Snow v. State

492 S.E.2d 564, 228 Ga. App. 649, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 3653, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 1229
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedOctober 1, 1997
DocketA97A1119
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 492 S.E.2d 564 (Snow 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
Snow v. State, 492 S.E.2d 564, 228 Ga. App. 649, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 3653, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 1229 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

Johnson, Judge.

A jury found Carl Lee Snow guilty of raping his girl friend’s daughter. He appeals from the conviction entered on the verdict and the denial of his motion for new trial.

1. Snow challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows the following: Snow lived with his girl friend and her 18-year-old daughter. The daughter is legally blind, mentally retarded, and, at the time of the offense, functioned at the level of a five-year-old child. At trial, the victim testified that Snow had sexual intercourse with her on her bedroom floor even though she had told him “stop and ... no, no, no, no, no.”

An investigator with the sheriff’s department testified that when he interviewed the victim at school a few days after the incident, she trembled and exhibited behavior typically displayed by victims of sexual assault. In a statement which was taped and played for the jury, the victim stated that Snow told her to lie on the floor and remove her underwear. Snow had sexual intercourse with her despite her telling him “please don’t do this to me.” When the investigator went to the victim’s home, the victim pointed to the area next to her bed where Snow forced her to have intercourse. The officer was *650 able to detect what appeared to be seminal fluid in the carpet and removed a carpet sample for testing.

A forensic scientist who conducted DNA tests on the sample and compared the sample to a specimen obtained from Snow testified that only seven percent of the North American Caucasian population could have been responsible for producing the specimen and that Snow is included in that pool.

An emergency room physician examined the victim and concluded that she had had intercourse in the past, though he could not determine when. Snow denied ever having sexual intercourse with the victim. The record reveals ample evidence from which a rational trier of fact could find Snow guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of rape. See Dean v. State, 215 Ga. App. 23, 24 (4) (449 SE2d 622) (1994). Snow’s argument that the victim’s “statements and testimony were vague, unintelligible, equivocal, and self-contradictory,” addresses itself to the victim’s credibility, which is a matter within the province of the jury. See Robinson v. State, 204 Ga. App. 637 (419 SE2d 926) (1992). This enumeration is without merit.

2. Snow argues that the trial court erred in allowing, over objection, the investigator’s testimony that he believed the victim. Although opinion evidence about the credibility of a witness is generally inadmissible (see Guest v. State, 201 Ga. App. 506, 507 (1) (411 SE2d 364) (1991)), there was no error here because defense counsel elicited the testimony.

While cross-examining the investigator, defense counsel asked him if he thought it was important to “check out [the victim’s] story and find out whether or not she may have told you everything.” Snow’s attorney then asked the investigator if he spoke with the victim’s mother only once, to which the officer responded that if he had known “she was going to hinder or she was going to take sides with Carl Snow,” he would have taken a statement from her. Defense counsel next asked the officer if he “ever [thought] that maybe [the mother] wanted to tell the truth rather than taking sides?” The witness replied that he believed the mother was protecting Snow instead of her daughter. Counsel then asked:. “And you think that because you’re on this side, not on that side?” The officer answered: “No, sir, ‘cause I experienced the interview with [the victim] and I believe [her].” Defense counsel objected, which objection was overruled, and then continued his cross-examination.

By asking the investigator about the victim’s credibility, her mother’s credibility, and the witness’ reasons for thinking the mother was trying to protect Snow, defense counsel propounded dangerous questions. Snow cannot now object to the court’s ruling on one of the answers. See Henson v. State, 168 Ga. App. 210, 212 (2) (308 SE2d 555) (1983); Helton v. State, 217 Ga. App. 691, 693-694 (4) (458 SE2d *651 872) (1995). Moreover, the testimony complained of was cumulative of evidence admitted earlier without objection. See Milan v. State, 207 Ga. App. 206, 207 (427 SE2d 573) (1993). Earlier in the trial, Snow did not object when another deputy testified that he told Snow he and the investigator believed the victim. Finally, we note that the trial court instructed the jury that the jury alone determines which witnesses and testimony to believe. Based on the foregoing, this enumération is without merit.

3. Snow contends the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial when the prosecutor offered at trial, in the presence of the jury, to send the victim’s underpants back to the crime lab for analysis since the lab failed to analyze them. Snow complains that the state’s offer to postpone trial so that the evidence could be analyzed made the jury “suspicious” of the defense, who refused to consent to testing at such a late date. After the trial judge denied Snow’s motion for mistrial, he announced that he would instead give a curative instruction telling the jury that the defendant had no duty to consent to testing at this time. In response, Snow asked the court to add that it was not the defendant who would not allow testing. The trial court assured Snow that it would inform the jury that the rules require testing be done well before trial. Snow did not object. The court gave the instruction and added that the court was not going to* stop the trial for additional testing to be conducted. No further objection or motion for mistrial was made. Accordingly, Snow’s assertion on appeal that the trial court’s curative remarks were insufficient has been waived. See Allen v. State, 224 Ga. App. 324, 325 (2) (480 SE2d 328) (1997).

4. We find no merit in Snow’s contention that the trial court erred in allowing into evidence part of his statement to investigators but in redacting a portion of the statement in which Snow said that the victim had previously had sexual intercourse with her cousin. The investigator testified that when he arrested Snow, informed him of the charges, advised him of his rights, and told him the investigators believed the victim, Snow stated: “[W]ell f— you. I don’t care what you believe. I took good care of the little b— and I’m not that kind of person.”

The trial court ruled that, despite OCGA § 24-3-38, the rape shield statute (OCGA § 24-2-3) prohibits the introduction of testimony that the victim had previously had sexual intercourse with someone other than Snow. We agree. The rape shield statute, which supersedes all evidentiary exceptions (see Phillips v. State, 196 Ga. App. 267, 268 (3), (4) (396 SE2d 57) (1990)), prohibits the introduction of evidence related to the victim’s past sexual behavior except in certain instances not applicable here. See Brown v. State, 225 Ga. App. 49, 51 (1) (c) (483 SE2d 318) (1997); Stancil v. State,

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Bluebook (online)
492 S.E.2d 564, 228 Ga. App. 649, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 3653, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 1229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/snow-v-state-gactapp-1997.