State v. Woodcock

922 S.W.2d 904, 1995 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 982
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedDecember 15, 1995
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 922 S.W.2d 904 (State v. Woodcock) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Woodcock, 922 S.W.2d 904, 1995 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 982 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION

PEAY, Judge.

The defendant was charged in the indictment with two counts of rape and three counts of incest. On October 15,1993, a jury found him guilty on all counts and authorized fines in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for one count of rape and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) each for two counts of incest. At the sentencing hearing on December 20, 1993, the trial court sentenced the defendant to eight years on one count of rape, ten years on the other count of rape, four years on one count of incest, and five years each on the other two counts of incest. The trial court ordered the eight year rape sentence and the four year incest sentence to be served concurrently. In addition, the trial court ordered the ten year rape sentence and both five year incest sentences to be served concurrently with each other, but consecutive to the other two counts. The effective term of imprisonment was eighteen years in the Department of Correction. The trial court also imposed the maximum fine authorized by the jury, forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000).

In this appeal as of right, the defendant raises the following four issues1 for this Court to consider:

1. the trial court erred in allowing the prosecution to present evidence of uncharged sexual misconduct unrelated to the counts in the indictment in its case-in-ehief;
2. the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on lesser included offenses;
3. the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentences; and,
4. the trial court erred in imposing fines totalling forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000).

We find that the defendant’s first issue has merit, and his convictions are therefore reversed. In the interest of complete appellate review, we will also address the three remaining issues. We find that the defendant’s third and fourth issues are without merit. The second issue, however, does have merit and would also require a new trial as to count five of the indictment.

After some counts were dismissed, the revised indictment charged the defendant with five crimes which had allegedly occurred on four separate days. Count one alleged that the defendant committed incest with the victim, his step-daughter,2 on or about September 7,1988. Count two alleged that he raped the victim on or about November 14, 1988. Count three alleged that he again raped the victim on or about the Wednesday before Thanksgiving of 1989. Count four alleged [908]*908that the defendant committed incest with the victim on or about the same date as count three, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, 1989. Count five alleged that he committed incest with the victim on or about January 3, 1992.

On the first day of the trial, October 12, 1993, the trial court conducted a jury-out hearing on the defendant’s motion to prohibit the State from introducing evidence of uncharged sexual misconduct. The defendant’s trial counsel argued that evidence of prior “bad acts” should be excluded under Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b),3 which generally prohibits the introduction of character evidence aimed at establishing a defendant’s propensity to commit a crime. See Tenn. R.Evid. 404(b). The State contended that it was offering evidence of prior sexual misconduct not to prove the character of the defendant but, rather, primarily to corroborate the testimony of the victim concerning the incidents alleged in the indictment as well as to show the state of intimacy between the defendant and the victim, to explain the circumstances surrounding the charged offenses and to show the conduct of the defendant toward the victim. Accordingly, the State argued that the evidence of the defendant’s prior sexual misconduct was admissible under those limited circumstances.

In support of its argument, the State cited several cases including State v. Lockhart, 731 S.W.2d 548 (Tenn.Crim.App.1986) (holding that evidence of incest with the same victim prior to or after the offense charged is admissible to corroborate proof of the incident relied upon for conviction), overruled by State v. Rickman, 876 S.W.2d 824 (Tenn.1994); Martin v. State, 584 S.W.2d 830 (Tenn.Crim.App.1979) (holding that evidence of uncharged incest with the same victim is admissible to illustrate the relationship existing between the defendant and the victim), overruled by State v. Rickman, 876 S.W.2d 824 (Tenn.1994); State v. Paul Carrier, C.CA No. 03C01-9107-CR-00199, 1992 WL 186544 Sullivan County (Tenn.Crim.App. filed August 6, 1992, at Knoxville) (holding that uncharged sexual acts committed upon the same victim are admissible to show the conduct of the defendant toward the victim and to corroborate the evidence of the offense charged in the indictment); and State v. James R. Blevins, C.C.A. No. 250, 1989 WL 100223 Washington County (Tenn.Crim.App. filed August 31, 1989, at Knoxville) (holding that prior, uncharged sexual conduct between the defendant and the victim is admissible to show their state of intimacy as well as to explain the circumstances surrounding the offense).

After hearing argument from both the State and the defense, the trial court mentioned to both parties the opinion of this Court in the case of State v. John Rickman, C.C.A. No. 03C01-9211-CR-00393, 1993 WL 171706 Bradley County (Tenn.Crim.App. filed May 18,1993, at Knoxville) (holding that evidence of prior uncharged sexual conduct with the victim is admissible to corroborate the victim’s testimony), which was subsequently overruled by our Supreme Court in State v. Rickman, 876 S.W.2d 824 (Tenn.1994). The trial court found the Court of Criminal Appeals opinion in Rickman particularly helpful and commented as follows:

But most of the cases you [the State] cited predate the rules of evidence and predate Rule 404(b). So the Rickman case here [909]*909analyzes all of those cases and then analyzes the impact of passage of Rule 404(b) and then came to the conclusion. And it reviewed Lockhart and it reviewed Burch-field and Bunch and all these other cases. That the apparent aim of the testimony is to help establish the credibility of the victim and that Rule 404(b) does not preclude the testimony if its use is limited to reasons other than substantive evidence of the crime. It is our view that this special crimes exception applicable only to prior acts with the same victim has survived enactment of the new rules but is limited much like fresh complaint to corroboration of the victim’s testimony.

Having concluded that evidence of uncharged sexual misconduct was admissible in certain circumstances, the trial court held that it would need to rule on the admissibility of specific testimony and exhibits in the context in which the evidence was offered during trial. The trial court did, however, offer the following guidance for the parties:

The State’s going to have to present their proof [of uncharged sexual misconduct] in such a way that it does corroborate.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
922 S.W.2d 904, 1995 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 982, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-woodcock-tenncrimapp-1995.