LaMarques Devon McWilliams v. State

367 S.W.3d 817, 2012 WL 1406463, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 3153
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided April 24, 2012·No. 14-11-00199-CR·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

OPINION

MARTHA HILL JAMISON, Justice.

Appellant, Lamarques Devon McWil-liams, was found guilty by a jury of aggravated sexual assault and was sentenced to life in prison. On appeal, appellant contends that the trial court erred in admitting (1) expert testimony regarding a DNA analysis report based on data generated by non-testifying biologists in violation of ap *819 pellant’s Confrontation Clause rights and (2) hearsay testimony. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Chelsea Brazier testified that on the evening of August 26, 2009, she voluntarily entered the front seat of appellant’s car and agreed to have intercourse in exchange for money. The encounter became nonconsensual, however, when appellant and Brazier moved to the backseat, where appellant denied Brazier’s demand for money, threatened Brazier with a knife, tied Brazier’s hands behind her back, pinned her to the floorboard, and drove her to a secluded location. Appellant penetrated Brazier anally and vaginally against her protests. Subsequently, appellant left Brazier in the trunk of his car. Brazier managed to free herself from the trunk and run towards lights and houses to find help.

Brazier knocked on doors of two homes, but no one answered. The third door Brazier banged on was at Jacqueline Har-grove’s home. Hargrove testified that when she heard the loud banging at her door, she called the police. After the police arrived 15-20 minutes later, Hargrove opened the door and had a conversation with Brazier. According to Hargrove, Brazier asked for help and said she “was trying to be forced to do something that she didn’t want to do.”

Later that evening, bodily samples were taken from Brazier and the appellant. Rhonda Craig, a forensic DNA examiner in a Federal Bureau of Investigation laboratory, supervised testing of the samples and wrote the forensic lab report. She testified at trial regarding the DNA testing process and the test results. Craig testified that her role is to review new matters, determine the questions to be answered by the testing, decide what evidence will be worked on and in what order, and direct biologists to perform the tests. It is Craig’s job as manager of a forensic case to review and interpret the data and write and sign the reports.

DISCUSSION

A. Confrontation Clause In his first issue, appellant contends that because Rhonda Craig’s testimony was based on data generated by non-testifying biologists, its admission violated appellant’s right to confrontation. The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” U.S. Const, amend. VI. The Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause applies to out-of-court statements introduced at trial. Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 50-51, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). Testimonial statements of a witness who is absent from trial cannot be admitted unless the witness was unable to testify and the defendant had a prior opportunity for cross-examination. Id. at 53-54, 124 S.Ct. 1354. A forensic laboratory report created specifically to serve as evidence in a criminal proceeding is within the core class of testimonial statements covered by the Confrontation Clause; therefore, a live witness must be available for such reports to be admitted. Bullcoming v. New Mexico, — U.S. -, -, 131 S.Ct. 2705, 2709, 180 L.Ed.2d 610 (2011) (citing Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305, 129 S.Ct. 2527, 2532, 174 L.Ed.2d 314 (2009)).

While Melendez-Diaz set forth the requirement that there be a live witness at *820 trial to support a forensic report, 1 it did not address who qualifies as such. Texas courts of appeals have held that the testimony of a supervisor does not violate the Confrontation Clause requirement under Melendez-Diaz. See, e.g., Settlemire v. State, 323 S.W.3d 520, 522 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2010, pet. ref'd) (holding testimony of technical supervisor in charge of intoxi-lyzer machine was admissible, even though the supervisor was not in charge of the machine when defendant was arrested); see also Hamilton v. State, 300 S.W.3d 14, 19-21 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2009, pet. ref'd) (holding trial court erred in permitting expert to testify regarding another expert’s findings but did not err in permitting expert to offer his own conclusions based on other expert’s data); Paredes v. State, 14-10-00266-CR, 2011 WL 3667839, at *8-10 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist] Aug. 23, 2011, pet. filed) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (holding expert witness’s testimony based in part on lab work performed by others did not violate Confrontation Clause).

In Bullcoming, the accused was charged with driving while intoxicated. 131 S.Ct. at 2707. A forensic analyst analyzed the accused’s blood sample according to specified procedures. Id. at 2710-11. At trial, the prosecution did not call the analyst as a witness but instead proposed to introduce his findings as a “business record” through testimony of a different scientist who was familiar with the laboratory’s testing procedures but had neither observed nor reviewed the particular testing in question. Id. at 2711-12. The Supreme Court held that “surrogate testimony of that order” did not meet constitutional requirements. Id. at 2710. The accused’s right is to be confronted with the analyst who made the certification. Id.

The Bullcoming Court indicated, however, that certain surrogate testimony would not violate the Confrontation Clause. Justice Sotomayor’s concurring opinion emphasizes that “this is not a case in which the person testifying is a supervisor, reviewer, or someone else with a personal, albeit limited, connection to the scientific test at issue.” Id. at 2722 (Sotomayor, J., concurring). “It would be a different case if, for example, a supervisor who observed an analyst conducting a test testified about the results or a report about such results.” Id.; see also Melendez-Diaz, 129 S.Ct. at 2532 n. 1 (“[Not] everyone who laid hands on the evidence must be called.”).

The facts of the present case are distinguishable from those in Bullcoming and consistent with the exception that Justice Sotomayor identified. Rhonda Craig was a supervisor, involved with every aspect of the testing process, first by determining which samples should be tested, which tests should be conducted and in what order, then through supervision, then through analysis of the data, and lastly by writing the report. She had a direct connection to the scientific test at issue. The appellant’s Confrontation Clause rights were not violated by admission of Craig’s testimony.

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LaMarques Devon McWilliams v. State, 367 S.W.3d 817, 2012 WL 1406463, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 3153 (Tex. Ct. App. 2012).

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