Waddell v. State

873 S.W.2d 130, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 722, 1994 WL 103340
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 30, 1994
Docket09-92-140 CR
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 873 S.W.2d 130 (Waddell v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Waddell v. State, 873 S.W.2d 130, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 722, 1994 WL 103340 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinions

OPINION

BROOKSHIRE, Judge.

This instant appeal is from a conviction for the felony offense of indecency with a child. The appellant had pleaded not guilty. The trial was to a jury. The jury found appellant guilty. Thereafter, the appellant elected to have the jury assess his punishment. That punishment was assessed at four years confinement in the Institutional Division of the State Department of Criminal Justice and a fine of $10,000.

The appellant briefs and argues two points of error. Point of error number one complains that the trial court erred by admitting [131]*131into evidence certain extraneous offenses in the guilt/innoeence phase.

The appellant’s second point of error avers that the trial court erred by excluding evidence of the appellant which would have shown that the child was fabricating this entire episode, the jealousy against the appellant harbored by the complainant’s family and the unusually unsavory habits of the complainant’s family.

Factual Background

The record before the jury demonstrated that the appellant, Larry Lance Waddell, the uncle of the victim, fondled the victim and also had the victim, a male child, fondle the appellant on numerous occasions. These numerous occasions dated back to the time when the victim was about five years old and lasted until the victim became ten years of age. The last such alleged occasion took place in Cleveland, Liberty County, at the home of the victim’s paternal grandparents with whom the appellant lived. The victim reported this matter to his mother some time in August of 1990.

On the direct examination of the victim, the young boy testified that the appellant had subjected him to similar sexual misconduct many times over a five year period. To the introduction of this evidence, the appellant objected. Importantly, at an early stage in the guilt/innocence phase and before delivering his formal opening statement, counsel for appellant announced and advised the court of his intention to bring forward witnesses to contend that the victim had totally fabricated the indicted offense at the behest of his parents. This alleged fabrication was done so that the parents of the victim could destroy the appellant’s reputation. This desire to destroy the appellant’s reputation was based upon sibling rivalry between the appellant and the victim’s father. The appellant and the victim’s father were brothers. It is clear also that the defense counsel presented this defensive theory to the jury in his opening statement. This fabrication defense was strongly and repeatedly emphasized.

At trial the victim stated that he went to the police because he did not want “it to happen anymore”. The trial court sustained appellant’s objection to this testimony. Then, the prosecutor asked the child victim, “Had anything like this ever happened — .” At this point the appellant’s counsel requested a hearing without the jury. In the course of that bench hearing, the appellant objected that the State had failed to establish the “proper predicate” under the landmark Bout-well ease1. The State’s rejoinder was that this extraneous conduct on the part of the appellant was proper and admissible under “res gestae”. The trial court after a prolonged hearing admitted the evidence. The prolonged hearing presented to the trial judge lengthy arguments and, inter alia, detailed, in-depth summaries of controlling case law. The positions of the parties were made clear and concise to the trial judge.

Appellant’s Point of Error Number One

The wording of the appellant’s point of error number one is important. It reads:

The trial court erred by admitting into evidence that appellant had committed pri- or acts of sexual conduct with the same child without first having the prosecutor lay the proper predicate prior to the admission of these extraneous acts. The court also erred in not granting appellant’s motion for a mistrial because of the introduction of said extraneous offenses.

The “proper predicate” objection leveled at trial was not adequate. The objection failed to advise the trial court of what was lacking.

During the guilt/innocence phase of the trial, the State proffered only two witnesses, one being Dolly Dill, the police officer and detective who took the statement from the child victim, and the other witness being the complainant (the victim) BBW. The indictment contained two charging paragraphs. The first paragraph alleged that the accused intentionally and knowingly with the intent to arouse and gratify the sexual desire of the said defendant engaged in sexual contact by touching the genitals of BBW, a child younger than 17 years of age, being the victim. [132]*132The second paragraph presented that on April 13, 1990, the defendant did intentionally and knowingly with the intent to arouse and gratify the sexual desire of the said defendant engage in sexual contact by causing BBW to touch the genitals of the defendant.

The first witness called by the prosecution was the detective Dolly Dill. This detective testified she became involved in the investigation concerning the appellant on or about August 6, 1990, when the victim, accompanied by his parents as well as other individuals, came to the police department. The detective interviewed the victim. The victim along with other individuals made a statement regarding the alleged sexual abuse committed by appellant.

On cross, the defense counsel specifically asked and questioned the detective concerning when she had talked to the boy and when she had stated that the boy had said something happened in mid-April of 1990. The defense counsel wanted Dill to be more specific as to the date when the incident occurred. The detective replied that the incident occurred shortly after the grandparents of the boy had moved to Cleveland. The boy complainant had come to Cleveland to be with his grandparents. That was as specific as the detective could remember. Then, the defense counsel asked if the boy had told the detective what type of weekend it was and was there any special activity going on when this incident allegedly took place. The detective replied that it was either on Spring Break or something like that but she could not be absolutely certain. The detective testified that the indicated offense may have occurred during the weekend of Easter or on Spring Break or some time like that.

The grandparents’ residence was also the residence of the accused, being the uncle of the boy. Importantly, the defense counsel asked:

Q Did you interpret weekend to mean Friday through Sunday?
A That is what I assumed it was because it was — I believe — I am not sure.
Q Okay. But he didn’t pin it down like Friday or Saturday or Sunday?
A To the best of my recollection, no, sir.

In view of the cross-examination which stressed the time and the date and the special nature of the weekend of the occurrence, the prosecutor on re-direct asked the detective if she could identify a document marked as State’s Exhibit No. 1. She said that that was a statement from the boy-victim. She also stated that the document would be a better record of what the boy had actually told the detective, rather than her memory. The detective definitely stated that this exhibit “is what he told me”. She identified the document as being a true copy of the statement.

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Waddell v. State
873 S.W.2d 130 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
873 S.W.2d 130, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 722, 1994 WL 103340, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waddell-v-state-texapp-1994.