Westbrook v. State

368 S.E.2d 131, 186 Ga. App. 493, 1988 Ga. App. LEXIS 392
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMarch 11, 1988
Docket75099
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 368 S.E.2d 131 (Westbrook v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westbrook v. State, 368 S.E.2d 131, 186 Ga. App. 493, 1988 Ga. App. LEXIS 392 (Ga. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinions

McMurray, Presiding Judge.

Defendant appeals his conviction for aggravated child molestation. Held:

1. In his first enumeration of error, defendant contends the trial court erred in finding the victim, who was five years of age at the time of trial, competent to testify. “OCGA § 24-9-5 (formerly Code Ann. § 38-1607) provides: ‘Persons who do not have the use of reason, such as idiots, lunatics during lunacy, and children who do not understand the nature of an oath, shall be incompetent witnesses.’ In Smith v. State, 247 Ga. 511, 511-12 (277 SE2d 53) (1981), the Supreme Court defined the standard of competency of a child to be a witness as being ‘not that he be able to define the meaning of an oath, nor that he understand the process under which the oath is administered, but rather that he know and appreciate the fact that as a witness he assumes a solemn and binding obligation to tell the truth relative to the case and concerning such matters as he may be interrogated on, and that if he violates the obligation he is subject to be punished by the court.’

“Once a child’s competency has been thoroughly tested in court, it is within the sound discretion of the trial court whether or not to rule the child competent to testify as a witness. Sullivan v. State, 162 [494]*494Ga. App. 297 (1) (291 SE2d 127) (1982); Allen v. State, 150 Ga. App. 605 (2) (258 SE2d 285) (1979). Because the trial court has had the opportunity to observe the child during the competency examination and because such observation provides material indicia of competency (or the lack thereof) which this court cannot glean from a cold record, we will upset the ruling of competency only when the record clearly shows that the child was not competent as defined in Smith v. State, supra. See Sullivan v. State, supra; Bearden v. State, 159 Ga. App. 892 (1) (285 SE2d 606) (1981); Allen v. State, supra; see also Hurst v. State, 166 Ga. App. 852 (2) ([305] SE2d [663]) (1983). (For a case reversing on this ground, see Pace v. State, 157 Ga. App. 442 (1) (278 SE2d 90) (1981)). A further reason for the hesitation of appellate courts to interfere with competency rulings is that the trial court’s ruling as a matter of law that the child is competent (see OCGA § 24-9-7 (a) (Code Ann. §§ 38-1601, 38-1610)) is followed by the jury’s independent determination of the child’s credibility as a matter of fact. See Hayes v. State, 152 Ga. App. 858 (2) (264 SE2d 307) (1980).” Pope v. State, 167 Ga. App. 328 (1), 329 (306 SE2d 326).

In the case sub judice, defendant argues that the victim’s inconsistent testimony rendered her incompetent to testify. We do not agree. “Inconsistency in a child’s testimony does not render her incompetent to testify. See Pendergrass v. State, 168 Ga. App. 190 (308 SE2d 585) (1983); Thomas v. State, 168 Ga. App. 587 (309 SE2d 881) (1983). . . .” Sprayberry v. State, 174 Ga. App. 574 (1), 576 (330 SE2d 731). Although the victim could not say what an oath was, she demonstrated that she knew the difference between truth and falsehood, that telling a lie was wrong and could result in punishment. Further, the victim was subjected to thorough and sifting cross-examination by defense counsel as well as questions propounded by the court and the State’s attorney. Under these circumstances, we find the requisites of Smith v. State, 247 Ga. 511, 512, supra, satisfied and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding the victim competent to testify. See Sprayberry v. State, 174 Ga. App. 574 (1), supra; and Runion v. State, 180 Ga. App. 440 (2) (349 SE2d 288).

2. In support of his second and third enumerations of error, defendant asserts one convoluted argument challenging the testimony of the State’s expert witness, Ms. Nancy Copeland Aldridge.

(a) First, we address defendant’s third enumeration of error wherein he contends “[t]he Court erred in allowing testimony by the psychotherapist. ”

(1) The only objection raised by defendant at trial regarding Ms. Aldridge’s qualifications to testify as an expert in child therapy was that “[s]he’s only been in practice a year.” “ ‘Nothing more is required to entitle one to give testimony as an expert than that he has been educated in the particular trade or profession, although the spe[495]*495cial knowledge required to qualify as an expert may be derived from experience as well as study. See Dennis v. State, 158 Ga. App. 142, 143 (3) (279 SE2d 275); Carter v. Marble Products, 179 Ga. 122 (1), 124-125 (175 SE 480). . . .’ Inta-Roto, Inc. v. Guest, 160 Ga. App. 75, 76 (1) (286 SE2d 61).” Patterson v. Lanham, 182 Ga. App. 343, 344 (2) , 345 (355 SE2d 738). In the case sub judice, Ms. Aldridge testified that she was formally educated in nursing, psychology and social work and that she gained an expertise in child therapy and abuse primarily through experience, having counseled “[a]round 400” children who have been sexually abused. Ms. Aldridge further testified that she has conducted independent research in the area of child abuse by studying literature pertaining to diagnosis and treatment of sexually abused children, attending seminars on various topics relating to child abuse and communicating with other experts in the field of child therapy. This testimony was sufficient to authorize the trial court’s discretion in allowing Ms. Aldridge to testify as an expert in child abuse and therapy. See Allison v. State, 179 Ga. App. 303, 309 (3) (346 SE2d 380), rev’d on other grounds at 256 Ga. 851 (353 SE2d 805).

(2) The only other argument which appears to relate to defendant’s third enumeration of error and is preserved in the record is his challenge to Ms. Aldridge’s hearsay testimony regarding statements made to her by the victim indicating that defendant had molested her.

OCGA § 24-3-16 provides: “A statement made by a child under the age of 14 years describing any act of sexual contact or physical abuse performed with or on the child by another is admissible in evidence by the testimony of the person or persons to whom made if the child is available to testify in the proceedings and the court finds that the circumstances of the statement provide sufficient indicia of reliability.” In the case sub judice, the five-year-old victim was available to testify and the trial court found the statement admissible under OCGA § 24-3-16 after considering the weight and credibility of the hearsay statements. Consequently, the trial court did not err in allowing such testimony. See Sanders v. State, 182 Ga. App. 581, 584 (3) (356 SE2d 537).

(b) In his second enumeration of error, defendant contends “[t]he Court erred in allowing testimony by the expert that the child had been sexually molested based on the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome.” Although defendant’s argument in support of this enumeration of error is unclear, it appears the basis of his complaint stems from Ms.

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Bluebook (online)
368 S.E.2d 131, 186 Ga. App. 493, 1988 Ga. App. LEXIS 392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westbrook-v-state-gactapp-1988.