State v. Bairnsfather

576 So. 2d 580, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 290, 1991 WL 23808
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 28, 1991
DocketNo. 90-KA-0449
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 576 So. 2d 580 (State v. Bairnsfather) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bairnsfather, 576 So. 2d 580, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 290, 1991 WL 23808 (La. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

LOBRANO, Judge.

Defendant, Raymond Bairnsfather, was charged by bill of information with aggravated crime against nature upon his niece, K.W., a violation of La.R.S. 14:98.1.1

Defendant was tried on November 27th and 28th, 1989 by a twelve-member jury and was found guilty of the lesser offense of crime against nature. On December 1, 1989, defendant was sentenced to five (5) years at hard labor.2 FACTS:

K.W. was eight years old at the time the crime was committed. She lived with her mother, M.W., a younger brother, and her mother’s boyfriend, G.D. During the latter part of 1988, defendant, K.W.’s uncle, moved in with the family. M.W. and G.D. worked at a theatre on Airline Highway. Defendant was employed as a janitor at a movie theatre on Elysian Fields.

On the day of the crime, G.D. brought K.W. and her brother to the theatre where defendant was employed. Defendant left K.W.’s brother at the theatre and took K.W. to a local Burger King for lunch. After eating, defendant and K.W. went home. While K.W. was watching television, defendant told her to get on top of him. He then took out “his private part”. K.W. testified that defendant then pulled her pants down and began rubbing his “private part” against her “private part”. She stated that “white stuff” came out of his “private part”. Defendant then cleaned himself and K.W. K.W. testified that defendant then told her to put his “private part” in her mouth. She complied. K.W. did not tell anyone what happened because she was afraid she would “get into trouble”.

K.W.’s behavior and grades began to deteriorate. When G.D. began questioning her, K.W. told him what defendant had done. K.W.’s mother telephoned the child protection hotline which arranged for her to see a social worker. The social worker, in turn, arranged an appointment with the police.

[582]*582K.W. was brought to Charity Hospital where she was examined by Dr. Kurt Den-ninghoff. No physical signs of sexual abuse were found. However, Dr. Dennin-ghoff testified, “... She was remarkably upset, frightened, moreso [sic] than I had noticed with other children, ... I’ve never had a child respond to an examination this way who had not been violated, and I have examined thousands of children.”

Defendant was arrested on May 25,1989. He gave a taped statement to Detective Marlin Defilo, a portion of which was played at trial, in which defendant denied K.W.’s allegations and accused her of lying.

Defendant appeals his conviction and sentence asserting the following assignments of error:

1) The trial court erred in refusing to allow the defense to impeach the victim by showing her bad reputation for truth and veracity;
2) The trial court erred in refusing to allow the defense to impeach the victim with proof of prior inconsistent statements.

ASSIGNMENT OP ERROR 1:

Defendant asserts the trial judge erred by refusing to allow defense counsel to question Dale and Joann Konig, K.W.’s cousins, relative to K.W.’s reputation for truthfulness and veracity.

The following colloquy took place during the direct examination of the Konigs. DALE KONIG:

Q. “Okay. Have you discussed Kelly’s reputation with other members of the family in her community?
BY THE COURT:
Excuse me. What is this? EXAMINATION BY MR. RUSKIN:
Q. Are you familiar with—
BY THE COURT:
Are you talking about a child’s reputation?
BY MR. RUSKIN:
Yes, Mam.
BY THE COURT:
Well, if you want to put on reputation testimony, you cannot do that about that particular witness, you can only do that about your client, if that’s what you want to do. You want to put on character testimony about Kelly?
BY MR. RUSKIN:
That’s right, Your Honor.
BY THE COURT:
No. sir.
BY MR. RUSKIN:
About her credibility.
BY THE COURT:
No, sir. No, sir, that’s not going to be permissible.
BY MR. RUSKIN:
Reputation, community reputation.
BY THE COURT:
No, sir, that’s is not going to be rep— BY MR. RUSKIN:
A specific area.
BY THE COURT:
No, sir, that is not going to be permissible. This jury determines what they think about the credibility of the witness. If you want to put on reputation testimony about the defendant, that’s fine.
BY MR. RUSKIN:
I would like to note my objection for the record.”
JOANN KONIG:
Q. “To your knowledge, do you know— do you know Kelly real well?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. And, how long have you seen Kelly over the years?
A. Kelly and her mother and her brother lived with us twice. No, I take that back, once. And, then, she lived across the hallway of the apartment complex another time.
Q. Did you meet with Kelly often?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. In your apartment?
A. I baby sitted Kelly.
Q. Her mother trusted you with Kelly? A. I guess she did.
Q. She knew that Raymond was with you at that time?
[583]*583A. Yes.
BY THE COURT:
You keep on asking leading questions, Mr. Ruskin, and I’m not going to tell you again to stop it. Ask direct questions. EXAMINATION BY MR. RUSKIN:
Q. Do you know people who know Raymond real well?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Do you know a lot of people who know Kelly real well?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Now, during the summer after Kelly was — Kelly was staying was there a time during the summer when Kelly came to stay with you?
A. Yes, she was.
Q. And, how long was that during the summer?
A. She came like in the first week in June and I watched her up until the last week of June. So almost a month.
Q. And, did you — did there come a time when you stopped watching her?
A. Yes.
Q. Why did you stop—
BY MR. KELLY:
Objection, Your Honor, irrelevant.

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Related

State v. Bairnsfather
581 So. 2d 668 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
576 So. 2d 580, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 290, 1991 WL 23808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bairnsfather-lactapp-1991.