Joseph David Kayne v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 22, 2010
Docket02-09-00017-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Joseph David Kayne v. State (Joseph David Kayne v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Joseph David Kayne v. State, (Tex. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS FORT WORTH

NO. 2-09-017-CR

JOSEPH DAVID KAYNE APPELLANT

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS STATE

------------

FROM THE 355TH DISTRICT COURT OF HOOD COUNTY

MEMORANDUM OPINION 1

I. INTRODUCTION

Appellant Joseph David Kayne appeals his conviction for aggravated

sexual assault of a child.2 In four points, Kayne argues that the trial court erred

by overruling his objection and denying his motion for mistrial because the State

commented on his failure to testify; that the trial court erred by denying his

1 … See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4. 2 … See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 22.021(a)(1)(B)(i) (Vernon Supp. 2009). motion for continuance after the prosecutor informed Kayne immediately prior

to opening statements that he was going to use extraneous offense evidence;

that he received ineffective assistance of counsel; and that the cumulative

impact of the above errors were so great that his rights under both the federal

and state constitutions were violated. We will affirm.

II. F ACTUAL AND P ROCEDURAL B ACKGROUND

In the fall of 2005, M.W., an eleven-year-old boy; his mother; and his

younger brother, J.W., were living with Kayne and his wife, Pamela Jean

Kayne, in Hood County. Kayne is M.W.’s maternal grandfather, and Pamela is

M.W.’s step-grandmother.

M.W. testified that after school, he and J.W. would ride the bus home to

Kayne’s house and that usually Pamela or Georgie Lee Golitz Wiley, Kayne’s

mother, would meet them at the bus stop. However, M.W. stated that on

several occasions when Pamela and Wiley were not home, Kayne would be

home alone with M.W. and J.W.3

M.W. recalled instances when Kayne would call him into Kayne’s

bedroom when no one else was home except J.W. On one occasion, Kayne

3 … At trial, Pamela testified that Kayne was never home alone with M.W. and J.W. She stated that M.W. and J.W. would be left alone with herself, their mother, or Wiley, but that the boys were never alone with Kayne. Wiley testified that Kayne was never left alone with M.W.

2 told M.W. to “feel something.” M.W. stated that he then felt Kayne’s private

part through Kayne’s clothes. Kayne asked M.W., “Does this feel good?”

When M.W. responded, “No,” Kayne pushed him out of the bedroom. M.W.

stated that he did not tell anyone about the incident and that he did not know

if it was a good thing or bad thing to touch Kayne in that way, but that he did

it because Kayne told him to.

On another day when Kayne was home alone with the boys, M.W. stated

that Kayne again asked him to go into Kayne’s bedroom. This time, however,

Kayne touched M.W.’s private part through M.W.’s clothes. Kayne asked

M.W., “Does it feel good?” When M.W. stated, “No,” Kayne pushed him out

of the bedroom.

M.W. testified that on another occasion, when only Kayne, J.W., and

himself were at home, Kayne told him to go into Kayne’s bedroom. M.W. said

that the door was shut after he went inside the bedroom. Kayne told M.W.,

“Take your clothes off and [lie] on the ground.” After getting undressed and

lying on the ground, M.W. stated that Kayne took off his clothes. M.W. stated

that Kayne’s penis was “hard.” Kayne then got on his knees behind M.W.,

grabbed M.W.’s wrists, and forced them to the ground. Kayne then told M.W.,

“This is how babies are made,” and tried to put his penis in M.W.’s “behind.”

M.W. testified that Kayne could not get his penis inside M.W.’s “behind”

3 because M.W. “squished [his] butt up together so he couldn’t.” Kayne then

told M.W., “You better let me or you’re going to be in a lot more pain.” Kayne

then put his penis in M.W.’s “behind” for a couple of seconds, and M.W.

“started hollering.” Kayne then pushed M.W. out of the bedroom. M.W.

testified that his “behind” hurt for two days after the incident.

M.W. told his mother about the abuse two weeks after the last incident.

M.W. testified that after telling his mother, he, J.W., and his mother moved out

of Kayne’s house and into a hotel. Eventually M.W., J.W., and their mother

went to live with M.W.’s grandmother.

Kayne was indicted for the offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child

by “intentionally or knowingly caus[ing] the penetration of the anus of [M.W.]”

Kayne pleaded not guilty to the charge, and the case went to trial. A jury found

Kayne guilty of the offense; and after Kayne pleaded true to the enhancement

paragraph, the trial court assessed his punishment at life in prison. This appeal

followed.

III. IMPROPER J URY A RGUMENT

In his first point, Kayne argues that the trial court erred by overruling his

objections to three comments made by the State during closing arguments of

the guilt-innocence phase of trial. Kayne asserts that the comments were

improper comments on his failure to testify. Additionally, Kayne contends that

4 the trial court abused its discretion by denying a motion for mistrial that was

based on a comment by the prosecutor about his failure to testify.

The code of criminal procedure provides that a defendant’s failure to

testify on his own behalf may not be held against him and that counsel may not

allude to the defendant’s failure to testify. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art.

38.08 (Vernon 2005). To determine if a prosecutor’s comment violated article

38.08 and constituted an impermissible reference to an accused’s failure to

testify, we must decide whether the language used was manifestly intended or

was of such a character that the jury naturally and necessarily would have

considered it to be a comment on the defendant’s failure to testify. Id.; see

Bustamante v. State, 48 S.W.3d 761, 765 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001); Fuentes v.

State, 991 S.W.2d 267, 275 (Tex. Crim. App.), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1026

(1999). The offending language must be viewed from the jury’s standpoint,

and the implication that the comment referred to the accused’s failure to testify

must be clear. Bustamante, 48 S.W.3d at 765; Swallow v. State, 829 S.W.2d

223, 225 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992). A mere indirect or implied allusion to the

defendant’s failure to testify does not violate the accused’s right to remain

silent. Wead v. State, 129 S.W.3d 126, 130 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004); Patrick

v. State, 906 S.W.2d 481, 490–91 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995), cert. denied, 517

U.S. 1106 (1996).

5 Kayne first complains of the following prosecutorial statement:

[State]: First thing I -- would like to address and -- and do in -- in no particular order, but one, there are some things that were said that -- that, in this case, you know, the statement from the defendant that “If I did do this, I don’t remember” is a very telling statement, you know. If -- if -- if you ask anybody else, “Have you ever sodomized your grandson?” what is the answer to that question? The answer is “No,” if it’s not true.

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