D.L.R. v. State

188 So. 3d 720, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 64, 2015 WL 4876364
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedAugust 14, 2015
DocketCR-13-1530
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 188 So. 3d 720 (D.L.R. v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D.L.R. v. State, 188 So. 3d 720, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 64, 2015 WL 4876364 (Ala. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

BURKE, Judge.

D.L.R. appeals his conviction for sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old, see § 13A-6-69.1, Ala.Code 1975.1 D.L.R. was sentenced to 15 years in prison and was fined $3,500. D.L.R, was also ordered to .pay court costs and to pay $150 to the Alabama Crime . Victims Compensation Fund.

Facts

This case was tried in May 2014. At trial, the State’s. evidence indicated the following. At the time of trial, the victim, K.R., whose birthday is September 11, was seven years old. D.L.R. is K.R.’s biological father. At the time of trial, D.L.R. was 29 years old. Initially, K.R. testified that D.L.R. “did bad stuff to [her].” (R. 11.) However, K.R. testified that she could not state what her father had done and that she did not want to talk about it. K.R. further testified that nobody told her that her father had done bad stuff to her; however, K.R. testified that her paternal grandmother told her that her father had not done anything bad to her.

Allison Mills, who was employed as a teacher at Dimples Daycare facility, testified that in November 2010, K.R. was a four-year-old student in Mills’s class. On November 10,2010, KR.’s mother and maternal grandmother informed Mills that K.R. wanted to tell Mills something. According to Mills, K.R. told her that her father had hurt her. Specifically, K.R. stated that her father “put his butt on her face.” (R. 49.) K.R. also stated that she wanted to draw a picture for Mills. Mills further testified:

“So, we got out a piece of paper and her pencil and she started drawing pictures. The pictures that she drew looked to be a man’s penis that she had drawn. She also drew what looked to me to be a butt. Then, she drew a circle and explained to me what these pictures were.
[723]*723“She said that — she would point to what looked like the man’s penis, and she would say, ‘My Bubba has one of these just like my daddy. My daddy and my Bubba have one, but little girls, we don’t have this,’
“And I said, ‘That is right.’ She said, ‘My daddy would take his and put it in my mouth,’ and' she would point to the circle, saying that was her mouth. Then, she also pointed to the picture of the butt and she said that he put that on her face.”

(R. 49-50.) The drawings were admitted into evidence. Mills testified that K.R. told her that the drawing that looked like a penis was “her daddy’s private parts.” (R. 58.)

After Mills testified, K.R. was again called to testify. On direct examination, K.R. stated that she did not remember making the statements to Mills concerning the alleged abuse by her father and that she did not remember drawing the pictures that were admitted into evidence during Mills’s testimony. K.R. also stated that she did not remember whether her father “put his private part in [her] mouth.” (R. 60.) K.R. further testified that she did not remember whether her father “put his butt on her head.” (R. 61.) Also, K.R. was asked what she remembered about her father, and she responded: “Nothing.” (R. 61.) However, when the prosecutor asked K.R., “Did your daddy do what Mrs. Allison said you told her?,” K.R. responded, “Yes.” (R. 60.)

On cross-examination, K.R. again stated that she did not remember drawing the pictures for Mills and that she did not remember talking to Mills about the alleged abuse. K.R. also stated that she did not remember talking to her mother or maternal grandmother about the alleged abuse. When asked whether her father “ever hurt her,” K.R. nodded. . (R. 63.) However, when asked to state what her father did to hurt her, K.R. responded that she did not know and that she did not remember. K.R. also indicated that she talked to her maternal grandmother about testifying and that her grandmother told her to say that D.L.R. hurt her.

On redirect examination, the following exchange occurred:

“[Prosecutor]: What did your Maw-Maw [maternal grandmother] tell you, [K.R.]?
“[K.R.]: She just told me that I had to say what he did.
“[Prosecutor]: She told you that you had to say what he did?
“[K.R.]: I don’t remember.
“[Prosecutor]: Okay. Did she tell you — did Maw-Maw tell you what he did?
“[K.R.]: No.
“[Prosecutor]: Okay. Did she tell you some things that you should say that .he did? Like, did she tell you to say that he did this? -
“[K.R.]: No.
“[Prosecutor]: But she told you to say what he did?
“[K.R.]: (Witness nods.)”

(R. 64.)

On re-cross-examination, defense counsel asked:- “Did your Maw-Maw tell you that you had to say that your dad hurted you?” K.R. responded: “Yes.” (R. 64-65.)

On further redirect examination, the following exchange occurred: ■

“[Prosecutor]: Did' she tell you why you had to say that your dad hurted you?
“[K.R.]: No,
“[Prosecutor]: And she didn’t tell you what to say about it?
[724]*724“[K.R.]: (Witness nods.)”

(R. 65.)

M.S., K.R.’s maternal grandmother, had custody of K.R. at the time of trial; K.R. has lived with M.S. since November 10, 2010. M.S. testified that, on November 9, 2010, she picked up K.R. and her little brother from the day-care facility. On that occasion, K.R. was upset and told M.S. that “daddy hurted me.” (R. 72.) On November 10, 2010, M.S. took K.R. to the day-care facility and informed K.R.’s teacher that K.R. was upset. Shortly after leaving K.R. at the day-care facility, M.S. picked up K.R.’s mother, and they went to the Department of Human Resources (“DHR”). M.S. testified that, for five or six months after K.R. started living at M.S.’s house,

“[K.R.] was distraught. She cried a lot. We spent most of our nights in a recliner because she constantly cried because she kept telling me how daddy hurted her. I told her, T don’t know why.’ You know, I don’t have the answers, so we would sit in the rocking chair every night and we rocked and we rocked. That is — that went on for a long, long time.”

(R. 75.) M.S. further testified that, after that five- or six-month period, K.R. stated on one occasion: “My daddy carried me to Wal-Mart and he carried me to the Dream Park and he said that he’d never do it again.” (R. 76.) According to M.S., other than that statement, she never discussed the alleged abuse with K.R. again.

Melissa Robbins testified that in 2010 she owned Dimples Daycare. On November 10, 2010, K.R. told Robbins that D.L.R. “put his private part on [KR.’s] face and that he had put his butt on her face.” (R. 94-95.) Robbins also testified concerning the pictures K.R. had drawn for Mills. According to Robbins, K.R. stated that she had drawn her father’s “butt” and his “private parts” in those pictures. Robbins further testified that K.R. drew another picture in Robbins’s office. That picture was also admitted into evidence. According to Robbins, K.R. stated that that picture was her father’s “private parts” and “his butt that he put on her.” (R. 99.) Immediately after Robbins had this conversation with K.R., Robbins telephoned DHR.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
188 So. 3d 720, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 64, 2015 WL 4876364, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dlr-v-state-alacrimapp-2015.