Ghelichkhani v. State

765 So. 2d 185, 2000 WL 991664
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 19, 2000
Docket4D99-1710
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 765 So. 2d 185 (Ghelichkhani v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ghelichkhani v. State, 765 So. 2d 185, 2000 WL 991664 (Fla. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

765 So.2d 185 (2000)

Nasser David GHELICHKHANI, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 4D99-1710.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

July 19, 2000.
Rehearing Denied September 6, 2000.

*186 Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Allen J. DeWeese, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Don M. Rogers, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

STEVENSON, J.

Nasser David Ghelichkhani was tried by jury and convicted of lewd assault on a two and a half year old child. At trial, the State was permitted to introduce the hearsay statements of the child victim, K.L., which identify Ghelichkhani as "the guy who touched my pee-pee." Appellant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing these hearsay statements into evidence, challenging the trial judge's findings that K.L.'s hearsay statements are reliable and that there was "other corroborative evidence of the abuse or offense," both of which are prerequisites to admissibility. We find merit in Ghelichkhani's claim that there was no other corroborative evidence of the abuse or offense and reverse.

Admissibility of Child Victim Hearsay

Florida's Evidence Code permits the hearsay statements of a child who is the victim of sexual abuse to be introduced into evidence provided that certain criteria are met. Specifically, section 90.803(23), Florida Statutes (Supp.1998), provides that such statements are admissible when (1) the statements are made by a child "with a physical, mental, emotional, or developmental age of 11 or less"; (2) the statements "describ[e] ... any offense involving an unlawful sexual act ... performed in the presence of, with, by, or on the declarant child"; (3) the court finds, after conducting a hearing, that "the time, content, and circumstances of the statement provide sufficient safeguards of reliability" after considering factors such as "the mental and physical age of the child and maturity of the child, the nature and duration of the abuse or offense, the relationship of the child to the offender, the reliability of the assertion, the reliability of the child victim" and any other appropriate factors; and (4) the child either testifies or, if the child is unavailable as a witness, "there is *187 other corroborative evidence of the abuse or offense."

The Hearing in the Instant Case

In the instant case, the trial judge conducted the hearing contemplated by subsection (23)(a)1 of the statute. At the hearing, the State sought to have the trial judge find that K.L. was unavailable as a witness at trial. To that end, the State presented the testimony of Dr. Rahaim, a psychologist. Dr. Rahaim testified that he had spent two to two and a half hours with K.L. and opined that she could not perform as a witness at trial. According to Dr. Rahaim, while K.L. could accurately recount events and things that happened to her at or near the time of the event, in a small child, as time passes, memories fade. In addition, Dr. Rahaim stated that K.L. would not be competent as a witness at trial because she simply did not understand the obligation to tell the truth. Ghelichkhani put on no evidence to the contrary and the judge found K.L. unavailable as a witness at trial. As a result of this finding, in addition to proving that the statements were reliable, the State was required to establish that there was "other corroborative evidence of the abuse or offense." § 90.803(23)(a)2.b.

K.L.'s seven-year-old brother Eric was asked to recount the interaction that he and his sister had with the defendant. Eric explained that, last summer, he and his family were in West Palm Beach to attend a wedding and that they stayed at a hotel. According to Eric, when they got back to the hotel after the wedding, his mom was lying down and asked him to go to the front desk to get more pillows. Eric and his sister, K.L., went to the front desk. Eric testified that the man at the front desk, later identified as Ghelichkhani, took him and his sister upstairs to show them where the pillows were. Eric explained that they took the elevator upstairs and that the man picked up his sister when they got on the elevator. When they got off the elevator, they went to a nearby room and the man opened the door with a key. Eric testified that the man went into the room, brought out two pillows and two pillow cases, handed them to him, and asked if he knew how to put the cases on. Then, he asked Eric if he wanted some gummy worms. Eric testified that he said "no, thank you," but that his sister replied that she wanted some.

Next, according to Eric, the man took his sister by the hand and led her into the supply room. Eric testified that the door shut behind them. While they were in the room, he was putting on the pillow cases. Eric testified that he began banging on the door, but that no one answered, and when he tried to turn the knob, it was locked. The man and his sister then came out of the room and, according to Eric, the man was holding his sister's hand. His sister had gummy worms. The trio then rode the elevator back downstairs. Eric testified that when they got off the elevator, his mom and dad were waiting for them. According to Eric, when they were back in their room, he heard his sister say "that man touched my pee-pee."

Jacqueline Leeks, the children's mother, confirmed that she asked her son, Eric, to go to the front desk and get two more pillows, explaining that the front desk was close enough to their room that she believed that she would hear the children if they were in trouble and that the kids were familiar with the front desk because they had spent time at the play-area there. During the children's absence, her husband returned to the room and inquired about the children's whereabouts. When her husband indicated that he had not seen the children in the lobby, they went down to look for them. While they were in the lobby, the elevator opened; Eric and K.L. were on the elevator with the defendant. According to Mrs. Leeks, 5-7 minutes had passed from the time the children left the room until she saw them on the elevator. When the kids got off the elevator, Eric was holding the pillows and K.L. had candy.

*188 According to Mrs. Leeks, when they returned to their room, Eric went into one room to put the pillows on the bed and she and K.L. went into another. Then, K.L. stated, "mommy, that man touched my pee-pee. When we went upstairs, that man touched my pee-pee." According to Mrs. Leeks, K.L. simply volunteered these statements. Mrs. Leeks took K.L. into the bathroom, but found no bleeding, scratches or marks. She asked her daughter if she was sure and K.L. responded, "yes, he touched my pee-pee" and demonstrated by putting her hand inside her panties. Mrs. Leeks asserted that the statements from her daughter came less than two minutes after she got off the elevator with the defendant.

Mrs. Leeks then testified that when her husband, who had been carrying luggage to the car, returned to the room, K.L. ran up to him and said "daddy, that man touched my pee-pee." The couple had the children show them the room and, according to Mrs. Leeks, as they got off the elevator, K.L. pointed at the door and said that she was in that room and "that's the room right there where that man touched my pee-pee." Mrs. Leeks testified that her husband went into a rage and confronted the defendant, ordering him to call 911. When it appeared that the defendant had called information, Michael Leeks called 911 himself. Mrs.

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

Related

JOSHUA PERRAULT v. AMANDA ENGLE
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2020
To v. Department of Children and Families
21 So. 3d 173 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2009)
C.L.Y. v. State
928 So. 2d 1047 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2003)
RU v. Department of Children & Families
777 So. 2d 1153 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
765 So. 2d 185, 2000 WL 991664, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ghelichkhani-v-state-fladistctapp-2000.