Smith v. State

740 S.E.2d 174, 320 Ga. App. 408, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 814, 2013 WL 1021820, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 200
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided March 15, 2013·No. A12A1726·Published·Cited by 22 cases

Opinion

PHIPPS, Presiding Judge.

Thaddeus Tyrell Smith appeals his convictions for aggravated child molestation, child molestation, and two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree. He contends that the evidence was [409] insufficient to support his convictions and that, for sentencing purposes, his convictions for child molestation and cruelty to children must be vacated because they merged with the crime of aggravated child molestation. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

1. Smith contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. We disagree.

In resolving [Smith’s] challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in a light favorable to the jury’s verdict. Weighing the evidence and determining witness credibility are beyond the purview of this [c]ourt. We simply assess whether the evidence was sufficient to find [Smith] guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.1

Viewed in this light, the evidence showed the following. In February 2007, the mother of then seven-year-old C. W. questioned the child regarding an alleged incident of C. W. acting out sexually with another child; C. W. had allegedly tried to kiss a boy whose pants were pulled down. The mother testified that C. W. initially denied the allegations. According to the mother, she explained to C. W. that she needed to know why C. W. felt as though her conduct was okay. The mother testified that C. W. started shaking and crying, and said “Tyrell did it to me.” C. W. further told her mother that “Tyrell,” who was her mother’s former boyfriend, had hurt her and had told her not to tell anyone. The next day the mother took C. W. to a police station to make a report. C. W. was interviewed and examined by various professionals.

The mother testified that she had begun dating Smith in 2003, when C. W. was three years old. Their relationship progressed and about six to seven months later, she and C. W. moved in with Smith. During the time that C. W. and her mother lived with Smith, C. W. attended a “Head Start” program during the daytime. After living with Smith for seven to eight months, the mother ended her relationship with Smith, and she and C. W. moved out of Smith’s home. The mother and C. W. moved into an apartment, and C. W. started kindergarten. The mother and Smith dated for a total of one and one half years. As far as C. W.’s contact with Smith after the mother’s relationship with Smith had ended, the mother testified that on one occasion when C. W. was seven years old, Smith, alone, had taken his infant son and C. W. to a restaurant for a birthday party.

[410] At the time of trial, C. W. was ten years old. C. W. testified, using anatomical drawings, that on more than one occasion, Smith had put his “private part” inside her front private part, and on the outside and inside of her back private part. C. W. testified that these acts occurred when she was in the Head Start program. She also recalled that Smith had touched her in “both” of her private parts, at his apartment, after he had taken her and his infant son to a restaurant. C. W. testified that she had bad memories of Smith touching her when she was in the Head Start program.

A clinically licensed social worker who interviewed C. W. testified that C. W. told her that Smith had placed his private part inside her “bottom” and inside her “tootie,” too.

(a) Child molestation and aggravated child molestation. A person commits the offense of child molestation when he “[d]oes any immoral or indecent act to or in the presence of or with any child under the age of 16 years with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of either the child or the person.”2 3The indictment pertinently charged that Smith committed child molestation when he “did an immoral or indecent act to [C. W.], a child under the age of 16, with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the accused, by touching her vaginal area with his penis.”

A person commits the offense of aggravated child molestation when he “commits an offense of child molestation which act physically injures the child or involves an act of sodomy.”8 A person commits the offense of sodomy when he “performs or submits to any sexual act involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another.”4 The indictment pertinently charged that Smith committed aggravated child molestation when he “did an immoral or indecent act to [C. W.], a child under the age of 16, with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the accused, and which involved an act of sodomy, by touching her anus with his penis.”

“[T]he testimony of a victim of child molestation or aggravated child molestation need not be corroborated.”5 “The testimony of one witness is generally sufficient to establish a fact.”6 And

[witnesses are not required to describe the acts constituting the commission of crimes in statutory or technical language [411] in order to prove the commission of such acts. Rather, the terms used by witnesses to describe criminal acts may be considered in context to provide meaning, and jurors can be presumed to have some knowledge of slang expressions in common parlance in the vernacular.7

Here, the victim’s testimony, use of anatomical drawings, and use of the term “private parts” to describe the touching that occurred authorized the jury to infer contact between Smith’s penis and C. W.’s vagina, and Smith’s penis and C. W.’s anus, and established the child molestation and aggravated child molestation charges as alleged in the indictment.8 Thus, C. W.’s testimony was sufficient to support Smith’s convictions for child molestation and aggravated child molestation.9

Smith concedes that C. W.’s “testimony alone [was] sufficient to sustain a conviction under Section 16-6-4.” But he asserts that “there were other witnesses [’] testimony that should be viewed in conjunction with the testimony of [C. W.].” However, Smith’s argument addresses conflicts in the testimony and, as such, goes to the weight to be given to such evidence, which is solely in the province of the jury and does not provide a basis for reversal on appeal.10 Furthermore, “[t]o the extent [C. W.’s] testimony at trial was not entirely consistent with her former statements to the social worker, this presented a credibility question to be resolved by the jury.”11

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Smith v. State, 740 S.E.2d 174, 320 Ga. App. 408, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 814, 2013 WL 1021820, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 200 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013).

740 S.E.2d 174 (Smith v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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