444 S.E.2d 860 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1994
Defendant was indicted in three counts for aggravated child molestation (Count 1) and child molestation (Counts 2 and 3). All three counts of the indictment are based on separate acts against the same minor victim. Specifically, Count 1 alleges that defendant committed an act of oral sodomy against the victim. Count 2 alleges that defendant exposed his sex organ to the victim, displayed pornographic
The case was tried before a jury and the victim, 12 years of age at the time of trial, testified that defendant committed acts which constitute the crime aggravated child molestation as charged in Count 1 of the indictment. Bertha Bailey testified that she and her two sons (13 and 16 years of age at the time of trial) resided with defendant; that the victim often visited her home and that neither she nor her 16-year-old child or defendant committed the acts alleged in Counts 1 through 3 of the indictment. Bailey’s 16-year-old child testified that he and defendant did not perform a sexually explicit act in the victim’s presence as alleged in Count 3 of the indictment.
The jury found defendant guilty of aggravated child molestation as alleged in Count 1 of the indictment and not guilty of child molestation as alleged in Counts 2 and 3 of the indictment. This appeal followed the denial of defendant’s motion for new trial. Held:
In his. sole enumeration, defendant contends the trial court erred “in permitting the State’s attorney to question several witnesses about unrelated similar and dissimilar transactions [, arguing] that this evidence impermissibly places his character in issue without him doing so first.” Specifically, defendant contends (in the argument supporting this enumeration) that the State impermissibly placed his character in issue during examination of four witnesses.
“ ‘Our law requires that enumerations “shall set out separately each error relied upon” (OCGA § 5-6-40). . . .’ Murphy v. State, 195 Ga. App. 878, 880 (6) (395 SE2d 76). When an appellant argues more than one error within a single enumeration, this court in its discretion may elect to review none of the errors so enumerated in violation of OCGA § 5-6-40 (Murphy, supra) or elect to review any one or more of the several assertions of error contained within the single enumeration and treat the remaining [enumerations] as abandoned. (West v. Nodvin, 196 Ga. App. 825, 830 (4c) (397 SE2d 567)).” Robinson v. State, 200 Ga. App. 515, 518 (2b) (408 SE2d 820). It is from this perspective that we address defendant’s contention that his character was impermissibly placed in issue during the State’s examination of Investigator Michael John Crozier of the Stephens County Sheriff’s Department.
At trial, Investigator Crozier testified that he interviewed the victim (on videotape) and that the victim informed him that defendant committed the acts alleged in Counts 1 through 3 of the indictment. Defense counsel then cross-examined the investigator and the State’s attorney followed-up with the following redirect examination: “Q. Mr. Crozier, in regard to Count No. Three [of the indictment], [defense
Defendant argues that “[although the answer given by [Investigator] Crozier was that [the unnamed 15-year-old child who allegedly committed sodomy in the victim’s presence] did not tell him such conduct occurred ‘at the lake,’ it was still a qualified response that could have created a negative inference against [defendant] that there was sex between [the unnamed 15-year-old child] and [defendant] at another time or other times, not at the lake.” We do not agree. We find nothing in the above quoted examination which impermissibly places defendant’s character in issue.
We have considered other contentions raised in this enumeration and find them to be without merit.
Judgment affirmed.