Renfrow v. State

863 So. 2d 1047, 2004 WL 77871
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 20, 2004
Docket2002-KA-00602-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 863 So. 2d 1047 (Renfrow v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Renfrow v. State, 863 So. 2d 1047, 2004 WL 77871 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

863 So.2d 1047 (2004)

Harland Craig RENFROW, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2002-KA-00602-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

January 20, 2004.

*1049 Glen W. Hall, Jackson, James A. Williams, Meridian, Percy Stanfield, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jean Smith Vaughan, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, P.J., IRVING and GRIFFIS, JJ.

GRIFFIS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Harland C. Renfrow was convicted in the Circuit Court of Lauderdale County of sexual battery of a three year old female child and was sentenced to serve life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Renfrow appeals asserting that (1) the trial court erred in allowing the child to testify, (2) the indictment was flawed, (3) the trial court erred in allowing an instruction which referred to the child as a victim, and (4) his counsel rendered ineffective assistance. We find no error and affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On June 11, 2000, Tracy Hill-Watts, an investigator for the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department, was called to Riley's Hospital on a report of an alleged sexual assault on a child. The child was a three year old female, who was brought into the hospital that morning by Renfrow.

¶ 3. After an examination, Dr. James Purdy, an obstetrician and gynecologist, determined that the child had extensive damage to her vagina, pelvic peritoneum, and rectum. The child was transported to the University Medical Center in Jackson where she underwent several surgeries, including a sigmoid loop colostomy, to repair the damage.

¶ 4. Renfrow was indicted and charged with sexual battery. The indictment, in pertinent part, provided:

Harland Craig Renfrow ... on or about the 10th day of June. A.D.2000, did then and there willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously engage in sexual penetration with a foreign object, as defined in MCA 97-3-97, with [the child] ..., a female child under the age of fourteen(14) years, and the said Harland C. Renfrow... is a person twenty-four or more months older than the said child, in violation of Section 97-3-95(d), Mississippi Code....

¶ 5. At trial, the child took the stand, at age five, and testified that Renfrow hurt her. The defense moved to strike the child's testimony, and the motion was granted. After continued questioning, the trial judge ruled that the child was not competent to testify. The judge found that the child was not yet capable of accurately recalling past events, and he instructed the jury to disregard the testimony of the child. Each juror indicated that they would follow the judge's instructions. The judge denied the defense motion for a mistrial.

¶ 6. Investigator Tracy Hill-Watts testified that she accompanied investigator Brenda Snowden, a Wesley House Community Center social worker, and Vicki Whitlock, a Department of Human Services social worker, to the home of the child and her mother after she had been released from the hospital. Hill-Watts testified that the child responded to questions about who hurt her by answering, "[Renfrow] hurt me."

¶ 7. Hill-Watts further testified that Renfrow had claimed that the child's injuries resulted from a fall onto a toy baby doll's bottle. A toy bottle that Hill-Watts retrieved from the hospital's medical personnel was admitted into evidence. Hill-Watts testified that during her investigation she discovered that the child, in the presence of Renfrow, nodded to the nurse *1050 at the hospital when asked whether she fell onto a bottle.

¶ 8. The prosecution introduced a sex toy, described as a dildo or a vibrator, into evidence. Judy Womack, Renfrow's former wife, identified the sex toy as her property. She testified that she took this sex toy to Renfrow's home on May 28. After June 11th, Womack got permission from the authorities to retrieve the sex toy from Renfrow's home. Since that time, she testified that she retained custody of it.

¶ 9. Dr. Purdy testified that the injuries he observed were not consistent with the baby bottle or self auto insertion. Dr. Purdy testified that the toy baby doll bottle explanation was inaccurate and not plausible. According to Dr. Purdy, the child's injuries were consistent with the insertion of a vibrator, similar to the sex toy that was entered into evidence. Dr. Purdy further testified that the injury was not recent to his examination. Instead, Dr. Purdy determined that the injury occurred several hours before the child was brought to the hospital.

¶ 10. The child's mother testified that she had sexual relations with Renfrow on June 10, 2000. She testified that Renfrow attempted to use a vibrator on her. She identified the sex toy/vibrator introduced in evidence as the vibrator Renfrow attempted to use on her. She testified that this sexual encounter with Renfrow occurred the night before the child was brought into the hospital for her injuries.

¶ 11. Brenda Snowden testified that she accompanied investigator Hill-Watts and Vicki Whitlock to the child's home after she had been released from the hospital. Snowden testified that when investigator Hill-Watts asked the child to tell who hurt her, the child said, "[Renfrow] hurt me." She testified that Ms. Whitlock also asked the child to tell us again who hurt you. And the child again said, "[Renfrow] hurt me." The child's mother also testified that the child's response was that Renfrow had hurt her.

¶ 12. Jerri Clay, a registered nurse at Riley's Hospital, testified that she was on duty when the child arrived. Clay testified that when she asked the child what happened, Renfrow interrupted and told her that the child fell on the bottle. Clay testified that the child nodded, affirming Renfrow's explanation. Clay further testified that she called the Rape Crisis Center and the sheriff's department because she believed that this injury was the result of a sexual offense.

¶ 13. Renfrow testified that the child and his minor daughter stayed with him at his trailer on the weekend in question. Renfrow testified that he heard the child screaming and that he went to her room. He testified that the child told him that she had fallen on the toy bottle. He testified that he took her diaper off, sat her on the bed, and examined her. He testified that he saw the bottle and then took the bottle out of her. Renfrow testified that he then took the child to the bathroom, washed her, wrapped her in a towel, and brought her to the hospital.

¶ 14. Renfrow testified that there was a hole in the diaper the child was wearing. After he took it off, Renfrow claimed he placed the diaper on a barrel in the back of his house where he puts his trash. After being questioned as to the whereabouts of the diaper, Renfrow testified that he did not know where the diaper was and speculated that some dogs probably took it away. Hill-Watts testified that the diaper was not recovered.

¶ 15. Renfrow admitted that the vibrator introduced into evidence was in his home the night of the incident. However, he claimed that he did not attempt to use *1051 the vibrator during sex with the child's mother.

¶ 16. Renfrow further testified that only he, his minor daughter, and the child's mother had access to the child on the night in question. Renfrow admitted that the child's mother, however, did not see the child that night. When he returned from the hospital, Renfrow testified that he took the sheets off the bed and "stuck them in the washing machine and put some water on them," but never washed them.

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Bluebook (online)
863 So. 2d 1047, 2004 WL 77871, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/renfrow-v-state-missctapp-2004.