Ernest Edward Brummett v. Commonwealth

Court of Appeals of Virginia·Decided January 11, 1996·No. 0485943·Unpublished

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA

Present: Chief Judge Moon, Judges Benton and Coleman Argued at Salem, Virginia

ERNEST EDWARD BRUMMETT

v. Record No. 0485-94-3 MEMORANDUM OPINION BY JUDGE SAM W. COLEMAN III COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA JANUARY 11, 1996

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF DANVILLE James F. Ingram, Judge Glenn L. Berger (Shreve & Berger, on brief), for appellant.

Robert B. Beasley, Jr., Assistant Attorney General (James S. Gilmore, III, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Ernest Edward Brummett appeals his convictions on two

charges of forcible sodomy, one charge of inanimate sexual

penetration, and two charges of aggravated sexual battery. The

charges were based on allegations of numerous sexual acts

committed against W and K, two eleven-year-old girls.

The defendant contends that the trial court erred by

refusing to sustain his pretrial motion that the Commonwealth

disclose copies of the victim's statements to the police,

refusing to admit forensic evidence showing that semen found on a

bedspread was not from him, refusing to admit the full transcript

of his statement to the police to rebut the Commonwealth's use of

part of the statement, and admitting a drawing W made of a

vibrator. We hold that the trial court erred by not requiring

the Commonwealth to provide the defendant with W's statements to the police, and by not admitting the forensic evidence which

proved that the semen was not from him. The errors were not

harmless. Accordingly, we reverse the defendant's convictions

and remand for such further proceedings as the Commonwealth may

be advised. I. Pretrial Discovery

The defendant filed a pretrial discovery motion requesting

copies of three statements W gave police and one statement K gave

police. The Commonwealth's attorney provided the defendant a

summary of "favorable evidence and statements," which was a

summary of the girls' statements, but did not allow the defendant

to examine the victim's verbatim statements. After reviewing

transcripts of the verbatim statements in camera, the trial court

ruled that the statements were not exculpatory and overruled the

defendant's motion to obtain the statements. II. Facts

The Commonwealth relied on the testimony of W and K to prove

the charges. No medical or other physical evidence corroborated

the victims' testimony.

W's mother worked for the defendant for nine months

beginning in March of 1987. She left her job with the defendant

around December 1988 or January 1989, but in March 1988 the

defendant had agreed to help her care for W. From March 1988

until June 30, 1993, W regularly stayed with the defendant after

school while her mother was at work, during which time she spent

-2- several nights at the defendant's home.

W testified that beginning shortly before her sixth birthday

in 1987 and continuing until she filed a complaint on

July 1, 1993, the defendant committed numerous sexual assaults

against her. Prior to her sixth birthday, the defendant

attempted to "french kiss" her, and approximately two months

after that incident, he attempted to remove her pants. About

five months later, the defendant exposed his penis to W, removed

her pants, and rubbed her vagina with his fingers. The defendant

engaged in similar conduct "once or twice a week" thereafter.

Sometimes he touched her genitals or fondled her breasts. Other

times, he placed his penis on her genitals and ejaculated, or

placed "it up to [her] mouth." The defendant also tied "W" to a

chair with rope and placed his penis between her legs on several

occasions. W testified that the defendant never penetrated her

vagina with his penis. W further testified that when she was seven or eight years

old, the defendant began to place his penis in her mouth. Also,

when W was nine, the defendant began to lick her genitals, and

when she was ten, he placed a vibrator in her rectum and vagina.

In addition, the defendant showed W movies containing graphic

sexual material, and on one occasion, performed on W a sexual act

depicted in one of the movies.

On June 30, 1993, W and her friend K spent the night at the

defendant's house and swam in his pool. W testified that the

-3- defendant asked the girls if they wanted to go "skinny dipping"

with him, which they refused. When K went inside the house to

use the bathroom, the defendant grabbed W, removed her bathing

suit, and placed his penis between her legs. After K returned,

the girls swam for a few more minutes before leaving the pool. W

saw the defendant attempt to remove K's suit as he helped her get

out of the pool.

Later that evening, W and K were in the defendant's living

room. W was lying on a mattress on the floor and K was lying on

a couch. W testified that the defendant came into the room and

that she heard him whispering to K. The defendant then

approached W and touched her breasts and genitals as she lay

under some covers on the mattress. W kicked the defendant and he

went back to K, where he whispered in K's ear and pulled his

pants down, exposing his penis to K. K kicked the defendant, but

he was able to remove her pants. Although W did not see anything

else, she "heard somethin[g] tear," and heard the defendant tell

K, "you know you want it." The defendant came back to W and

"tried to mess with [her]" again, but she kicked him and he left

the room. After the defendant left, the girls went outside and K told

W that the defendant "had been messing with her . . . all the

times that [she had visited his house]." The girls decided to

run away and went inside the house to gather some items. They

walked to K's babysitter's house and called K's parents.

-4- In the course of her testimony, W stated that on several

occasions, W and K had showered at the defendant's house and that

he had reached into the shower and touched their private parts.

She also claimed that she witnessed the defendant attempt to

place his penis between K's legs on one occasion.

K testified that she began visiting W at the defendant's

home in the spring of 1993. She claimed that the defendant

touched her and W on the chest and between their legs while they

showered, that he touched their private parts while they swam in

the pool, and that he showed them "dirty movies." K also

testified that on June 30, 1993, the defendant grabbed her

between the legs while she was in the pool. Later that night, he

attempted to remove her shorts while she lay on the couch in his

living room, and as a result he ripped her underwear. He also

asked her if he could "put [his] `thing' in [her]." The defendant denied all the allegations. He offered the

testimony of two forensic experts who testified to the lack of

physical evidence supporting the allegations. In addition, he

offered the testimony of two of W's teachers, who stated that

they had not observed any problems with W and that she appeared

to have a normal relationship with the defendant. One of the

teachers testified that she had visited the defendant and W at

the defendant's home and had not noticed any problems between the

defendant and W.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Ernest Edward Brummett v. Commonwealth, (Va. Ct. App. 1996).

Ernest Edward Brummett v. Commonwealth (Ernest Edward Brummett v. Commonwealth) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Napue v. Illinois
360 U.S. 264 (Supreme Court, 1959)
Brady v. Maryland
373 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1963)
United States v. Bagley
473 U.S. 667 (Supreme Court, 1985)
State v. Benn
845 P.2d 289 (Washington Supreme Court, 1993)
Foley v. Commonwealth
384 S.E.2d 813 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1989)
King v. Commonwealth
441 S.E.2d 704 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1994)
Robinson v. Commonwealth
341 S.E.2d 159 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1986)
MacKenzie v. Commonwealth
380 S.E.2d 173 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1989)
Keener v. Commonwealth
380 S.E.2d 21 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1989)
Burrows v. Commonwealth
438 S.E.2d 300 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1993)
Bowman v. Commonwealth
445 S.E.2d 110 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1994)
Cherricks v. Commonwealth
396 S.E.2d 397 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1990)
Humes v. Commonwealth
408 S.E.2d 553 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1991)
Stotler v. Commonwealth
346 S.E.2d 39 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1986)
Speller v. Commonwealth
345 S.E.2d 542 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1986)
Cash v. Commonwealth
364 S.E.2d 769 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1988)
White v. Commonwealth
410 S.E.2d 412 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1991)
Williams v. State
544 So. 2d 782 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1989)
Brooks v. United States
516 A.2d 913 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1986)
State v. Marshall
586 A.2d 85 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1991)