Farris v. State

643 S.W.2d 694, 1982 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1093
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 27, 1982
Docket62463, 62464
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 643 S.W.2d 694 (Farris v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Farris v. State, 643 S.W.2d 694, 1982 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1093 (Tex. 1982).

Opinion

OPINION

TOM G. DAVIS, Judge.

Appeal is taken from two convictions for sexual abuse of a child. After the jury found appellants guilty, it assessed punishment at ten years for David Farris and five years for Trisdee Farris.

Each appellant was convicted, under separate indictments, of sexually abusing the same complaining witness.

In his first ground of error, appellant David Farris complains that, “the verdict of the jury is not supported by the evidence.” Specifically, appellant asserts that there was no evidence the crime was committed, “without the consent of the Complainant,” as alleged in the indictment.

Though V.T.C.A. Penal Code, Sec. 21.10, does not require lack of consent on the complaining witness’ part, lack of consent was alleged in the indictment and included in the court’s charge to the jury. The State is bound by its allegations in the indictment and must prove them beyond a reasonable doubt. Moore v. State, 531 S.W.2d 140 (Tex.Cr.App.1976).

Appellant’s contention is without merit. The complaining witness, a six-year-old female, testified that appellant threatened her with a knife, before she took her clothes off, in an effort to get her to take off her clothes. The disrobing of the complainant and other children preceded the alleged acts of deviate sexual intercourse. The complainant testified to being scared of the knife. She was also wrapped in a blanket, shut in a closet, and stuck with pins. She testified that appellant “made” her and other children take their clothes off.

*696 K_ P — , a minor who was with the complainant at appellant’s house, testified that appellant threatened the children. He also threatened to kill their mothers and fathers if the children told about the activities going on inside the house. She stated that appellant would come and get the children and bring them to his house.

K_ R — , another neighborhood child who regularly went to appellant’s house, testified that appellant threatened the children and told them not to tell their parents about activities occurring in the house.

We find that the foregoing evidence was sufficient to show lack of consent to deviate sexual intercourse on the complaining witness’ part.

In appellant Trisdee Farris’ first ground of error and appellant David Farris’ second ground of error, complaint is made that the State was erroneously allowed to bolster the testimony of its own witnesses.

At trial, testimony was heard from four children ranging in age from five to nine. Two of the children were complainants and two had witnessed activities at the appellants’ house.

The State sought to prove that appellants engaged in various acts of deviate sexual intercourse (including fellatio and cunnilingus) with the complaining witnesses at the appellants’ home. There was evidence that the appellants took pictures of this activity.

As each child testified it became apparent that the alleged acts of sexual abuse involved many adults in several locations.

One or more of the child witnesses testified to the following facts: the appellants, “Jason,” “Scott,” “Reginald,” “Reggie,” and “Anne,” all engaged in deviate sexual intercourse with the complaining witness and other children and took pictures of the acts; the children were sometimes tied in a blanket, put in appellant David Farris’ car, and driven to meet with the other adults; one of these meetings, at which acts of deviate sexual intercourse took place, occurred on a Saturday afternoon in a back office of an automobile dealership; appellant David Farris, “Jason,” and “Scott,” took the children to various drugstores and grocery stores where the adults stole items from the stores and shot off guns or told the children they had shot off guns.

This testimony was elicited on cross-examination. It was not obtained through impeachment or attempts at impeachment. The cross-examination far from being vigorous in nature was extremely mild.

There was no surprise in this testimony or inconsistency with previous statements. The children involved had been interrogated by defense attorneys on November 20, 1978 and that is when the defense learned of the allegations involving other adults. Trial was held on December 11, 1978.

On rebuttal, the State called Dr. James P. Grigson, a psychiatrist, to the stand. Grig-son’s testimony, given over objection, was in pertinent part as follows:

“Q. Doctor, let me ask you in particular about the type of sexual fantasies that, say, the upper age of that group, say a nine-year-old would engage in?
“Q. Doctor, do they think or fantasize in terms of oral sodomy?
“A. A nine-year-old?
“Q. Yes, sir.
“A. Of course not.
“Q. Do they fantasize in these sexual fantasies of kissing a male on the penis or kissing a female in the genital area, the private sexual parts of a female?
“A. Are you talking about a child?
“Q. Yes, sir, a nine-year-old.
“A. No, no, absolutely not.
“Q. Doctor, would sado-masochistic sexual relationships enter into this type of behavior such as sticking a child with a pin to hear the child scream?
“A. Talking about a child having that sort of—
“Q. Would they fantasize in that respect?
*697 “A. Oh, absolutely not. That would— that would not in any way at all be any sort of — they wouldn’t even have that type of awareness from a sexual standpoint. That would only fall into the adult awareness.
“Q. You say the child would not fantasize in this sado-masochistic—
“A. No way, no, sir.
“Q. Doctor, would the sexual fantasy level of, again, a nine-year-old be compatible or consistent with, again, the sado-masochistic sexual relationship such as tying children up or wrapping them up in a blanket, putting them in a closet to hear them scream, things of that nature? Would they be sophisticated enough in their sexual development to fantasize in that form or fashion?
“A. ... No, it would in no way at all enter into a child’s concept or awareness or appreciation to be able to derive any type of sexual pleasure from any type of behavior such as that.
“Q. How about taking pictures?

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Bluebook (online)
643 S.W.2d 694, 1982 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1093, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/farris-v-state-texcrimapp-1982.