State of Tennessee v. Jose Reyes

505 S.W.3d 890, 2016 WL 3090904, 2016 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 396
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMay 24, 2016
DocketM2015-00504-CCA-R3-CD
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 505 S.W.3d 890 (State of Tennessee v. Jose Reyes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Tennessee v. Jose Reyes, 505 S.W.3d 890, 2016 WL 3090904, 2016 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 396 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

Alan E. Glenn, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court,

in which James Curwood Witt, Jr., and Robert L. Holloway, Jr., JJ., joined.

The defendant, Jose Reyes, was convicted of one count of rape of a child and sentenced to thirty-two years at 100%. On appeal, he argues that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict and that the trial court erred in several of its rulings. Specifically, he asserts that the trial court erred in: denying his motion in li-mine to prevent the Child Advocacy Center facility dog from being present with the victim as he was testifying; denying his motion to suppress his written statement and his motion in limine that the statement be excluded at trial; denying his motion to dismiss the superseding indictment; denying his motion for a continuance to locate a witness; denying his motion in limine to exclude testimony regarding his having sexual relations or watching pornography in the presence of the victim; denying his motion for judgment of acquittal; imposing an excessive sentence; and considering the victim impact statement, which included references to HIV, herpes, and gonorrhea. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTS

The defendant was convicted of raping the victim, who was 10 years old at the time of the trial and had been spending the night with the defendant when the offense occurred.

The victim’s grandmother testified as the first witness, saying that she had a close relationship with him and would “spoil him every chance [she] got.” In November 2012, he was living alternately with her and with his mother, as well as with “friends.” Once or twice a month, as well as on weekends, he would stay with a “long-time family friend,” from whom the defendant rented a room. In March 2013, the defendant moved from the friend’s residence, apparently to five with some of his friends in a trailer and, later, to a house next to it.

She said that the victim and defendant were “good friends,” and the victim continued to spend several nights per week, as well as weekends, at the defendant’s new residence. Following a conversation she had with the victim, she became “very upset” and “confronted” the defendant. She said that she does not speak Spanish and, thus, questioned him in English regarding what the victim had told her. He *894 “denied it and he cried and he begged and said he would 'never hurt him. And I told him but you did.” The following day, the victim’s mother took him to the sheriffs department and met with Detective Mike Billings, who began investigating the matter.

On cross-examination, the victim’s grandmother said that the victim had been staying with the defendant, in this fashion, for several months and seemed to be happy-

The victim testified that presently he was 10 years old. From November 2012 through March 2013, he was staying, alternately, at his grandmother’s house and at that of his aunt, where the defendant also lived. He said that he spoke “[a] little” Spanish, conversed with the defendant in English, and was understood by the defendant. He said that when he was with the defendant in the defendant’s bedroom, the defendant “[sjtuck his privates in my butt.” The victim said that the defendant touched him “skin to skin” and did not touch him anywhere else. This happened around the first of 2013, and he told his grandmother, although not right after it had happened. The victim explained that he was referring to the defendant’s penis when he talked about his “privates.”

On cross-examination, the victim said that, although he had not bled after the incident, he had a “really bad pain.” He said he did not return to stay with the defendant after this happened and had not seen him since then.

Sheriff Patrick Ray, of the DeKalb County Sheriffs Office, testified that the defendant was being housed in the county jail. When he spoke with the defendant, he did so in English; Sheriff Ray said he could not speak Spanish.

Detective Mike Billings said he had worked in law enforcement for approximately 20 years and had formerly worked for Sheriff Ray. He said that the victim and his mother had come to the Sheriffs office on March 6, 2013, where he met with them. He called the Department of Children’s Services, and, along with one of its representatives, met with the victim and his mother. Later that day, he went to the defendant’s residence, where the defendant answered the door, saying to him, “I know why you’re here, you’re here because of [the victim].” The defendant told Detective Billings that he knew there were “some allegations made against him that he had raped [the victim].” The defendant gave permission for his residence to be searched and, afterwards, Detective Billings took him to the sheriffs office for an interview. He spoke English to the. defendant, who responded in English. He said that the sheriff’s department could summon interpreters to talk with non-English speakers, but he did not need one in speaking with the defendant because each understood the other. He advised the defendant of his Miranda rights, and the defendant waived them in writing. Detective Billings asked if the defendant wanted to write out his statement, and he responded that he would rather have Detective Billings do so. Detective Billings then proceeded to write exactly what the defendant told him, and, after finishing, read the statement to the defendant and asked if there were any additions or deletions to be made. The defendant responded that there were not and signed the statement. As read aloud by Detective Billings, the defendant had told him:

I have lived in DeKalb County for about seven years and about four months ago I met [the victim]. And he would want to come to my house and stay all night with me on the weekends [the victim] had stayed at my house about twenty times and sometimes he would sleep with me and most of the *895 time we both slept in our boxers. There was two times he would try to get in the bed naked and I told that is not right and sometimes he would put them on and sometimes he would just jump under the covers naked.
Sometimes I could smell him and I would make him take a shower and I would stand by the door and he would try and spray water on me at my face, but it wouldn’t make me mad.
It has been a month since I had sex and it Was with a girl- from the bar I met. I do know Tina Young was over there at my house one night or two and we had sex. I don’t remember if [the victim] saw us or not. Sometimes when we was driving down the road, [the victim] would say stuff like my penis is hard and I would tell him to shut up and sometimes he would ask if I would take him to the strip club, but I told him he could not go.
One time I was in the living room watching TV and (sic) came out of my room and he said come look and he had a hard on. And I said what, what the hell are you doing and he said he played Grand Theft Auto game and it was giving him a hard'oh.
I never raped [the victim], but one time I was high that'day and he'wanted me to do it. I told him a thousand times not to, but he kept on asking and saying please get frisky. I told him it’s not right. He promised if I did this he wouldn’t let anyone else try it.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
505 S.W.3d 890, 2016 WL 3090904, 2016 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-tennessee-v-jose-reyes-tenncrimapp-2016.