Frei v. State

934 So. 2d 318, 2006 WL 696666
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 21, 2006
Docket2004-KA-02323-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 934 So. 2d 318 (Frei v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frei v. State, 934 So. 2d 318, 2006 WL 696666 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

934 So.2d 318 (2006)

Donald Jean FREI, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2004-KA-02323-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 21, 2006.
Rehearing Denied July 25, 2006.

*321 John Carl Helmert, Jr., Clarksdale, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

KING, C.J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Donald Jean Frei was indicted for sexual battery in Lee County on February 10, 2004. He was tried before a jury beginning August 9, 2004, which resulted in a mistrial. Frei was tried again before a jury beginning on November 9, 2004, resulting in his conviction. Frei was sentenced by the Lee County Circuit Court to thirty years incarceration, ten years suspended, and five years post-release supervision. Aggrieved by the trial judge's decision, Frei asserts the following issues on appeal:

1. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY NOT STRIKING THE TESTIMONY OF C.D.F.;
2. TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING THE HEARSAY TESTIMONY OF HEATHER ROBERTSON AND MELISSA RATLIFF;
3. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING ADMISSION OF FREI'S CONFESSION INTO EVIDENCE;
4. THE JURY'S VERDICT WAS AGAINST THE WEIGHT AND SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE;
5. THE INDICTMENT WAS FATALLY DEFECTIVE.

Finding no error in the trial court's decision, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On September 21, 2003, C.D.F.[1], Frei's three-year-old female relative, was visiting with Frei's sister, Kristie Trimm, in Sulligent, Alabama. C.D.F. was still in diapers at the time. While cleaning C.D.F.'s bottom, Trimm noticed it was stretched and red. Trimm then reported her findings to the Lee County Sheriff's Department, and took C.D.F. to the hospital. Frei was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff's Department while at the hospital. While at the sheriff's department, Frei gave an oral confession that was transcribed by Terry Jones, an investigator with the Lee County Sheriff's Department. In his confession, Frei admitted to putting his penis in C.D.F's mouth while rubbing and inserting his finger in her rectum.

¶ 3. Following Frei's arrest, C.D.F. was interviewed by Melissa Ratliff, a forensic interviewer, and Heather Robertson, a social worker with the Department of Human Services (DHS). During these talks, C.D.F. stated that Frei inserted his "stinky finger" in her "coo coo" and "stuff," and performed other acts on her with her clothes off. C.D.F. also testified to these matters before the court.

¶ 4. Before Frei's first trial, the trial court held a pre-trial/suppression hearing on August 3 and 5, 2004. During that hearing, the judge decided to allow testimony from C.D.F., Ratliff, and Robertson, and to admit Frei's confession into evidence. It is upon this evidence that Frei was convicted and appeals.

DISCUSSION

1. The trial court erred by not striking the testimony of C.D.F. upon proper motion.

¶ 5. Frei claims that the testimony of C.D.F. should have been excluded because she did not meet the competency standard. The determination of whether a *322 child witness of tender years is competent to testify is a matter primarily left to the trial judge's discretion. Bosarge v. State, 786 So.2d 426, 430(¶ 5) (Miss.Ct.App.2001). When making this determination, a judge should determine if a child (1) has the ability to perceive and remember events, (2) understands and answers questions intelligently, and (3) comprehends and accepts the importance of truthfulness. Id. In order for a party to prevail in seeking to exclude a witness's testimony, that party must show that, at the time the court made its initial decision, it was apparent that the witness did not meet the criteria for testifying, not that the subsequent testimony was flawed, or that the initial determination was possibly erroneous. Williams v. State, 859 So.2d 1046, 1049(¶ 14) (Miss.Ct.App.2003).

¶ 6. C.D.F. was three years old at the time of the incident, but was four years old during the suppression hearing and both trials. When questioned by the court at the suppression hearing, C.D.F. remembered coming to the courthouse previously and meeting with the prosecutor. When asked what she was there to talk about, she answered correctly and competently. C.D.F. testified that Frei took her clothes off, and touched her "tootie" with his "stinky finger." C.D.F. also testified that she knew what it meant to tell the truth, and that it was good to tell the truth. C.D.F. correctly told the court that it was a lie when asked if the prosecutor's white shirt was red. Based on this testimony and her ability to answer questions before the court, according to Bosarge, C.D.F. was found competent to testify.

¶ 7. Frei argues that minor differences in C.D.F.'s testimony at the suppression hearing and trial, as well as C.D.F.'s occasional interjection of irrelevant personal experiences, establishes C.D.F.'s lack of competency as a witness. C.D.F.'s primary testimony about Frei appears to have remained the same. Nonetheless, the test for competency takes place when the court makes its initial decision. Id. (emphasis added). Variations in testimony are matters of weight and credibility which are for the jury to resolve. Robert v. State, 821 So.2d 812, 817(¶ 20) (Miss.2002). The trial judge conducted an appropriate competency hearing and was well within his discretion in finding C.D.F. competent to testify. Therefore, this issue is without merit.

2. Trial court erred by allowing the hearsay testimony of Heather Robertson and Melissa Ratliff

¶ 8. Next, Frei questions the admissibility of the testimonies of Heather Robertson and Melissa Ratliff. The Mississippi Rules of Evidence allow the admission of certain hearsay statements made by children of tender years to another if the statements contain "sufficient indicia of reliability." M.R.E. 803(25).[2] Frei argues that Robertson and Ratliff's testimonies should be excluded because they fail to contain sufficient indicia of reliability. *323 This Court must let stand a trial judge's findings of evidentiary or ultimate fact when substantial evidence in the record supports those findings, or when the findings are not clearly erroneous. Crowe v. Smith, 603 So.2d 301, 305 (Miss.1992) (citing Matter of Estate of Varvaris, 528 So.2d 800, 802 (Miss.1988)). In his on the record findings, the judge found that both Robertson and Ratliff were trained in using acceptable techniques in talking with children thought to have been sexually abused. He also found that Robertson and Ratliff's testimonies corroborated one another, and showed that C.D.F. was consistent in her statements to them. Finding that the relationship between C.D.F. and Robertson and Ratliff was indeed professional, the Court admitted Robertson and Ratliff's testimony. Finding no error in the judge's findings, we find this issue is without merit.

3. Trial court erred by allowing admission of Frei's confession into evidence;

4. Jury's verdict was against the weight and sufficiency of the evidence.

¶ 9. Frei challenges the sufficiency of evidence twice in his brief. One challenge is based on Frei's claim that the trial court erred in admitting his confession. The second is based on the standards of proof used for sufficiency and weight of the evidence. Since these two issues are interrelated, we will discuss them together.

a. Whether the confession should have been admitted

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Related

Jenkins v. State
101 So. 3d 161 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2012)
Madden v. State
97 So. 3d 1217 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Eason v. State
994 So. 2d 785 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
934 So. 2d 318, 2006 WL 696666, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frei-v-state-missctapp-2006.