Donihoo v. State

931 S.W.2d 69, 325 Ark. 483, 1996 Ark. LEXIS 453
Supreme Court of Arkansas·Decided September 16, 1996·No. CR 95-1194·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

ROBERT L. Brown, Justice.

Appellant Larry C. Donihoo was convicted of multiple counts of statutory rape and violation of a minor in the first degree and sentenced to 90 years in prison. He appeals, urging that the trial court erred in refusing to sever the counts, in allowing photographs and a videotape of sex acts into evidence, in allowing a state witness to testify about matters which surprised him, and in permitting references to parole eligibility by the State in closing argument. The points on appeal are without merit, and we affirm.

The State presented the following evidence at trial. Christina Ward, the victim, testified that she was born on July 6, 1977, and that Donihoo moved in with her and her mother, Jacque Ward, when Christina was three. She testified that Donihoo acted like a father towards her, but that he made her perform oral sex and have sexual intercourse with him after the family moved to East 48th Street in Texarkana in 1989, when she was about 13. She estimated that this happened sometimes two to three times a week while her mother and brother were at work. She testified that she did not tell her mother at the time because Donihoo told her that he would kill her if she told anyone. Christina testified that before the family moved to East 48th Street, Donihoo would fondle her and that these early occurrences began when she was three.

Christina also identified herself and Donihoo in certain Polaroid photographs admitted into evidence. She stated that Donihoo began to take photographs of them on East 48th Street, and she added that four photographs entered into evidence, two of which depicted sexual acts and two of which show Christina posing naked, were taken before her 14th birthday on July 6, 1991. The State introduced other photographs of Donihoo and Christina engaged in sexual intercourse, and Christina testified that these pictures were also taken before her 14th birthday.

Donihoo, according to Christina, engaged in sexual activity with her on her 14th birthday, when her mother and brother left to go get her birthday present. She testified that after she turned 14 the family moved to Crosby, Texas, then to Georgia, and finally back to Texarkana in 1993. They rented a house from John Yarberry on Highway 71 South, and Donihoo had continual sexual relations with her at that location while her mother was at work.

Christina also described how Donihoo used a video camera to record his sexual activities with her, which included tying her to a bed and having sexual intercourse with her. Christina stated that she did not want to do any of the acts depicted on the tape and objected to them. She testified that she was at least 16 when the tape was made.

On cross-examination, counsel for Donihoo introduced 27 Polaroid photographs- depicting sexual conduct between the pair or nudity or various stages of undress and asked Christina specific questions about how old she was when the pictures were taken. She answered that all of the pictures taken on East 48th Street were taken before her 14th birthday. Defense counsel further cross-examined Christina on whether she consented and was a willing partner in the sexual conduct with her stepfather.

At trial, Jacque Ward, the victim’s mother, confirmed the moves of the family and the years that they took place. She testified that she returned home from work on or about February 8, 1994, and Christina told her about her sexual activity with Donihoo and that she was pregnant. Ward testified that when she heard that, she immediately called Donihoo who was working in Zachary, Louisiana. She told him that Christina was pregnant, and she asked if he was the father. Donihoo admitted that he was. Two days later, medical tests confirmed that Christina was eight-and-a-half weeks pregnant with twins. The pregnancy was aborted.

Ward testified that on the day after she learned about Donihoo’s relationship with her daughter, she went to the Miller County Sheriff’s Department with the polaroid photographs and the videotape depicting sexual activities between Christina and Donihoo. Ms. Ward also confirmed which photographs were taken at the East 48th Street address and that the videotape was made at the leased residence on Highway 71 South.

The State called Edward Dacey, a senior product engineer with Polaroid Corporation, to testify about when the polaroid film used in the photographs was manufactured. Based on the code on the back of the film, he was able to determine the approximate date. He testified that the film had a 12-month product life, which provided a time frame within which the photographs were taken. Thirty-five photographs were made in either September or October of 1990 when Christina was 13.

Donihoo took the stand in his own defense. He admitted sexual conduct with Christina but testified that it began only after she turned 14. He also admitted taking all the photographs but one and paying Christina for sexual favors.

The jury found Donihoo guilty on four counts of statutory rape (Ark. Code Ann. § 5-14-103(a)(3) (Repl. 1993)), and three counts of violation of a minor in the first degree (Ark. Code Ann. § 5-14-120 (Repl. 1993)). The jury deadlocked on three charges of forcible rape, and a mistrial was declared on those charges. The jury assessed 40 years imprisonment on each of the statutory rape counts and ten years on each charge of violating a minor. The trial court ran part of the statutory rape sentences consecutively which resulted in a total prison term of 90 years.

I. Severance

Donihoo primarily contends in his first point that the Rape Shield Statute was improperly applied in a trial for both statutory rape and violation of a minor because the statute is not applicable to a charge of violating a minor. See Ark. Code Ann. § 16-42-101 (b) (Repl. 1994). Thus, he asserts, severance should have been granted to enable him to introduce Christina’s prior sexual conduct for purposes of the violation-of-a-minor charges. He was prejudiced, he argues, by not being able to do so because that evidence would have confirmed that Christina consented to the sexual activity and that he in no way forced or compelled her to engage in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual activity. The. State counters that Donihoo is foreclosed from mounting the severance issue as it relates to the Rape Shield Statute because no motion to sever raising this precise argument was abstracted.

A general motion to sever, however, was abstracted, and that motion states that severance “is necessary and appropriate for a fair determination of the Defendant’s innocence of each offense.” Donihoo’s counsel later raised the Rape Shield argument during trial in connection with the violation-of-a-minor charges when he was foreclosed from presenting proof of other sexual conduct, and that argument is referred to in the abstract of trial testimony. The trial court noted that it had withheld ruling on the matter until it heard the evidence. The Rape Shield argument relating to the severance motion is also contained in the abstract of Donihoo’s motion for a new trial. We conclude that the abstract is not flagrandy deficient, and we will address the issue.

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Donihoo v. State, 931 S.W.2d 69, 325 Ark. 483, 1996 Ark. LEXIS 453 (Ark. 1996).

931 S.W.2d 69 (Donihoo v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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