Parrott v. State

736 S.E.2d 436, 318 Ga. App. 545, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 3693, 2012 WL 5519751, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 950
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedNovember 15, 2012
DocketA12A1555
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 736 S.E.2d 436 (Parrott 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
Parrott v. State, 736 S.E.2d 436, 318 Ga. App. 545, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 3693, 2012 WL 5519751, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 950 (Ga. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Ray, Judge.

After a jury trial, Reginald Lee Parrott was convicted of one count of child molestation.1 He appeals from the denial of his motion for a new trial, enumerating as error: (1) the trial court’s decision to allow oblique references by the prosecutor to the fact that he took and failed a polygraph test; (2) the trial court’s refusal to excuse a juror for cause; and (3) the trial court’s finding, despite his contention that the State failed to prove intent, that the evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction. Finding no error, we affirm.

On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and the defendant [546]*546no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence. We neither weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses, but determine only whether the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find the defendant guilty of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt.2

So viewed, the evidence shows that the victim, K. N., on November 20, 2009, spent the night at Parrott’s home. Parrott is married to K. N.’s biological mother. K. N., who was fifteen at the time of the crime, had been adopted at a young age and resided with an aunt. On the night at issue, K. N. fell asleep alone in bed. Early in the morning, K. N. became aware that Parrott was touching her breasts through her tank top. She attempted to roll away, but Parrott slid his hand into her sweatpants and rubbed her vagina over her panties. She felt his aroused penis against her, and when he tried to pull down her sweatpants, she got out of bed and went to the garage, where she sat and cried. Parrott came into the garage and asked if she was “okay.” She said yes, but continued to sit there and cry. K. N. later asked to go home, and the next day, told her aunt what happened.

The aunt called K. N.’s biological mother and told her what K. N. had said. Parrott then called the aunt’s home, and she answered. Apparently under the misapprehension that he was talking to K. N., Parrott said, “baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I thought you were [my wife].” After the aunt revealed her identity, Parrott told the aunt that he wished K. N. had not awakened, that he hoped all this would go away, that he would pay for K. N. to “have someone to talk to,” that he was “half asleep” and that when he woke up, he realized what was going on and left. Parrott later called again and told the aunt’s boyfriend that he thought K. N. was his wife and that he wished she had not awakened. K. N.’s aunt contacted the police.

On November 25, 2009, a Coweta County Sheriff’s Office investigator conducted a video interview with Parrott. Parrott said that he fell asleep in a bed belonging to one of his children while watching television, and K. N. then got in bed with him. He said he awakened when she climbed over him to get out of bed, and that he then got in bed with his wife. He denied speaking to K. N., denied touching her, and said he knew nothing about the episode until the next day, when his wife contacted him after speaking with K. N.’s aunt.

In a second interview conducted the same day in preparation for a polygraph exam that police ultimately never conducted, Parrott admitted he had placed his hand on K. N. “where it shouldn’t have [547]*547been,” and “on her vagina area.” He denied touching her breasts, but said that he “woke up doing some stuff that I shouldn’t did.” The investigator asked Parrott if he thought K. N. was his wife and he responded, “I guess I did.” Parrott told the investigator he had not mentioned any of this earlier because he “wasn’t clear” and “wanted to be 100% clear where I was at and what I had to tell you.” When police asked Parrott if he had any medical conditions or had received psychiatric treatment, he said no.

At trial, Parrott did not contest the allegations of inappropriate touching, but rather argued that he lacked any criminal intent because he touched K. N. while he was asleep. He argued that he has parasomnia, a medical condition in which people may engage in various behaviors while asleep, including sleepwalking and sexual acts. Parrott’s expert witness, psychiatrist Dr. Gene Abel, performed several tests to gauge, among other things, Parrott’s sexual interests and whether he had parasomnia. These tests included a polygraph. During that polygraph, Parrott was asked whether he had ever fondled K. N.’s breasts and vaginal area, or whether he had ever touched K. N. for sexual gratification. Parrott failed the polygraph examination.

1. In his first enumeration, Parrott contends that the trial court erred in permitting the prosecutor to “inform the jury appellant had submitted to and failed a polygraph examination.”3

Outside of the presence of the jury, Parrott’s counsel asked the court to rule that the State could not address the issue of the failed polygraph, arguing that his client had not stipulated to its admission; that it was hearsay, prejudicial, and irrelevant; and that Abel did not rely on the test to form his expert opinion. Abel had included polygraph test results in reports prepared for other defendants, but left them out of Parrott’s report. Counsel for the State thus argued that he wanted to elicit the testimony for impeachment purposes, because Abel’s omitting the negative results called his credibility into question. The trial court ruled that in the interest of a thorough and sifting cross-examination, the prosecutor could refer to the polygraph as the “other test,” but could not refer to it as a polygraph. Parrott’s counsel raised a continuing objection to “any mention of the test,” which the court recognized.4

[548]*548It is well settled that, absent stipulation by the parties, results identified as being from polygraph examinations are generally inadmissible,5 though they may sometimes be admitted to explain conduct.6 It is also well-settled that the scope of cross-examination lies within the sound discretion of the trial court, and that a ruling on this issue will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of that discretion.7 Likewise, the trial court has broad, though not unlimited, discretion to determine the scope of closing arguments,8 which are judged by the context in which they are made.9

At trial, the prosecutor followed the trial court’s order only to the extent that he did not refer to a “polygraph” or “lie detector” test. Rather, he at times referred to the test as an “objective test,” and from this and other statements, Parrott asserts error, arguing that the jury could have inferred that the test was a polygraph. For the reasons that follow, we find this argument unpersuasive.

On cross-examination, Abel testified that he based his evaluation in large part on Parrott’s own statements to him. The prosecutor asked Abel if he had conducted tests to gauge Parrott’s “accuracy or credibility,” and if he had talked with Parrott about doing an “objective test” to evaluate Parrott’s statements to him. Abel said yes. Then, without objection, the prosecutor asked Abel to list the questions posed by the “other test.” Abel testified from his notes that the questions were: “Have you fondled [K. N.’s] breast? Have you fondled [K. N.’s] vaginal area? Have you touched [K.

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736 S.E.2d 436, 318 Ga. App. 545, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 3693, 2012 WL 5519751, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 950, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parrott-v-state-gactapp-2012.