Walker v. State

55 So. 3d 212, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 92, 2011 WL 590394
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 22, 2011
Docket2009-KA-01139-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 55 So. 3d 212 (Walker v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walker v. State, 55 So. 3d 212, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 92, 2011 WL 590394 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

IRVING, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. On June 10, 2009, Paul Terrell Walker Jr. was convicted of fondling a child for the purpose of gratifying his lust. The Scott County Circuit Court sentenced Walker to ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Walker filed a motion for a new trial on June 19, 2009, which the circuit court denied. Feeling aggrieved, Walker appeals and argues that: (1) the jury’s verdict is against the overwhelming weight of evidence, (2) the circuit court erred in refusing to admit the school nurse’s reports, and (3) he received ineffective assistance of counsel.

¶ 2. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. Walker began working as a school-bus driver for the Scott County School District in August 2005. Karen, 1 a twelve- *214 year-old, rode the bus driven by Walker, a thirty-five-year-old. During the spring of 2007, Walker allegedly fondled Karen, touching her breast and vaginal area. Walker allegedly abused Karen during his afternoon bus route. Karen’s street was at the end of Walker’s route, and Karen was the last child Walker dropped off. Walker allegedly fondled Karen at the end of the dead-end street before turning the bus around and dropping off Karen.

¶4. Karen had previously accused her stepfather, Thomas Clark, of sexually abusing her. On April 10, 2007, Karen told her school’s janitor that her stepfather was “trying to mess with her.” The janitor referred Karen to the school nurse, Shirley Watson. Watson interviewed Karen, who alleged that Thomas had squeezed her buttocks and breasts. Watson reported the incident to the Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS) and Rita Clark, Karen’s mother.

¶ 5. DHS launched an investigation into Karen’s allegations of abuse against Thomas and determined that the allegations were unsubstantiated. Karen admitted in her testimony that she had falsely accused her stepfather of sexual abuse.

¶ 6. During a subsequent meeting with DHS, the Clarks expressed concern regarding Karen’s interaction with Walker. Rita and Thomas had previously dealt with Walker through their business, Quick Star. 2 The Clarks told the social worker that they had received a telephone call from an unknown caller who claimed to have received a call from their home telephone at 1:30 a.m. Rita decided to investigate the matter further by checking her cellular-telephone records. She found a telephone number similar to the number of the man who had called their home, and when she called it, Walker answered. Rita confronted Karen about the calls, and Karen admitted that she had been using the cellular telephone to contact Walker.

¶ 7. The same day, Rita found a handwritten letter in Karen’s pants pocket. Karen claimed that Walker had given her the letter. The letter was neither addressed to Karen nor was it signed by Walker. 3 The Clarks showed the letter to the social worker during the meeting, and she advised them to contact the police.

¶ 8. Karen testified that she began calling Walker during the 2006-2007 school year. She testified that she called Walker every night, that she considered him her boyfriend, and that he had told her that he loved her. Karen testified that Walker began rubbing her outside of her clothes while the bus was stopped at the end of her street. Karen testified that Walker also put his hands under her shirt and inside her underwear. Karen testified that the abuse lasted a minute or two and occurred “a bunch of times.”

¶ 9. Ryan Clark, Karen’s uncle and a high-school student, rode the bus with *215 Karen. Ryan lived next door to Karen, and he and Karen were the last two children dropped off in the afternoon. Ryan testified that he did not ride the bus every afternoon and that on the days that he did not ride the bus, he witnessed Walker hug Karen as she exited the bus near his home. He testified that the hugging occurred a “couple of times a week.” Karen’s grandmother, Leslie Clark, also testified that she witnessed Karen and Walker hug as Karen exited the bus.

¶ 10. Walker testified that the letter found in Karen’s pants pocket was intended for his wife. He testified that he had copied the contents of the letter from a card and placed the letter in a folding file he kept on the bus. Walker testified that he did not give the letter to Karen.

¶ 11. Additional facts, as necessary, will be related during our analysis and discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

1. Weight of the Evidence

¶ 12. Walker argues that the jury’s verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence and that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for a new trial. “The standard of review of a post-trial motion is abuse of discretion.” Withers v. State, 907 So.2d 342, 352 (¶ 31) (Miss.2005) (quoting Flowers v. State, 601 So.2d 828, 833 (Miss.1992)). When reviewing a circuit court’s decision to deny a motion for a new trial, the evidence is considered “in the light most favorable to the verdict.” Williams v. State, 35 So.3d 480, 491 (¶ 41) (Miss.2010) (citing Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836, 844 (¶18) (Miss.2005)). Therefore, we will only order a new trial where the verdict “is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction unconscionable injustice.” Id. (quoting Bush, 895 So.2d at 844 (¶ 18)).

¶ 13. Walker- argues that Karen’s prior false accusations of sexual abuse against her stepfather cast doubt on her credibility and create a reasonable doubt as to whether Walker committed the crime. Our case law is clear that “the unsupported word of the victim of a sex crime is sufficient to support a guilty verdict where that testimony is not discredited or contradicted by other credible evidence.” Miley v. State, 935 So.2d 998, 1001 (¶ 10) (Miss.2006) (citations omitted). Here, Walker attempts to attack Karen’s credibility by pointing out her prior false accusations of sexual abuse against her stepfather. We do not find that Karen’s testimony was sufficiently discredited to warrant overruling the verdict, especially considering the letter written by Walker which was found in Karen’s pants pocket and the testimonies of Ryan and Leslie who frequently observed Karen and Walker hug as Karen exited the bus. Furthermore, “the jury is the final arbiter of a witness’s credibility.” Duncan v. State, 939 So.2d 772, 783 (¶40) (Miss.2006) (citing Morgan v. State, 681 So.2d 82, 93 (Miss.1996)). The jury was fully capable of taking Karen’s prior false accusation of sexual abuse into account when assessing her credibility. The jury found Karen’s testimony, as well as that of many others, more credible than Walker’s testimony. We find that Walker’s conviction is not contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence; therefore, the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in denying his motion for a new trial. This issue lacks merit.

2. Exclusion of School Nurse’s Reports

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Bluebook (online)
55 So. 3d 212, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 92, 2011 WL 590394, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-state-missctapp-2011.