State v. Henderson

129 P.3d 646, 35 Kan. App. 2d 241, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 223
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedMarch 10, 2006
DocketNo. 92,251
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 129 P.3d 646 (State v. Henderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Henderson, 129 P.3d 646, 35 Kan. App. 2d 241, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 223 (kanctapp 2006).

Opinion

Larson, J.:

Elroy D. Henderson appeals his conviction of one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, K.S.A. 21-3504(a)(3)(A), contending his right of confrontation was violated and that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction.

Although we reverse and remand for a new trial under the reasoning of the recent United States Supreme Court case of Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 158 L. Ed. 2d 177, 124 S. Ct. 1354 (2004), we must set forth the facts in considerable detail in order to resolve Henderson’s second contention that without the [242]*242admission of a videotape interview of the alleged victim, F.J.I., there is insufficient evidence to support his conviction.

Factual and procedural background

Henderson was charged in October 2003 of lewdly fondling or touching F.J.I., a 3-year-old child on or about Februaiy 24, 2003. Following a preliminary hearing, he was bound over for trial on the charge of aggravated indecent liberties in violation of K.S.A. 21-3504(a) (3) (A).

Shortly before trial, the State moved to admit two statements made by F.J.I. pursuant to K.S.A. 60-460(dd). In one statement made in March 2003, while in the presence of her mother and a nurse, F.J.I. nodded her head affirmatively when asked whether “Tae” (the name F.J.I. called Henderson, her mother’s former boyfriend) had hurt her. The State also sought to admit a videotape of an interview of F.J.I. conducted by Detective Jon Cherney of the Sedgwick County Sheriff s Department and Lori Chandler of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS).

At the hearing on the State’s K.S.A. 60-460(dd) motion, F.J.I. was brought to the court outside tire presence of tire juiy. After F.J.I. was asked a number of questions, the court found she was unavailable as a witness because she was unable to understand the proceedings, understand the questions, or understand her duty to testify truthfully. The State proffered evidence as to proposed testimony of the mother, the nurse, and a physician to establish the reliability of F.J.I.’s statements. Henderson’s counsel asserted there was insufficient indicia of reliability under the circumstances. Henderson further objected to the admission of the statements, contending it violated his right to confrontation. The court then found that F.J.I.’s affirmative response to her mother’s questions at the hospital did not possess a particularized guarantee of trustworthiness and would not be admitted. However, the court found the videotape did possess the required trustworthiness and would be admissible. In making its decisions, the court relied several times upon State v. Myatt, 237 Kan. 17, 26, 697 P.2d 836 (1985), and Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 65 L. Ed. 2d 597, 100 S. Ct. 2531 (1980).

[243]*243The testimony at trial showed F.J.I. was taken by her mother to the Wichita Clinic on March 3, 2003, complaining of pain during urination, and the mother noticed a thick discharge from F.J.I.’s vagina. The nurse, Frances Harris, took swab samples from F.J.I. for testing at the clinic’s lab. The tests showed a urinary tract infection and were positive for gonorrhea. The tests were redone to ensure accuracy and again showed the same results. Harris advised the mother of the results and reported tire test results to the authorities. Harris testified she had examined F.J.I. in the past during regular checkups and found no sign of a sexually transmitted disease (STD).

F.J.I.’s mother testified and confirmed Harris’ report of gonorrhea. Mother said F.J.I. had complained that her stomach and “potty place” were hurting for about a week, and 3 days before she took F.J.I. to the clinic, she noticed a discharge from F.J.I.’s vagina. Mother stated the only person who had unsupervised access to F.J.I. was her ex-boyfriend, Henderson, who she identified as “Donte.” Mother testified she had told this fact to Harris.

Mother further testified she had dated Henderson. They had broken up; but they started seeing each other again in February 2003. Mother said Henderson came to her house in the early morning hours of February 24, 2003, and they had unprotected consensual sex. She said later that morning Henderson offered to watch F.J.I. while she was at work because her regular babysitter was not available. Mother said Henderson and F.J.I. were alone that day for 6 hours. She testified no other man or men had unsupervised contact with F.J.I. in tire 4 weeks preceding March 4,2003. Mother also said that after learning of F.J.I.’s test she had a STD test which showed she was positive for gonorrhea. In her testimony, mother denied instructing F.J.I. to identify Henderson prior to her interview with authorities.

The testimony concerning F.J.I.’s interview, which is the central issue to this appeal, showed that F.J.I. after her diagnosis was interviewed on March 7 by Detective Cherney and Lori Chandler. Cherney and Chandler both belonged to the Exploited and Missing Child Unit (EMCW). They first talked to mother and then talked to F.J.I. in her mother’s presence; this interview was videotaped. [244]*244The audio portion of the interview was transcribed as well. Henderson renewed his objections to the admission of the videotape and its transcription on confrontation grounds.

The videotape was played to the jury over Henderson’s objections. During the interview, F.J.I. identified different body parts based upon a drawing of a girl figure. She referred to her backside as her “body” and her front genital area as her “potty.” When Chandler was telling F.J.I. about the parts of a girl that nobody should touch, F.J.I. said, “Tae touched my body and it was hurting.” She stated that Tae touched her with “tire ding ding.” F.J.I. showed Chandler on the drawing where Tae’s “ding ding” touched her. She said the touching happened at her grandmother’s house. Chandler then pulled out a drawing of a young adult male and asked F.J.I. to show her what a “ding ding” was. F.J.I. looked at the picture but did not react. It appears Chandler then pointed to the penis and asked F.J.I. what it was. She first said, “I don’t know” and then said, “That’s a hot dog.” When asked again what a “ding ding” was, F.J.I. stated, “It lives in the boy’s body” and that it was right there by the “hot dog.” She said she saw Tae’s “ding ding” and then said, “He’s got green hair.” Upon further questioning, it was clear F.J.I. did not know the name of colors. Later, she said Tae’s “ding ding” touched her and appeared to point to the front genital area on her own body. Later, when asked if she was dressed, F.J.I. indicated she took off her diaper off and let Tae touch her body.

In October 2003, Cherney and Chandler interviewed Henderson. Henderson denied having any sexual contact with F.J.I. but admitted babysitting her on February 24,2003.

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Related

State v. Henderson
160 P.3d 776 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2007)
People v. Stechly
870 N.E.2d 333 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2007)
Hernandez v. State
946 So. 2d 1270 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
129 P.3d 646, 35 Kan. App. 2d 241, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-henderson-kanctapp-2006.