Juan Carlos Quantanilla-Solis v. State

Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided March 14, 2023·No. A22A1612·Published

Opinion

SECOND DIVISION

RICKMAN, C. J.,

MILLER, P. J., and PIPKIN, J.

NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed.

https://www.gaappeals.us/rules

March 14, 2023

In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A22A1612. QUANTANILLA-SOLIS v. THE STATE.

PIPKIN, Judge.

A Fulton County jury found Appellant Juan Carlos Quantanilla-Solis guilty of statutory rape, two counts of child molestation, and two counts of sexual battery. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, Appellant appeals, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for statutory rape, that the trial court committed reversible error, that trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective, and that the trial court should have merged several counts for sentencing. Though we agree that Appellant was erroneously sentenced, we otherwise affirm.

1. We turn first to Appellant’s claim that there was insufficient corroborating evidence to support his conviction for statutory rape. Viewed in the light most

favorable to the verdict,1 the evidence presented at trial with respect to this count showed as follows. Appellant met the victim, G. M., through her older brothers. In October 2008, around the time of G. M.’s twelfth birthday, Appellant, who was 22 years old, began giving presents to G. M. and inquiring whether she had a boyfriend. Appellant gave G. M. multiple gifts over the next several months. On February 13, 2009,2 G. M. spent the night with her best friend. While there, Appellant sent a text message to G. M., telling her that he wanted to hang out with her. G. M. then made a phone call, and, around midnight, G. M. informed her friend that her brother was coming to get her. G. M. left through a window, explaining that she did not want to wake her friend’s family members. About thirty minutes later, G. M. called her friend and admitted that she had in fact left with Appellant; G. M.’s friend testified that G. M. referred to Appellant as her boyfriend and often professed her love for him.

As to that night, G. M. testified that Appellant took her to his apartment, where they put pillows and a blanket on the living room floor. Appellant then removed

1 Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 (III) (B) (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560)

(1979).

2 The crimes occurred in February 2009, and Appellant was indicted in June 2009. Appellant failed to appear before the trial court in September 2010, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Appellant was arrested in July 2015, and his trial occurred in April 2018.

G. M.’s clothes and had sexual intercourse with her. Appellant returned G. M. to her friend’s home sometime in the early morning hours. When G. M. arrived at her friend’s house, her pants were stained with blood; G. M. attributed the staining to menstruation, but her friend testified that she did not believe G. M. “because she mentioned she was on her period a couple of days back.” G. M.’s friend testified that G. M. confessed later that day that she had sex with Appellant the night before, with the friend noting that “it was [G. M.’s] first time.”

On February 26, 2009, following a second instance of sexual contact between G. M. and Appellant,3 G. M. made an outcry to her uncle, who contacted the police. During the investigation, G. M.’s blood-stained pants were taken into evidence; G. M.’s sister testified that, when the police located the blood-stained pants, she recognized them as “leggings that [G. M.] had been wearing the day that she had been with [Appellant].” G. M. participated in a forensic interview, which was video- recorded and played for the jury at trial. During the interview, G. M. stated that she loved Appellant and that she believed he loved her; she also indicated that she was a virgin prior to her sexual contact with Appellant. G. M. underwent a medical

3 Appellant was charged with an additional count of statutory rape in connection with this second encounter; the jury acquitted him of that charge.

examination about two months after the crimes occurred, and at trial, her treating physician testified that some women report bleeding during or after their first time having sexual intercourse.

Appellant was interviewed at his apartment by police in connection with the investigation of G. M.’s outcry; the interview was audio-recorded and played for the jury at trial. During the interview, Appellant admitted that G. M. had been to his apartment on several occasions, including one instance when he picked her up from a friend’s house in the middle of the night. Appellant indicated that he and G. M. stayed on the living room floor that night; the interviewing officer testified that, based on Appellant’s “mannerisms and gestures” during the interview, which were not captured on the audio recording, he inferred that Appellant and G. M. had “snuggled.”

On appeal, Appellant complains that the State failed to adduce any evidence to corroborate the victim’s testimony as to the statutory rape conviction. Appellant notes the absence of forensic evidence, discounts the corroborative value of G. M.’s blood- stained paints, and asserts that no other evidence at trial independently corroborates the crime. Appellant not only takes too narrow a view of the evidence against him but also overstates the extent of independent evidence necessary to corroborate an accusation of statutory rape.

“A person commits the offense of statutory rape when he . . . engages in sexual intercourse with any person under the age of 16 years and not his . . . spouse, provided that no conviction shall be had for this offense on the unsupported testimony of the victim.” OCGA § 16-6-3 (a). Put another way, the State must present some evidence to corroborate the victim’s testimony that the defendant committed statutory rape. Corroborating evidence “is evidence from an independent source that supports the conclusion that the defendant committed the statutory rape of the victim” and must “provid[e] independent details that support the victim’s accusations.” Atkins v. State, 304 Ga. 240, 243-244 (2) (818 SE2d 567) (2018). But “[c]orroborating evidence may be slight. The quantum of corroboration needed in a statutory rape case is not that which is in itself sufficient to convict the accused . . . . Slight circumstances may be sufficient corroboration, and ultimately the question of corroboration is one for the jury.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Id. at 242 (2). See also Timmons v. State, 182 Ga. App. 556, 557 (356 SE2d 523) (1987) (“[I]t is not necessary that the child be corroborated as to every essential element of the crime, or that it establish the defendant’s guilt, but only that the corroborating evidence tend to establish his guilt and be of such a character and quality as tends to prove the guilt of the accused by

connecting him with the crime.”) (citation and punctuation omitted; emphasis in original).

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