Mauldin v. State

721 S.E.2d 182, 313 Ga. App. 228, 2011 Fulton County D. Rep. 4056, 2011 Ga. App. LEXIS 1101
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedDecember 7, 2011
DocketA11A2105
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 721 S.E.2d 182 (Mauldin v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mauldin v. State, 721 S.E.2d 182, 313 Ga. App. 228, 2011 Fulton County D. Rep. 4056, 2011 Ga. App. LEXIS 1101 (Ga. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Ellington, Judge.

A Bartow County jury found Danny Mauldin guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of five counts of child molestation, OCGA § 16-6-4. On appeal from the denial of his motion for new trial, Mauldin contends that the trial court erred in admitting similar transaction [229]*229and other evidence, in excluding certain evidence, in denying his motions for a mistrial, and in instructing the jury. He also asserts that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. For the reasons explained below, we affirm.

Viewed in favor of the jury’s verdict,1 the record shows the following facts. In 2001, 53-year-old Danny Mauldin was the choir director at the 14-year-old victim’s church. The victim often ate dinner and spent the night with Mauldin and his wife at their home, and they attended church together. In the spring or early summer of 2001, however, the Mauldins separated, and Mrs. Mauldin moved out of their home. That summer, Mauldin decided to move, also, and he repeatedly asked the victim, and sometimes her 13-year-old sister, to come to his house so they could help him pack up his belongings. On several occasions, the victim spent the night alone with Mauldin at his house. According to the victim, at some point that summer, Mauldin kissed her on the mouth. Over the next few weeks, Mauldin progressed from kissing her to fondling her breasts and genitals, exposing himself, placing her hand on his penis, and, eventually, having sexual intercourse with her. Mauldin told the victim that he loved her, that their conduct was okay because she would be 18 years old soon, and that she should not tell anyone else because it was none of their business. These encounters usually happened while the victim and Mauldin were alone at his house, but both the victim and her sister testified that, on one occasion, the sister walked into Mauldin’s bedroom and saw him and the victim lying close together in bed under a blanket. Although Mauldin never molested the victim’s sister, he asked her one time, while they were alone at his house, to “sleep” with him. After the sister refused, Mauldin made no further advances toward her.

In August 2001, Mauldin started dating a woman that he met at church. Shortly thereafter, he stopped inviting the victim and her sister to his home, and the molestation of the victim stopped. Over the next two months, the victim told her aunt and her church’s pastor about the molestation. Her aunt told the victim’s mother, who talked to the victim and then reported the molestation to the Department of Family and Children Services (“DFCS”); DFCS notified the police.

The victim underwent a sexual assault exam in October 2001; the results revealed no evidence of assault, which the examining physician testified was not unusual given the time that had elapsed since the alleged molestation and the victim’s description of the acts [230]*230of molestation. A police detective and a DFCS employee interviewed the victim on October 11, 2001, and the audiotape of the interview was played for the jury at trial without objection. The detective also interviewed the victim’s mother and sister, her pastor, and, eventually, in January 2002, Mauldin. During his interview, which was recorded and played for the jury at trial, Mauldin denied any inappropriate contact with the victim, but asserted that, if there had been any such contact, it had been initiated by the victim, whom he described as a “habitual liar” with mental and emotional problems. Mauldin was subsequently arrested and charged with five counts of child molestation.2

At trial, in addition to the above evidence, the State showed that, during the summer of 2001, Mauldin purchased a dress and a pair of shoes for the victim. The State also showed that, at some point after the molestation stopped, the victim wrote a letter to Mauldin professing her love for him; although she never mailed the letter, her mother found the letter in her bedroom. Mauldin’s defense was based upon his claim that the victim was a habitual liar with serious mental and emotional problems who had given so many inconsistent statements about what she claims had occurred that she should not be believed.

1. Mauldin contends that the evidence presented was insufficient to support his convictions, arguing that there were “glaring inconsistencies” between the victim’s statements at the time she reported the molestation in 2001, when she was a 14-year-old girl, and her testimony at his 2009 trial. According to Mauldin, these inconsistencies, combined with the victim’s “convenient memory loss” concerning certain facts, require a finding that no reasonable jury could have found the victim’s testimony to be credible. Thus, because she was not credible and the State presented no physical evidence to support her allegations, his convictions must be reversed due to insufficient evidence.

When a criminal defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his or her conviction, the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Knight v. State, 311 Ga. App. [231]*231367, 367 (1) (715 SE2d 771) (2011). It is axiomatic that

it is the function of the jury, not this Court, to judge the credibility of witnesses, resolve conflicts in the testimony, weigh the evidence, and draw reasonable inferences from the evidence. In so doing, a jury is authorized to believe or disbelieve all or any part of the testimony of witnesses. Ultimately, as long as there is some competent evidence, even though contradicted, to support each fact necessary to make out the State’s case, the jury’s verdict will be upheld.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Id. Moreover, “the victim’s testimony alone is generally sufficient to establish the elements of child molestation.” (Citation omitted.) Id. See also OCGA § 24-4-8 (“The testimony of a single witness is generally sufficient to establish a fact.”).

In this case, the acts of molestation took place when Mauldin was alone with the victim, so there were no eyewitnesses who could provide direct testimony about what occurred. Even if uncorroborated, however, the victim’s testimony was sufficient to support Mauldin’s convictions on each count as indicted. Further, as noted above, the victim’s sister testified that, during one visit to Mauldin’s home, she saw the victim and Mauldin lying close together under the covers on his bed; that testimony corroborates the victim’s testimony about the same incident.

Consequently, because the victim’s testimony was legally sufficient to support Mauldin’s convictions, and because the jury, alone, was authorized to judge the credibility of the victim’s testimony, Mauldin’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence must fail.

2. Mauldin argues that he received ineffective assistance of his trial counsel due to counsel’s failure to object to (a) a witness’ reference to his (Mauldin’s) failing polygraph examination results during a Jackson-Denno3

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

Related

Bill v. the State
799 S.E.2d 28 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2017)
Holcomb v. the State
762 S.E.2d 431 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
721 S.E.2d 182, 313 Ga. App. 228, 2011 Fulton County D. Rep. 4056, 2011 Ga. App. LEXIS 1101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mauldin-v-state-gactapp-2011.