Government of the Virgin Islands v. Vicars

340 F. App'x 807
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedAugust 7, 2009
DocketNo. 08-3960
StatusPublished

This text of 340 F. App'x 807 (Government of the Virgin Islands v. Vicars) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Government of the Virgin Islands v. Vicars, 340 F. App'x 807 (3d Cir. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

BARRY, Circuit Judge.

Dave Vicars appeals from an order of the Appellate Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands affirming his convictions for attempted aggravated rape and unlawful sexual contact in the first degree. Vicars raises several issues in his appeal of the aggravated attempted rape conviction, including an argument that the trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right of confrontation when it allowed a report of the victim’s physical examination to be admitted at trial. We agree that Vicars’s Sixth Amendment right of confrontation was violated and will reverse the conviction for attempted aggravated rape. Because no error is alleged to have affected the four counts of unlawful sexual contact, those convictions will be affirmed.

I.

On February 29, 2000, T.V., age 11, told a classmate that her father, Dave Vicars, had molested her over twenty times between May 1999 and mid-February 2000, and then told her teacher, her mother, and, later, the police. Police officers took T.V. to a physician, Dr. Arlene Lockridge, for a physical examination to evaluate her allegations of sexual abuse; indeed, Dr. Lockridge’s report stated that the examination was “for evaluation for alleged sexual molestation/abuse.” (Report at 3.)1 [808]*808The report was accompanied by a handwritten release from T.V.’s mother authorizing photographs to be taken of T.V.’s body “for the purpose of providing medical evidence and documentation,” and acknowledging that “these photographs may be submitted as evidence in court proceedings.” (Id. at 1-2.) The report contained a description of T.V.’s allegations along with very explicit findings: “enlargement (hypertrophy) of the clitoris particularly on the left side,” “mild hypertrophy, enlargement of the labial tissue of the left labia and surrounding clitoral area,” and “purplish/blackish discoloration of the tissue within the folds of labia minora suggestive of bruising (repeated bruising).” (Id. at 6-7.)

It was no secret, even prior to trial, that Dr. Lockridge would not be testifying at trial because, the Government said, she had moved from the Virgin Islands to New Jersey. There had also been a fair amount of discussion prior to trial about the report and the “expert witness” the Government would be calling to “explain” parts of the report. Prior to trial, Vicars objected to the admission of at least some of the report at trial. That having been said, it is not an overstatement to say that the nature of Vicars’s objections, the Government’s shifting bases for admissibility, and the trial court’s tentative and conflicting rulings on the matter were unclear, if not altogether confusing. We do not pause to recite that history here.

Before any final ruling had been made on admissibility, the two-day trial commenced. With the fate of the report still undetermined, the Government, in its opening statement, nonetheless told the jury that they would have that report and could see Dr. Lockridge’s findings for themselves. The Government noted, for example, that “Dr. Lockridge was able to find that there were [sic] certain redness and swelling or bruising on [TV’s] vagina that was consistent with what she had said had been happening over a period of time.” (App. at 65.) Equally as disturbing as were these statements, made even though the trial court had reserved decision on whether the report would be admitted at all and, if so, on what basis and with what, if any, redactions, was the failure of Vicars to object on this ground and the failure of the trial court to intervene.

The Government called, as its first witness, Valerie Green, the custodian of records at the clinic at which Dr. Lockridge worked, to lay the foundation for the admission of what she described (although it was not titled as such) as “the child abuse report” as a “Recordf ] of Regularly Conducted Activity” under Fed.R.Evid. 803(6). (Id. at 82.) When, however, the trial court ultimately ruled on admissibility, it found the report admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 803(4) — “Statements for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment” — with the exception of any “conclusions and opinions reached by Dr. Lockridge.” (Id. at 70.) Notably, the trial court did not find that T.V. was taken to the clinic for medical diagnosis or treatment — and T.V. herself had made no statements in those regards — but instead found that she was taken there by law enforcement officers “for the purposes of the investigation and potential ... criminal litigation.” (Id.) Apparently for that reason as well, Dr. Lock-ridge’s conclusions were ordered redacted.

This can only be described as a Pyrrhic victory for Vicars, for the report was admitted into evidence virtually in full with only two redactions: Dr. Lockridge’s conclusion of “suspected sexual abuse” and a [809]*809page entitled “Supplemental Treatment Form.” (Id. at 70, 72-73.) All of Dr. Lock-ridge’s graphic physical observations and findings remained in, even though none of them had anything even remotely to do with “statements for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment.”2 The Government thereafter called Dr. Christine Lloyd as an expert, with the trial court permitting her “to interpret the female organs [and] describe to the jury [the] general terms” used in the report, as well as the history recited therein. (Id. at 71-72.)

The report aside, the Government’s main witness was, of course, T.V. T.V. testified that Vicars would come into her bedroom at night and put his hand and penis on her vagina. (Id. at 64.) “He was rubbing his hands on my vagina and then he would take his penis and put it on my vagina and start to push.” (Id. at 62.) In response to the question, “And at any point in time did you feel his penis enter your vagina?” T.V. answered, “No,” and said that she was wearing a “nighty” and underwear during the encounters. (Id. at 64-65.) The Government concedes that “[F]rom [TVs] testimony alone, there was no penetration.” (Tr. 2/7/02 at 24.) Vicars subsequently testified on his own behalf, denying the allegations.

On February 12, 2002, Vicars was convicted on all counts and his motion for a new trial was subsequently denied. He appealed to the Appellate Division, arguing that the trial court erred when it admitted hearsay evidence; entered judgment of conviction without sufficient evidence; denied his motion for a new trial, even though there was newly discovered evidence; and failed to declare a mistrial when there was prosecutorial misconduct.

On August 5, 2008, more than six years after Vicars was convicted — a shockingly long period of time — the Appellate Division affirmed, rejecting all of Vicars’s claims of error.3 As relevant here, it described Dr. Lockridge’s report as a “medical record” authored “as part of the clinic’s regular practice in treating patients,” (App. at 14), although Ms. Green had not testified that that was the clinic’s “regular practice,” much less that Dr. Lockridge or her report had anything to do with any treatment of TV. “As a result,” it concluded, albeit with no discussion, the “medical record fits squarely within the business records exception,” and the trial court’s decision to admit the record was not plain error. (Id. at 15).

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

Related

Crawford v. Washington
541 U.S. 36 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
557 U.S. 305 (Supreme Court, 2009)
United States v. Ira Haywood
363 F.3d 200 (Third Circuit, 2004)
Hirst v. Inverness Hotel Corp.
544 F.3d 221 (Third Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Hardwick
544 F.3d 565 (Third Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Lore
430 F.3d 190 (Third Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Hendricks
395 F.3d 173 (Third Circuit, 2005)
Garcia v. Government of the V.I.
48 V.I. 530 (Virgin Islands, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
340 F. App'x 807, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/government-of-the-virgin-islands-v-vicars-ca3-2009.