State of Missouri v. Sylvester Porter, 2014 Mo. LEXIS 198

Porter managed a rooming house where K.W., a five-year-old, rented a room with her mother A.L.
Porter was observed with K.W. in his room with his head between her legs while her pants were off.
K.W. reported to her grandmother and later to A.L. that Porter touched her vagina; Grandmother described possible oral contact.
K.W. provided statements in a CAC interview admitted at trial, including touching with hand and tongue and other acts.
Porter was charged with two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy (Counts I and II) and one count of first-degree child molestation (Count III); trial proceeded with jury verdicts on all counts.
The court abolished the corroboration rule and the destructive contradictions doctrine and reviewed sufficiency of the evidence under the standard for criminal convictions; Porter challenges Counts I–II based on KW’s inconsistent testimony and lack of corroboration; the videotaped CAC interview was at issue but not preserved for reversal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for Counts I–II given inconsistencies	Porter argues KW’s testimony was contradictory and uncorroborated	State asserts no rule requiring corroboration and evidence is sufficient	Sufficient evidence supports the convictions
Application of corroboration rule and destructive contradictions doctrine	Porter relies on corroboration/destructive contradictions to overturn	Court abolishes both rules; review under general sufficiency standard	Corroboration rule and destructive contradictions doctrine abolished; standard is sufficiency review under Chaney/Virginia
Juror access to videotaped CAC interview during deliberations	Unlimited access to the video could bias deliberations	No preserved objection; record insufficient to reverse	Conviction affirmed; issue unpreserved/speculative, like Naucke

State v. Chaney, 967 S.W.2d 47 (Mo. banc 1998) (sufficiency review framework cited from Jackson v. Virginia)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1979) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
State v. Ervin, 835 S.W.2d 905 (Mo. banc 1992) (general rule on witness credibility in sufficiency analysis)
State v. Silvey, 894 S.W.2d 662 (Mo. banc 1995) (courts’ deference to trier of fact in child-sex cases credibility)
State v. Tevis, 136 S.W.3d 339 (Mo. 2001) (corroboration-like considerations historically used in sex crimes)
State v. Baldwin, 571 S.W.2d 236 (Mo. banc 1978) (corroboration concerns in sex-crime trials)
State v. Nash, 339 S.W.3d 500 (Mo. banc 2011) (clarifies standard for sufficiency review)
State v. Bateman, 318 S.W.3d 681 (Mo. banc 2010) (sufficiency standard elaboration)
State v. Stover, 388 S.W.3d 138 (Mo. banc 2012) (reviewing sufficiency in Missouri appellate practice)
State v. Wadel, 398 S.W.3d 68 (Mo. App. 2013) (destructive contradictions doctrine discussed)
State v. Uptegrove, 330 S.W.3d 586 (Mo. App. 2011) (destructive contradictions doctrine quoted)
State v. Naucke, 829 S.W.2d 445 (Mo. banc 1992) ( videotape evidence but unpreserved issue affirmed)
Idaho v. Byers, 627 P.2d 788 (Idaho 1981) (no inherent unreliability of sex-crime victims)