Roise v. State

7 S.W.3d 225, 1999 WL 996773
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 2, 1999
Docket03-98-00338-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by251 cases

This text of 7 S.W.3d 225 (Roise v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roise v. State, 7 S.W.3d 225, 1999 WL 996773 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

JOHN F. ONION, Jr., Justice (Retired).

Appellant Richard Roise was charged by indictment with five counts of possessing child pornography. See Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 43.26(a) (West Supp.1999). 1 The jury acquitted appellant on four counts and convicted him on Count V of the indictment which involved allegations of possession of twenty-nine separate photographs. After finding as true the allegations of prior felony convictions for burglary and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in New Mexico, and for sexual assault in Tarrant County, Texas, the trial court assessed punishment at 25 years’ imprisonment. See Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 12.42(d) (West Supp.1999).

POINTS OF ERROR

. Appellant advances thirteen points of error. He challenges both the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence. In addition, he complains of a number of eviden-tiary rulings including the failure to exclude the testimony of Matthew Ferrera, a State “expert” witness, the exclusion of all of the testimony of Leonard Snyder, a defense witness, exclusion of portions of A.D. Coleman’s testimony, a defense “expert” witness, and the admission into evidence of a videotape cassette entitled “Chicken Hawk: Men Who Love Boys” and an accompanying sales receipt. Appellant further contends that the trial court erred in refusing to define the word “lewd” in the jury charge, and in denying a requested instruction on selective enforcement or prosecution. Lastly, appellant urges that he was prevented from interrogating the jury panel about the statutory qualifications of jurors.

*231 COUNT V

Count V of the indictment, in effect, charged that appellant, on or about June 24, 1997, did then and there intentionally and knowingly possess material containing a film image that visually depicted a child younger than 18 years of age at the time the film image of the child was made, and the child is engaging in sexual conduct, to wit: lewd exhibition of the child’s genitals, and that appellant knew the child was engaging in sexual conduct. Twenty nine separate photographs were alleged in the count.

The indictment was brought under section 48.26(a) of the Penal Code in effect at the time of the offense. See note 1. Under the statute, film image was defined as including “a photograph, slide, negative, film, or videotape, or a reproduction of any of these.”

BACKGROUND

Chief of Police Robert Snyder of Manor told the jury that he came into contact with appellant on June 24, 1997, after learning that some illegal visual material might be in appellant’s hotel room. Chief Snyder obtained from appellant both an oral and a written consent to search the room. 2 In the hotel room, Snyder found the book “Immediate Family.” Several photographs therein were the subject matter of Count I of the indictment. He also discovered the book “Radiant Identities,” several pages and photographs of which were the subject matter of Count II. One of two videotape movies found on appellant’s bed was entitled “Leolo,” two portions of which were the subject matter of Counts III and IV. In appellant’s dresser drawers, among his clothing, the police found the 29 photographs which formed the basis for Count V upon which appellant was convicted.

The 29 photographs were introduced. Dr. Beth Nauert, a pediatrician, testified that, using the Tanner Staging process for sexual maturity rating, she was able to determine that most of the 29 photographs involved individuals under 18 years of age at the time of the photographs. Ella Watson testified for the defense giving her book store and publishing company experience. Watson related that the Book People store where she worked carried both of the books found in appellant’s room. She did not testify as to the 29 photographs involved in count V.

A.D. Coleman, an art critic and writer for 30 years for specialized photographic journals and a contributor to well-known general publications, testified for the defense. He explained that a number of the 29 photographs alleged in Count V were copies of photographs made by Baron Wil-hem Von Gloeden who worked in Italy in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the current century, and who was a student of classical art. Coleman stated that Von Gloeden’s photographs were replications of classical motifs in visual art reflecting the Greco-Roman culture where nudity was socially acceptable in art. The photographs were exemplars, he reported, of artistic ideas concerning architecture, fighting costume, youth, athletics, fraternity, religion, competition, and death. Coleman related that the photographs were used for educational purposes and were available in book stores, museums, and public collections around the world. Coleman testified that State’s exhibits 17, 28, and 29 were photographs by Edward Weston and were considered classics in photography, and for the last 40 or 50 years these prints had *232 been exhibited in many museum collections. Weston, according to Coleman, drew upon some of the same ideas utilized by Von Gloeden, and Weston was well-known for the technical skills involved in creating his photographs.

Dr. Matthew Ferrera, a clinical psychologist specializing in forensic psychology, was called in rebuttal by the State. He testified as to a four-step process for sexual arousal which included impulse (recognizing another as a sexual object), fantasy, planning, and action. Ferrera testified that the 29 photographs of Count V would elicit a sexual response because the photographs viewed children in terms of their sexuality and apprised them as sexual beings. He stated that the photographs could feasibly harm the participating children later in life and in turn harm society.

William Simon, a sociologist, testified for the defense, but since he testified only about the film, “Leolo,” his testimony is rendered moot by virtue of the jury’s verdict of acquittal as to Counts III and IV of the indictment.

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY

In his first point of error, appellant challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction under Count V of the indictment.

In determining whether the evidence is legally sufficient to support the conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, asking whether any rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt all of the essential elements of the offense charged. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Lane v. State, 933 S.W.2d 504, 507 (Tex.Crim.App.1996); Emery v. State, 881 S.W.2d 702, 705 (Tex.Crim.App.1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1192, 115 S.Ct. 1257, 131 L.Ed.2d 137 (1995).

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7 S.W.3d 225, 1999 WL 996773, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roise-v-state-texapp-1999.