Curtis Nathaniel Bullman v. State

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided April 13, 2016·No. 09-14-00196-CR·Published

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

NO. 09-14-00196-CR

CURTIS NATHANIEL BULLMAN, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 128th District Court Orange County, Texas

Trial Cause No. A-130,595-R

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In four issues, appellant, Curtis Nathaniel Bullman, challenges his conviction for continuous sexual abuse of a young child. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 21.02 (West Supp. 2015). 1 Bullman contends the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the following: (1) the testimony of an outcry witness; (2) evidence of

1 Although the Legislature amended section 21.02 of the Texas Penal Code after the commission of the alleged offense, we cite to the current version of the statute because the subsequent amendments do not affect the outcome of this appeal.

Bullman’s extraneous offenses; (3) Facebook records; and (4) telephone recordings and transcripts. Because we overrule all of Bullman’s issues on appeal, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

I. Background

The State indicted Bullman for continuous sexual abuse of a child. The State alleged that “from on or about June 3, 2011 through March 5, 2012” Bullman committed two or more acts of sexual abuse against E.D. 2, a child younger than fourteen years of age. The State specifically alleged that Bullman committed aggravated sexual assault against E.D. on or about June 3, 2011, November 1, 2011, and March 5, 2012.

Bullman pled not guilty to the charges against him and elected a trial by jury. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found Bullman guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a young child and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Bullman filed a timely notice of appeal.

II. Outcry Testimony

In his first issue, Bullman contends that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting testimony from E.D.’s mother (the “Mother”) regarding E.D.’s outcry

statement under article 38.072 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. See 2 To protect the victim’s identity, we use an alias. See McClendon v. State, 643 S.W.2d 936, 936 n.1 (Tex. Crim. App. [Panel Op.] 1982).

generally Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 38.072 (West Supp. 2015).3 The trial court has broad discretion to determine whether a child’s hearsay statement is admissible under article 38.072. Reed v. State, 974 S.W.2d 838, 841 (Tex. App.— San Antonio 1998, pet. ref’d). We will not disturb the trial court’s ruling unless the record shows a clear abuse of discretion. Id. A. Untimely Notice Bullman first argues that the Mother’s outcry statement testimony was inadmissible because the State did not provide fourteen days’ notice as required by section 2(b)(1) of article 38.072. See generally Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 38.072 § 2(b)(1).

Hearsay statements are not admissible unless otherwise provided by the rules of evidence or by statute. Tex. R. Evid. 802. Article 38.072 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure creates a statutory exception to the rule against hearsay for statements of child-abuse victims when certain conditions are met. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 38.072. The exception provides that in sexual offense cases committed against a child, a statement that was made by the child to

3 The Legislature amended article 38.072 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure after the commission of the alleged offense; however, we cite to the current version of the statute because the subsequent amendments do not affect the outcome of this appeal.

the first adult about the offense will not be inadmissible because of the hearsay rule. Id. art. 38.072, § 2(a), (b). However, for this hearsay exception to apply, the State must notify the defendant of its intention to offer such statement on or before the fourteenth day before trial begins. Id. art. 38.072, § 2(b)(1)(A). “The purpose of the notice requirement is to prevent the defendant from being surprised by the introduction of the outcry-hearsay testimony.” Gay v. State, 981 S.W.2d 864, 866 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1998, pet. ref’d); see also Fetterolf v. State, 782 S.W.2d 927, 930 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1989, pet. ref’d).

Bullman contends—and the State concedes—that the State did not provide fourteen days’ written notice of its intent to call an outcry witness. The State filed its notice of intent to introduce the hearsay statement of a child abuse victim on March 27, 2014, the eleventh day before trial began. Bullman argues that the State’s noncompliance with the notice provision should have prevented the State from using the article 38.072 hearsay exception. However, when notice is untimely, the admission of outcry testimony is harmless error if the defendant had actual notice of the identity of the outcry witness, the complainant testified and was subject to cross-examination, and the defendant did not show that the untimely notice impeded his defense. See Fetterolf, 782 S.W.2d at 930; see also Upton v. State, 894 S.W.2d 426, 429 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 1995, pet. ref’d) (holding

untimely notice was harmless error when appellant admitted he reviewed the State’s file and learned the identity of two potential outcry witnesses, when appellant did not establish how his defense was impeded by the untimely notice, and when the complainant appeared as a witness, provided comparable testimony to the outcry witness, and was subjected to cross-examination).

During the article 38.072 hearing, the State argued it had an open file policy and that defense counsel had had an opportunity to review everything in the State’s file, including the Mother’s statement. Additionally, the prosecutor for the State informed the trial court that sometime before he filed the written notice, he had spoken with defense counsel and verbally informed her that the State was going to call the Mother as an outcry witness.

Bullman does not contest these facts, and defense counsel admitted at the hearing that she had reviewed the State’s file. Moreover, fourteen days before trial, defense counsel filed a motion wherein she stated that she had reason to believe that the State planned to present the testimony of an outcry witness at trial. Twelve days before trial, during the pretrial motions hearing, defense counsel stated on the record that the State’s intention to call an outcry witness to introduce E.D.’s outcry statement “should not be an issue[.]” After defense counsel made the statement, the trial court noted that it did not have the State’s notice in the file. The State

responded that it thought it had already given notice but would file its notice that day.

At the article 38.072 hearing, the trial court asked defense counsel if she was surprised that the outcry witness was going to testify. Defense counsel responded that she was not surprised by the content of the outcry witness’s statement, but she was surprised that the State actually planned to call the witness to testify because she had not received formal notice of the State’s intent to call the witness. When asked if she would have changed her trial strategy had she received the notice a few days before, defense counsel responded that she “may” have changed her trial strategy.

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