State v. Bailey

2015 NMCA 102, 8 N.M. Ct. App. 637
New Mexico Court of Appeals·Decided September 25, 2015·No. No. 35,395; Docket No. 32,521·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinions

OPINION

WECHSLER, Judge.

{1} Defendant Jason Bailey appeals his conviction for criminal sexual contact of a minor in the second degree pursuant to NMS A 1978, Section 30-9-13(B) (2004). Defendant argues that the district court erred when it admitted evidence of uncharged bad acts under Rule 11-404(B) NMRA and Rule 11-403 NMRA. More specifically, Defendant argues that the district court erred when, mid-trial, it reversed an earlier ruling that excluded evidence of an alleged out-of-jurisdiction sexual act by Defendant against Child. Defendant argues that this evidence was propensity evidence and was more prejudicial than probative. We do not conclude that the district court abused its discretion when it admitted this evidence. Defendant also argues that the district court committed error by allowing a qualified expert to offer an opinion beyond the scope of the expert’s qualified expertise. We are not persuaded by Defendant’s argument on this point. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2} Defendant was charged with sex crimes relating to incidents reported by his daughter (Child) that occurred when Child was between about six and nine years of age. The charges related to two separate time intervals when the family lived in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. In between the periods of time that the family lived in Bernalillo County, the family lived in Sandoval County, New Mexico.

{3} Defendant was tried twice. Defendant’s first trial resulted in dismissal of five of the counts by directed verdict and a mistrial due to jury disagreement on the remaining four counts. Defendant was retried on the remaining four counts.

{4} Two incidents formed the basis of Defendant’s charges at the retrial. Child reported that Defendant placed ointment on his finger and touched and rubbed Child’s vagina after she got out of the shower and was wearing only a towel. Child reported that this occurred during the first time period the family lived in Bernalillo County. Child also reported that Defendant rubbed his penis on Child’s back while they were both in the shower. This occurred during the second time period the family lived in Bernalillo County. On the basis of these two incidents, Defendant was charged with two counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor in the first degree, child under thirteen years of age, and two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor in the third degree, child under thirteen years of age.

{5} Prior to the second trial, the State filed a motion to admit evidence of a purported prior conviction for a sex crime and an uncharged act against Child that occurred while the family was living in Sandoval County. Child reported that, in Sandoval County, Defendant roused Child from sleep at night to watch her favorite movie, laid Child on top of him, placed ointment on his hand, placed his hand in her pajamas, and touched and penetrated her vagina.1 The State argued in its motion that evidence of Defendant’s uncharged conduct was admissible under Rule 11-404(B)(2) as proof of Defendant’s intent. According to the State, Defendant’s defense at the first trial was that the charged incidents involved normal parenting and that Defendant lacked sexual intent. The State asserted that Defendant had argued at the first trial that his actions were misperceived as sexual by Child. Defendant had argued that Child was prone to this type of misperception because Child was a victim of prior sexual abuse by her mother’s boyfriend. According to the State, the Sandoval County incident was not amenable to an interpretation as normal parenting, and thus it was probative of Defendant’s sexual intent and, by inference, that Child correctly perceived the incidents for which Defendant was charged. Defendant argued that evidence of the Sandoval County incident was propensity evidence and therefore inadmissable under Rule 11-404(B). Defendant also seemed to argue that the Sandoval County evidence was inadmissible under Rule 11 -403 because of the prejudicial effect of the evidence. The district court denied the State’s motion, finding that the evidence was “only being offered to prove the witness’ understanding, and [Rule 11 -404(B)] does not actually address that type of issue . . . [;] this type of evidence is highly prejudicial and it’s more prejudicial than probative].]” Consequently, Child was instructed not to discuss the Sandoval County incident at the retrial.

{6} During the retrial, defense counsel had the following exchange with Child on cross-examination in which he confronted Child about lying during the safehouse interview and then asked questions in which defense counsel seemed to conflate the two incidents involving ointment, one of which took place in Bernalillo County and was the basis for charges, and the other from Sandoval County, which was uncharged and excluded from evidence by the district court:

[Defense Counsel]: Now, do you recall that you told me that when you were watching the video [of your interview at the safehouse] that you realized that you were lying and not telling the complete truth?
[Child]: Well, yes, because there’s some things when the [interviewer at the safehouse] would ask me a question I would say I don’t know, and I really did know.
[Defense Counsel]: Uh-huh. Okay. For example, let’s talk about the ointment incident, okay? When you first disclosed the ointment incident you told people or you told the interviewer that [Defendant] had taken your pants off and put the ointment on you; right? Do you remember that?
[Child]: I think that was a different incident. I don’t know. That it wasn’t — because I remember coming out of the shower.
[Defense Counsel]: Okay. Well, the ointment incident, what you have described it [sic], what happened at [one of the Bernalillo County residences]; correct?
[Child]: Yes.
[Defense Counsel]: Okay. Do you remember that to begin with the first time thatyou mentioned the ointment incident you had told the interviewer that [Defendant] had actually pulled your pants down and then applied the ointment?
[Child]: I don’t think that happened.
[Defense Counsel]: But do you remember saying that?
[Child]: No.

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State v. Bailey, 2015 NMCA 102, 8 N.M. Ct. App. 637 (N.M. Ct. App. 2015).

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