United States v. Velarde

214 F.3d 1204, 54 Fed. R. Serv. 1035, 2000 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3092, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 12106, 2000 WL 710494
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJune 2, 2000
Docket99-2297
StatusPublished
Cited by91 cases

This text of 214 F.3d 1204 (United States v. Velarde) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Velarde, 214 F.3d 1204, 54 Fed. R. Serv. 1035, 2000 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3092, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 12106, 2000 WL 710494 (10th Cir. 2000).

Opinion

STEPHEN H. ANDERSON, Circuit Judge.

Mel Lambert Velarde appeals his conviction by a jury on one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2241(c), an offense committed within Indian country under 18 U.S.C. § 1153. He was sentenced to 135 months imprisonment. Because we conclude that the district court erred in permitting certain expert testimony, and that error was not harmless, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

*1206 BACKGROUND

Mr. Velarde, a member of the Jicarilla Apache Indian tribe, ran his family’s large ranch near Dulce, New Mexico. In July 1997, he entered into a relationship with another Jicarilla tribe member, Angelita Veneno. Ms. Veneno lived with her three children, Jordan, Shane and L., in a trailer home in Dulce, which is within the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation. 1 On some weekends, Mr. Velarde stayed overnight at the trailer home. L., then 8 years old, was accustomed to sleeping with her mother in her mother’s bed; When Mr. Velarde spent the night, she had to share her brothers’ bedroom. There was testimony that she would get upset when Mr. Ve-larde visited, because she could not sleep with her mother. In fact, L. testified it made her “mad” when she could not sleep with her mother. R. Vol. Ill at 53.

Ms. Veneno testified that, until L. was five years old, L.’s father, Levi Vigil, who is also Shane’s and Jordan’s father, lived in the trailer home with them. He was physically and verbally abusive towards' Ms. Veneno, and L. witnessed at least one instance of physical abuse and saw bruises on her mother on a number of occasions. After he moved out of the trailer home, Mr. Vigil had little interaction with his children and apparently refused to acknowledge them. Ms. Veneno’s father also intermittently lived at the trailer home. There was testimony that he had a serious alcohol abuse problem.

Mr. Velarde stayed at Ms. Veneno’s trailer on the night of February 1, 1998. Mr. Velarde testified that, when he awoke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, he noticed that the dome light was on in Ms. Veneno’s car parked outside. As he usually did when he stayed at Ms. Veneno’s trailer, he used Shane and Jordan’s bathroom down the hall. Ms. Vene-no testified that she was awake when Mr. Velarde left to use the bathroom and awoke when he returned. Id. at 80. Mr. Velarde testified that nothing unusual happened — he simply used the bathroom, noticed the car light on, and returned to bed. He testified he was gone from the bedroom “[c]lose to five minutes.” R. Vol. IV at 43.

Approximately a week later, L. told her mother a- very different account of the night of February 1. She told her mother that, on that night, she was sleeping in Jordan’s bed, on the top bunk of her brothers’ bunk bed, as Shane slept below. She testified that she woke up to discover Mr. Velarde pulling her off the bunk bed. She further testified that he took her out into the hall, pulled her pajama shorts down, placed his hand over her mouth, and “put his private part in [her] private part.” R. Vol. Ill at 40. She testified that it hurt a little. She also stated that she kicked at him. L. further stated that after Mr. Ve-larde got off her, he told her not to tell anyone. She testified that she saw the light on in her mother’s car parked outside the trailer home.

At Mr. Velarde’s trial, Ms. Veneno testified that L.’s behavior changed after February 1:

[F]or one week she just stayed in her room, she was just quiet, she didn’t come out until it was time to go to bed. And then after she told me, she started acting up, like always, crying. She was wetting the bed. She was getting nightmares. She was — she found a bottle that she started nursing again, and that’s about how — how she was.

Id. at 81.

Upon hearing L.’s accusation of sexual abuse, Ms. Veneno called the police, who came to the trailer home and took L.’s statement. The next day, February 9, Ms. Veneno took L. to the San Juan General Hospital in Farmington, New Mexico. Naida Ayers, a nurse, testified that she examined L., took her medical history and asked L. what had happened. She testi *1207 fied that L. told her that Mr. Velarde came into the bedroom, pulled her out into the hall, and “touched her private parts” or “put his private part into her.” Id. at 114. Ms. Ayers testified that her physical examination of L. revealed no bruising or tears or other evidence of physical injury. Ms. Ayers testified that L. was cooperative and not frightened during the examination. Dr. Allen Hurt similarly examined L., also found no physical evidence of any injury, and also testified that L. was cooperative and acted normal during the examination. Dr. Hurt testified that the examination neither proved nor disproved that sexual abuse had occurred.

On February 20, L. was examined by Dr. Renee Ornelas, a pediatrician at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Ornelas took a patient history, recorded any unusual symptoms, determined what further tests were needed, and conducted a physical examination. Dr. Ornelas testified she used a colposcope, which enabled her to magnify L.’s genital area. After examining L., Dr. Ornelas agreed with Dr. Hurt that the results of the physical examination were normal. She testified that L. had a “normal” hymen. R. Vol. V at 160.

Dr. Charlene McGiver, a clinical psychologist, interviewed L. and her mother, separately and together, on October 12 and November 2. Dr. McGiver testified that her interviews revealed that L. began having nightmares, experienced episodes of bed-wetting, feared men, and had angry outbursts after the alleged sexual abuse occurred.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Mr. Velarde. He pled not guilty. Prior to trial, Mr. Velarde, represented by an appointed public defender, filed a motion to exclude the proposed testimony of Dr. Ornelas that “a child’s statement as part of her medical history is consistent with child abuse,” and asserted that the government had violated Fed. R.Crim.P. 16 by failing to disclose the bases and reasons for her opinion. R. Vol. I, Tab 13 at 2. The court denied the motion.

Then, represented by new retained counsel, Mr. Velarde filed another motion in limine seeking to preclude or limit Dr. Ornelas’s testimony, challenging her proposed testimony that L.’s statements and behavior are consistent with her having been sexually abused. He argued that such testimony was not admissible expert testimony under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), 2 and that such testimony would amount to impermissible vouching for the child’s veracity. He requested a hearing under Daubert. He also challenged Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
214 F.3d 1204, 54 Fed. R. Serv. 1035, 2000 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3092, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 12106, 2000 WL 710494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-velarde-ca10-2000.