Wright v. State

776 S.W.2d 763, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2253, 1989 WL 99899
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 31, 1989·No. 13-88-459-CR·Published·Cited by 20 cases

Opinion

OPINION

NYE, Chief Justice.

A jury found appellant guilty of aggravated sexual assault. After appellant pled true to the enhancement paragraph, the court assessed punishment at thirty-five years in the Texas Department of Corrections. By seven points of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in its eviden-tiary rulings and by its conduct depriving him of his state and federal constitutional rights to a fair trial. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

By points of error 1, 2 and 3 appellant complains of the court’s refusal to admit evidence. By points of error 4 and 5, appellant complains of the court’s admission of certain evidence. Points 6 and 7 concern appellant’s contention he was denied his right to a fair trial.

Although the sufficiency of the evidence is not challenged on appeal, a brief discussion of the facts is helpful. The evidence showed that the victim, age nine, was at appellant’s house when he sexually assaulted her. Appellant was her uncle. A couple of months after the incident, she told her sister and mother what happened. Dr. Maria Dill examined the victim. Dr. Dill testified that her examination revealed that the child had been sexually abused and had lesions consistent with herpes although a lab test for herpes was negative. Appellant denied the accusation. He testified that the charges stemmed from a disagreement between him and the victim’s mother shortly before the alleged incident.

By point of error one, appellant contends the court erred by refusing to allow him to put on evidence concerning the truth and veracity of one of the State’s witnesses, Neita Krska (the victim’s mother). The State argues that the complaint was not properly preserved, and even if it was, it was not reversible error.

Krska testified regarding the statements the victim made to her, her subsequent actions, and appellant’s prior bad acts. On cross examination, the defense attempted to impeach Krska with evidence of two prior convictions of theft of property. Krska admitted these convictions and explained they involved hot checks.

After Krska’s testimony and outside the presence of the jury, appellant’s counsel told the court that he had some witnesses to testify about Krska’s reputation in the community for truth and veracity. The identities of the witnesses and the substance of their testimony was not revealed. The State objected that it was irrelevant and that Krska had already been impeached. The court said it would not allow the testimony. The following occurred:

Defense Counsel: Note our exception, Your Honor.
The Court: You may do so. You may have your exception. If you wish to
*765 make a record or perfect a bill, you may do so.
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The Court: I would suggest, [defense counsel] — again, you have every right to perfect your bill. If you want to do so, I will allow you to do so at the end of trial. Anything further?
Defense Counsel: Your Honor, let me excuse the witness then.

Defense counsel never requested an opportunity to make an offer of proof or a bill of exception prior to the court giving the charge to the jury. We agree with the State that the alleged error has not been properly presented for our review since a bill of exception or offer of proof allowing us to judge the context and significance of the testimony that would have been developed is absent from the record. Guerra v. State, 760 S.W.2d 681, 694 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1988, pet. ref’d); Brown v. State, 750 S.W.2d 340, 341 (Tex.App.—Beaumont 1988, no pet.); Tex.R.App.P. 52(b); Tex.R.Crim.Evid. 103(a)(2). Point of error one is overruled.

By point of error two, appellant complains that the trial court erred by denying him the opportunity to question his witness. During direct examination of one of his witnesses, defense counsel asked what another witness had told him. The State objected on hearsay grounds. The trial court sustained the objection. On appeal, appellant contends that the evidence should have been admitted because although it was hearsay, it could be offered for the limited purpose of impeachment. However, no argument was made at trial that the evidence was being offered for the limited purpose of impeachment. Rule 105 of the Texas Rules of Criminal Evidence provides that when evidence which is admissible for one purpose but not admissible for another purpose is excluded, such exclusion shall not be a ground for complaint on appeal unless the proponent expressly offers the evidence for its limited admissible purpose. Tex.R.Crim.Evid. 105. This point of error is overruled.

By point of error three, appellant contends the trial court committed reversible error when it instructed the jury to disregard two questions propounded to the victim’s mother during cross-examination. It is the following testimony which is' at issue:

DEFENSE COUNSEL: Did you ever accuse your husband Ted of sexually molesting your daughter Lola? [Lola was the victim’s sister].
KRSKA: No, I have not.
DEFENSE COUNSEL: Isn’t it true that you accused your husband Ted of sexually molesting Lola on several occasions?

The State objected. The court then instructed the jury to disregard the last two questions in their entirety. Appellant complains on appeal that the questions were relevant, and that he was harmed because the line of inquiry was important to show there was another potential suspect.

Appellant’s point is without merit. Given the extremely prejudicial nature of the line of questioning appellant pursued and the lack of anything in the record to indicate a basis for the line of inquiry, the trial court did not abuse its discretion. Tex.R.Crim.Evid. 403. Moreover, even if the trial court had erroneously excluded the evidence, such error would be harmless for two reasons. Initially, the first question was answered negatively, so it was of no value for its claimed purpose. Secondly, following Krska’s testimony, the State put Krska’s husband, Ted, on the stand. He testified that he had never been accused by his wife of sexually abusing Lola. Therefore, the evidence that was excluded was later provided to the jury, so the exclusion would not be reversible error. Womble v. State, 618 S.W.2d 59, 62 (Tex.Crim.App.1981); Ostos v. State, 713 S.W.2d 402 (Tex. App.—El Paso 1986, pet. ref’d). Point of error three is overruled.

By point of error four, appellant complains the doctor’s testimony was inadmissible hearsay. Dr. Dill testified about her examination of the victim. When asked what the victim told her, Dr. Dill said, over defense counsel’s objection that the testimony was hearsay, the following:

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Wright v. State, 776 S.W.2d 763, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2253, 1989 WL 99899 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

776 S.W.2d 763 (Wright v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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