State v. Tanner

220 S.W.3d 880, 2007 Mo. App. LEXIS 671, 2007 WL 1229118
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 27, 2007
Docket27656
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 220 S.W.3d 880 (State v. Tanner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Tanner, 220 S.W.3d 880, 2007 Mo. App. LEXIS 671, 2007 WL 1229118 (Mo. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

PHILLIP R. GARRISON, Judge.

Robert J. Tanner (“Defendant”) appeals a jury conviction of two counts of first degree statutory sodomy, violations of Section 566.062. 1 He contends that the trial court erred in admitting a videotaped interview of one of the victims because the requirements of Section 491.075 were not met, and in denying his motions for acquittal at the close of the State’s evidence. We affirm.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the following evidence was adduced at trial. Defendant married Tabitha Tanner (“Tabitha”) on March 16, 2000. Tabitha had a son, J.H., who was about eight years old at the time. During the marriage Tabitha gave birth to a daughter, S.T., who was fathered by another man. The couple separated around June 30, 2001, and eventually divorced. At the time of the separation, J.H. was almost ten years old and S.T. was fourteen months old. Defendant continued to see S.T. after the divorce and S.T. called Defendant “Daddy” or “Bom.”

After the separation, Defendant was living with his mother, Cecelia Tanner (“Cecelia”), in Cuba, Missouri. S.T. would stay overnight at the house when she visited, and J.H. would also spend time with Defendant at Cecelia’s house.

In August 2003, Dawn Hawkins (“Hawkins”), Tabitha’s adopted grandmother, was babysitting for S.T. when S.T. made some statements that concerned Hawkins. Hawkins made a hotline call to the Division of Family Services (“DFS”), and on August 27, 2003, S.T. was interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center of East Central Missouri by Dina Vitoux (“Vi-toux”), a forensic interviewer. During the interview, S.T. told Vitoux that “Bob” or “Bom” had “licked her on her coot,” which was the name S.T. used to describe her private part.

On September 16, 2003, Vitoux interviewed J.H. He told Vitoux, that Defendant had talked to him about sex, explained to him what sex was, told him how all the body parts were used during sex, and showed him pornographic videos. J.H. revealed that Defendant had masturbated in front of him, made J.H. put his hand on Defendant’s penis, and had J.H. help Defendant masturbate. Defendant also talked to J.H. about oral sex, explaining what it was, how it was done, and then *883 performed oral sex on J.H. Vitoux testified that J.H.’s statement was “very detailed.”

Defendant was charged with two counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree, in violation of Section 566.062. Count I was for his alleged actions towards S.T., and Count II was for his alleged actions towards J.H. The case was tried before a jury and Defendant was found guilty on both counts. He was sentenced to consecutive sentences of ten years imprisonment on Count I and life imprisonment on Count II. Defendant now appeals.

Defendant’s first point on appeal claims the trial court erred in admitting State’s Exhibit II, the videotaped statement that S.T. gave to Vitoux, because the tape lacked sufficient indicia of reliability as required by Section 491.075.1(1). Specifically, Defendant claims that because the drawings and graphics S.T. used to refer to certain body parts cannot be seen on the videotape, there was no basis from which the trial court could find that the statements were sufficiently reliable.

Defendant has not presented this Court with State’s Exhibit II. Rule 30.05 2 governs the production of exhibits in appellate courts. It states that “[a]ny exhibits not filed ... may be considered by the court as immaterial to the issues on appeal.” Defendant had the duty to “file a complete record including all evidence necessary to determine all questions presented to this Court for review.” State v. Morin, 873 S.W.2d 858, 867 (Mo.App. S.D.1994).

“An appellate court will not convict a trial court of error for receiving in evidence an exhibit not produced as part of the record on appeal or filed separately in the appellate court as authorized by Rule 30.05.” Id. This is especially true in this case where Defendant’s point claims that certain actions by S.T. are not visible on the videotape. It is impossible for us to determine if S.T.’s actions are in fact visible or whether an obscured view has any effect on the statement without actually being able to watch the videotape. Defendant’s failure to supply this Court with a sufficient record on appeal requires our denial of his first point. Id.; State v. Shire, 850 S.W.2d 923, 932 (Mo.App. S.D.1993).

Defendant’s second point also claims the trial court erred in admitting State’s Exhibit II. As stated, his failure to provide this Court with said exhibit ordinarily would preclude Defendant from receiving any relief. However, in his second point, Defendant claims the trial court erred in admitting the videotape because S.T. did not “testify” at the trial as required by Section 491.075.1(2). Because we can discern from the transcript that S.T. did in fact “testify” at the trial, we are able to address this point even though the videotape itself is not before us. 3

Rule 29.11(d) states that in jury-tried cases, except for questions concerning jurisdiction, sufficiency of the indictment or information, and the sufficiency of the evidence, “allegations of error to be *884 preserved for appellate review must be included in a motion for new trial[.]” Therefore, a claim of error not raised in a motion for new trial is not preserved for our review. State v. Stephens, 88 S.W.3d 876, 880 (Mo.App. W.D.2002).

In his motion for a new trial, Defendant claimed the trial court erred “in finding that State’s Exhibit 2 ... was admissible under Section 491.075 ... in that there was not sufficient indicia of reliability of the statement as to the time, content and circumstances.” 4 His second point on appeal does not claim that the videotape lacks sufficient indicia of reliability, as required by Section 491.075.1(1), but rather claims it was inadmissible because S.T. did not testify, as required by 491.075.1(2). Because Defendant did not raise this claim of error in his motion for new trial it was not preserved for our review. Discretion rests with this Court to review his claim for “plain error” under Rule 30.20. State v. Boydston, 198 S.W.3d 671, 675 (Mo.App. S.D.2006).

We use plain error review sparingly and limit it only to those cases where there is a clear demonstration of manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice. State v. Coker, 210 S.W.3d 374, 385 (Mo.App. S.D.2006). We review claims for plain error under a two-prong test. Id. “In the first prong, we determine whether there is, indeed, plain error, which is error that is evident, obvious, and clear.

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Bluebook (online)
220 S.W.3d 880, 2007 Mo. App. LEXIS 671, 2007 WL 1229118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tanner-moctapp-2007.