State Of Washington, V. Juan Gabriel Fregoso Uribe

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 29, 2024
Docket85664-2
StatusUnpublished

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State Of Washington, V. Juan Gabriel Fregoso Uribe, (Wash. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 85664-2-I Respondent, DIVISION ONE v. UNPUBLISHED OPINION JUAN GABRIEL FEGOSO URIBE,

Appellant.

DÍAZ, J. — A jury convicted Juan Gabriel Fregoso Uribe 1 of one count of

indecent liberties and one count of child molestation in the first degree committed

against his goddaughter. Uribe now argues the trial court erred by admitting and

reading into the record the transcript of a forensic interview, which the victim, PPM,

gave two years after the alleged sexual contact, and by admitting the testimony of

ANOS, 2 who testified to a similar incident in a separate trial. Although, as the

State concedes, the admission of the transcript may have been improper, and the

reading of the evidence “unconventional,” we find any error harmless, affirm the

conviction, and remand this matter to the trial court to address only whether and

under what terms Uribe may have no contact with his biological children.

1 Counsel refers to him as Uribe, so we do the same. 2 We refer to PPM and ANOS by their initials to protect their privacy. No.85664-2-I/2

I. BACKGROUND

Uribe was PPM’s godfather. At trial, PPM described that in May 2016, when

she was approximately 8 years old, Uribe separated her from some other children

at a family gathering at his home, and put PPM’s hand on his genitals. Uribe held

PPM’s hand to his genitals for an undetermined amount of time before he

ejaculated. Uribe told PPM not to tell anyone.

Afterward, PPM’s parents observed that she became withdrawn and often

would not leave her room. Approximately two years later, in December 2018, PPM

disclosed the incident to a school counselor, who then alerted PPM’s parents, who

alerted law enforcement. As will be discussed in more detail below, in January

2019, PPM participated in a forensic interview where she described the incident.

Uribe was arrested, and charged with one count of indecent liberties (by

forcible compulsion) and one count of child molestation in the first degree.

At trial, PPM, her parents, and the forensic interviewer testified on behalf of

the State. Additionally, the trial court admitted the trial testimony of ANOS, who

had testified to a similar incident with Uribe, which was the subject of a separate

trial. Uribe made several evidentiary objections prior to and during the trial. We

will discuss these objections in subsequent sections.

A jury found Uribe guilty as charged. The court sentenced Uribe to 198

months confinement for the first count, and 198 months for the second count,

running concurrently. The trial court imposed conditions of community custody

including, among other things, that Uribe have no contact with minors under the

2 No.85664-2-I/3

age of 18 without prior approval from his community correction officer. Uribe timely

appeals.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Admission and Reading of PPM’s Forensic Interview

1. Additional Factual and Procedural Background

During trial, the State asked PPM about an incident prior to the alleged

crime when, while at Uribe’s house, she walked by the bathroom, with its door

open, and may have seen Uribe inside urinating. PPM testified she did not

remember this incident. The State again asked PPM if she remembered a time

when she “thought the defendant saw [her from] . . . the bathroom.” Uribe objected,

on the basis of hearsay, and the parties held a colloquy outside the jury’s presence.

The State moved the court to permit the State to show PPM a video recording of

her forensic interview from 2018, stating “I’m directly confronting her with her own

statements, either to refresh her recollection or impeach her.” Uribe objected,

arguing the State had asked and PPM had answered this question. Overruling the

objection, the court allowed the State to show PPM the video to refresh her

recollection.

After showing PPM the video, the State continued its questioning:

Q. . . . do you remember having an interview regarding this case previously? A. Yes. . . .

Q. And do you remember that interview taking place? A. Yes.
Q. And did that interview . . . take place closer in time to the incidents

3 No.85664-2-I/4

that you’ve been describing today? . . . A. Yeah.

Q. And was your memory at the time of this interview . . . better or worse than it is today? A. I think better. . . .

Q. Did you tell her everything that you remembered accurately the way that you remembered it? A. I’m pretty sure, yes, I do.

The court then played the recorded forensic interview excerpt and

the State asked:

Q. . . . [D]o you remember that conversation? A. A little bit.

Q. Does that help refresh your recollection about the timeline of what occurred at all or no? A. Not really.

(Emphasis added.)

The State then moved to admit the transcript of the interview, arguing it was

admissible as a recorded recollection under ER 803(a)(5):

I think she very clearly did testify today that she remembered that interview, remembered, uh, accurately detailing what she remembered at the time, and she said that that incident had occurred more closely in time to the incident that she discussed today and that her memory at that time was better than her memory would be today.

(Emphasis added.) The State again sought to admit the transcript into evidence,

solely to establish the time frame of the alleged incident. The court admitted the

transcript for that limited purpose under ER 803(a)(5). 3

3 Under ER 803(a)(5), a recorded recollection is “[a] memorandum or record concerning a matter about which a witness once had knowledge but now has insufficient recollection to enable the witness to testify fully and accurately, shown 4 No.85664-2-I/5

2. Admission of the Transcript Under ER 803(a)(5)

Both Uribe and the State agree the trial court should not have admitted the

excerpts of PPM’s forensic interview as substantive evidence under the recorded

recollection exception of ER 803(a)(5). The State concedes that the testimony

does not meet the requirements of ER 803(a)(5) because at trial it failed to

establish that the incident was fresh in PPM’s memory at the time of the interview.

Accepting the State’s concession, and assuming without deciding that the

trial court erred by admitting the transcript of PPM’s forensic interview, we

nonetheless conclude that the error was harmless.

Errors resulting from the violation of an evidentiary rule are not errors of

constitutional magnitude. State v. Bourgeois, 133 Wn.2d 389, 403, 945 P.2d 1120

(1997). An appellant bears the burden of establishing that the error was not

harmless, i.e., that it was prejudicial. State v. Barry, 183 Wn.2d 297, 317, 352 P.3d

161 (2015). To be “prejudicial” means that “within reasonable probabilities, had

the error not occurred, the outcome of the trial would have been materially

affected.’” Id. at 303 (quoting State v. Smith, 106 Wn.2d 772, 780, 725 P.2d 951

(1986)). “In assessing whether the error was harmless, we must measure the

admissible evidence of the defendant’s guilt against the prejudice, if any, caused

by the inadmissible evidence.” Id.

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