Charles touched her private areas outside where neighbors could see. In addition, X.P. testified that Charles beat her on numerous occasions with a gun and various other household objects. On one such occasion, after Charles had heard she had a boyfriend at school, he beat X.P. so severely that her face became swollen to such an extent that she could not smile for a month. Additionally, X.P. testified to becoming pregnant as a result of being raped by Charles. X.P. stated that Charles was the one who impregnated her, since she had not engaged in sexual intercourse with anyone else during that time. She further stated at trial that after she told Charles she was pregnant he forced her to drink different concoctions he created, in an effort to terminate the pregnancy, which caused her to vomit. When these efforts did not work, Charles [830]*830took X.P. to a physician to get an abortion. As this required the approval of X.P.’s mother, Charles told Mendez that a boy at X.P.’s school was responsible for the pregnancy. It was later established through testimony from Mendez and the doctor who performed her abortion, that the abortion occurred in February 2004, when X.P. was thirteen. Lastly, X.P. testified that the final time Charles raped her was May 1, 2007, because she was removed from the home by Human Services two days later on May 3, 2007. X.P. admitted to not telling anyone about Charles’s actions for such a long period of time because he threatened to kill her mother and siblings if she spoke about it.

A.C., who at the time of trial was sixteen years old, also testified. A.C. stated that she first began living with Charles and Mendez when she was nine years old. A.C. testified that Charles raped her for the first time when she was nine and continued to rape her until she was fourteen. While describing the first time she was raped, A.C. testified that “sperm-like, sticky, white stuff” came out of Charles’s penis and that he told her to take a shower afterwards. (J.A. 494.) She maintained that Charles frequently put his penis in her mouth and anus. A.C. also testified that Charles touched her private parts “like he would touch his wife.” (J.A. 503.) A.C. further asserted that she was beaten, along with all the children, by Charles. When asked, A.C. testified that she did not tell anyone about these occurrences because Charles threatened to kill her and others if she told anyone.

Dr. Norman Torres and Dr. Michelle Berkley also testified at the trial. Dr. Torres, a gynecologist, examined A.C. from a referral by the Department of Human Services in June 2005. As a result of his examination, Dr. Torres concluded that A.C. had been sexually abused. Dr. Berkley, also a gynecologist, examined X.P. in May 2005 as a result of a referral from the Department of Health. Based on X.P.’s physical exam, Dr. Berkley concluded that X.P. was not a virgin. X.P. originally explained to Dr. Berkley that she had taken a beer bottle and put it in her vagina. Dr. Berkley, not believing this explanation, further questioned X.P. and X.P. eventually admitted that she was raped by Charles.

The trial lasted six days, and at its conclusion the jury found Charles guilty on all counts except for assault in the third degree. Charles filed a Motion for Judgment of Acquittal and a Motion for a New Trial that were both denied in an Opinion dated July 10, 2013. In its September 17, 2013 [831]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
60 V.I. 823, 2014 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 33, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/charles-v-people-virginislands-2014.