Crawford v. StateCrawford v. State
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
¶ 1. The State charged David E. Crawford with felony sex crimes involving three different victims, two of whom were under fourteen years of age. The Tate County grand jury returned a true bill on the multi-count indictment, and Crawford filed a waiver of arraignment and entered a plea of not guilty. Prior to trial, the court granted the State‘s motion to amend the indictment to correct the date of the crime. The court alsо granted Crawford‘s motion
¶ 2. The jury found Crawford guilty of capital rape under
¶ 3. Crawford appealed to this Court, raising the following issues:
I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ACCEPTING LINDA CHIDESTER AS AN EXPERT WITNESS AND IN APPLYING THE WRONG STANDARD OF REVIEW FOR EXPERT TESTIMONY.
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING THE APPELLANT‘S STANDING OBJECTION TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE TESTIMONY BY DR. CHIDESTER.
III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED GRANTING THE STATE‘S MOTION TO AMEND THE INDICTMENT AND IN REJECTING THE APPELLANT‘S EXPIRATION OF THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS AND UNCONSTITUTIONALLY VAGUENESS ARGUMENTS WITH RESPECT TO THE TERM “RAPE” REFERRED TO IN THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS STATUTE.
IV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING THE APPELLANT‘S MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE TESTIMONY OF OTHER ALLEGED FONDLING, SEXUAL BATTERY OF THE VICTIM BY THE APPELLANT NOT REFERRED TO IN COUNT 2 OF THE INDICTMENT.
V. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN SUSTAINING THE APPELLEE‘S RELEVANCY OBJECTION TO THE PROFFERED TESTIMONY OF BETTY JONES.
VI. THE DECISION OF THE JURY IS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS
¶ 4. David E. Crawford, age 55, was married and lived with his wife, the mother of the twelve year old victim. David Crawford is not the victim‘s natural father, but is her stepfather. During an altercation with his wife, David slapped the victim, and she went next door and called the police and her sister. David‘s wifе and the victim stayed with relatives for two or three days before the wife decided to go back home to David. The victim, who did not want to return home, became upset, hyperventilated and was taken to an emergency room. A hospital nurse contacted the Department of Human Services (DHS), and a DHS social worker interviewed the victim and her mother soon thereafter. During this interview the victim told her mother, for the first time, that David had “messed with her.” DHS placed the victim in temporary custody of her aunt, to whom she also disclosed that David had sex with her. The aunt reported this information to DHS, and the social worker scheduled an appointment for the victim to see Dr. Linda Chidester, recognized by DHS as an expert in the field of child sexual abuse. Dr. Chidester diagnosed the victim with pelvic inflammatory disease and opined that she had been sexually penetrated.
¶ 5. During the trial Dr. Chidester testified that she had been presented to the Supreme Court as “... an expert in the field of family practice with special knowledge in the area of child sexual abuse.” She also testified that there was no board certification in the subject of sexual abuse. Defense counsel objected to the testimony of Dr. Chidester “that ha[d] to do with anything but the general, physical, normal medical examination ...” of the victim. In response to this objection, the judge stated that “[t]he record will note the objection to
ISSUES AND ANALYSIS
I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ACCEPTING LINDA CHIDESTER AS AN EXPERT WITNESS AND IN APPLYING THE WRONG STANDARD OF REVIEW FOR EXPERT TESTIMONY.
¶ 6. Crawford asserted that the trial court erred in accepting Dr. Chidester as an expert witness and in applying the wrong standard of review for expert testimony. The DHS social worker who investigated the case made arrangements for the victim to be seen by Dr. Chidester and chose her because she was a recognized expert in the field of child sexual abuse. Defense counsel argued that accepting Dr. Chidester as an expert in any field other than general practice would deny Crawford his due process and fundamental fairness rights as guaranteed by the state and federal constitutions.
¶ 7. Defense counsel further argued that Dr. Chidester‘s testimony that the victim had pelvic inflammatory disease which had been sexually transmitted and that her physical findings were consistent with penetration, was impermissible testimony concerning child abuse matters. The State argued that the defense objected to the testimony of Dr. Chidester and not to the tests and techniquеs which she administered; and therefore, Crawford is procedurally barred from raising on appeal the issue of admissibility of Dr. Chidester‘s medical examination.
Standard of Review
Under this Court‘s standard of review, the admissibility of evidence rests within the trial court‘s discretion. Wade v. State, 583 So.2d 965, 967 (Miss. 1991). Unless his judicial discretion is abused, this Court will not reverse his ruling. Lewis v. State, 573 So.2d 719, 722 (Miss.1990). The qualifications of an expert in fields of scientific knowledge is left to the sound discretion of the trial judge. His determination on this issue will not be reversed unless it clearly appears that the witness is not qualified. Wilson v. State, 574 So.2d 1324, 1334 (Miss.1990); Smith v. State, 530 So.2d 155, 162 (Miss.1988).
Hall v. State, 611 So.2d 915, 918 (Miss. 1992). “The admissibility of expert testimony is governed by Rule 702 of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence.” Puckett v. State, 737 So.2d 322, 342 (Miss.1999). “If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.
When expert testimony describing behaviors seen in sexually abused children is offered as substantive evidence of abuse, the expert is not describing a syndrome. The expert is certаinly not describing Summit‘s child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome. At the present time, experts have not achieved consensus on the existence of a psychological syndrome that can detect child sexual abuse. Use of the word syndrome leads only to confusion, and to unwarranted and unworkable comparisons to battered child syndrome. The best course is to avoid any mention of syndromes. Id. at 69. Other sections of the Myers article support the idea that while testimony as to CSAAS is improper, testimony by an expert as to cеrtain behavior common to sexually abused children is proper. See Myers, at 8, 13, 51, 62-64, 65.
The expert testimony in this case was offered as substantive evidence of abuse and was not describing a syndrome. The State used the word “syndrome” in its direct questioning of Chance, but the witness quickly discounted the use of any such term and instead described what she found to be common behaviors of sexually abused children. The testimony of Sherwood is similar to Chance‘s. The decision to hold admissible the expert testimony describing Chad Hall‘s behavior as common with that of a sexually аbused child is within the trial judge‘s discretion absent an abuse of that discretion. Wade, 583 So.2d at 967; Lewis, 573 So.2d at 722. The facts support his decision and it is, therefore, upheld.
Hall v. State, 611 So.2d at 918, 919. Recently this Court ruled in Puckett that even though there is no field in which to classify an expert witness as a qualified expert on child abuse the Court found, after “... delineating each witness‘s qualifications,” that the witnesses were properly qualified as expert witnesses in the field of child abuse. Puckett at 342. “Based on this record, they were qualified by knowledge, skill, experience, training, and education to assist the trier of fact” and “[a]s experts, they could testify as tо common symptoms and behavior which are consistent with sexual abuse.” Id. (emphasis added).
¶ 8. Mississippi uses the Frye test for determining the admissibility of scientific evidence, even though the United States Supreme Court held, in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), that “... the Federal Rules of Evidence superseded the Frye test which required that scientific evidence be ‘generally accepted’ in the scientific community to be admissible.” Gleeton v. State, 716 So.2d 1083, 1086-87 (Miss.1998) (citing Daubert and Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013, 1014 (D.C.Cir.1923)). Even after adoption of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence, Mississippi has continued to follow the Frye ‘general acceptance’ standard. Gleeton at 1087.
¶ 9. The record reflects that defense counsel asked the court to analyze the qualifications of Dr. Chidester under Daubert. The court did not indicate which test would bе applied, but stated for the record that his declaration of Dr. Chidester as an expert was based on “case law and pursuant to Rules of Evidence,
Analysis
¶ 10. The record clearly established that Dr. Chidester was tendеred as a medical expert in the field of family practice with special knowledge in the field of child abuse, and the determination that her qualifications to testify as to her opinion concerning child abuse matters was in the discretion of the trial judge. Dr. Chidester testified extensively regarding her qualifications. She has practiced medicine in the Town of Mantachie since she moved to Mississippi in 1974, and was licensed as a physician by the State of Mississippi. She is board certified in family practice and has been recertified twice more in the field of family practice as a specialist. She has attended numerous specialized training sessions in the area of child abuse since 1988. In the year prior to the case sub judice, she examined approximately 150 children in cases alleging child sexual abuse. She has testified in court concerning child sexual abuse “at least 30” times. The trial judge was within his discretion to determine that Dr. Chidester possessed the experience and expertise beyond the “... average, randomly selected adult” that would allow her to testify as an expert. Puckett at 342. The scientific or specialized knowledge presented in this case certainly assisted the jury to understand the evidence presented during Dr. Chidester‘s testimony. Id. Based on her qualifications by “knowledge, skill, experience, training, and education” as an expert, Dr. Chidester was also qualified to testify as to the common symptoms and behavior consistent with sexual abuse. Id. Her testimony would pass muster under either Daubert or Frye. Since this Court uses the Frye test of “general acceptance” in the scientific community, the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in admitting Dr. Chidester‘s testimony. She testified that she knew more about child sexual abuse than the average physician and that the medical community had made many referrals to her concerning child sexual abuse thus being perceived and accepted within the medical community as a child abuse expert. She testified that with child sexual abuse cases she conducts a “behavioral inventory” that sometimes reflects trauma or other problems that might need to be addressed. She found that the victim had a large amount of discharge and that it was unusual for a child of 12 who had not yet started her periоd to not feel any discomfort under the tests that the doctor administered on the victim. Dr. Chidester testified that because she found an infection in the victim she conducted a pelvic exam. Based on the history and physical findings Dr. Chidester‘s opinion was that the victim had been penetrated, consistent with the history that was given to her by the victim.
¶ 11. Under Frye, Dr. Chidester‘s testimony would be accepted within the medical community and the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in admitting her testimony. It was also admissible under
¶ 12. This assignment of error is essentially the same as stated in Issue I: that Dr. Chidester was allowed to testify outside her field of expertise and that the jury was presented with irrelevant testimony since the trial court did not accept her as an expert witness in the field of child sexual abuse yet she testified on this subject matter. The State again responded that
¶ 13. Based on our detailed analysis as set forth with regard to Issue I, we agree with the trial court that Dr. Chidester was qualified to testify and that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in allowing her testimony to be admitted. This issue is without merit.
III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE STATE‘S MOTION TO AMEND THE INDICTMENT AND IN REJECTING THE APPELLANT‘S EXPIRATION OF THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS AND UNCONSTITUTIONALLY VAGUENESS ARGUMENTS WITH RESPECT TO THE TERM “RAPE” REFERRED TO IN THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS STATUTE.
¶ 14. The original indictment stated that the offense for which David Crawford was tried and convicted occurred “during the month of July, in the year of our Lord 1996“. The prosecution, prior to the day of trial, moved to amend the indictment to reflect that the offense occurred “during the months of May or June, in the year of our Lord 1996.” The grand jury returned a true bill on the original indictment on December 10, 1997. The trial began in October of 1998. Crawford argues that the two-year statute of limitations period had expired. The State argues that “[a]lthough Defendant claimed that the prosecution should have amended the indictment prior to the day of trial, the amended indictment does not commence a new prosecution” and that prosecution was commenced within the two-year prescribed period since the original indictment was returned on December 10, 1997.
¶ 15.
¶ 16. This Court stated in Woodall that commencement of prosecution is defined by
¶ 17. Under
¶ 18. The prosecution was commenced by the initial indictment on December 10, 1997, which was well within two years from the dates the crimes occurred (amended indictment, May or June of 1996; original indictment, July 1996). This sub-issue is without merit.
¶ 19.
A person shall not be prosecuted for any offense, with the exception of murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, kidnaping, arson, burglary, forgery, counterfeiting, robbery, larceny, rape, embezzlement, obtaining money or property under false pretenses or by fraud, felonious abuse or battery of a child as described in
Section 97-5-39 , touching or handling a child for lustful purposes as described inSection 97-5-23 , sexual battery of a child as described inSection 97-3-95(c) or exploitation of children as described inSection 97-5-33 , unless the prosecution for such offense be commenced within two (2) years next after the commission thereof....
(emphasis added). The statute clearly excludes rape whether or not it was defined as capital rape or rape. Our case law also supports exceptions in capital rape charges, (see Morris v. State, 595 So.2d at 845).
¶ 20. This Court does not agree with Crawford‘s assertion that the term “rape“, as it is referred to in the statute of limitations statute, is unconstitutionally vague. We have spoken to the vagueness issue in a number of contexts, finding that “[A]ll the Due Process Clause requires is that the law give sufficient warning that men may conform their conduct so as to avoid that which is forbidden. (Emphasis added).” State v. Mays, 329 So.2d 65, 66 (Miss.1976). “`[A] statute which either forbids or requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application violates the first essential of due process.’ Meeks, 513 So.2d at 566 (quoting Connally v. General Constr. Co., 269 U.S. at 391, 46 S.Ct. at 127). Generally speaking, a criminal statute is unconstitutional under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment if it is so vague and uncertain that it does not inform those subject tо it what acts it is their duty to avoid, or what conduct on their part will render them liable to its penalties.... `The test is whether the language conveys sufficiently definite warning as to the proscribed conduct when measured by common understanding and practices.‘” State v. Roderick, 704 So.2d 49, 53 (Miss.1997). Therefore, this argument is without merit. Crawford has not been denied due process. This sub-issue of vagueness with respect to the term “rape” in the statute of limitations is without merit.
¶ 21. Prior to trial Crawford moved the trial court in limine to exclude testimony of other alleged sexual acts with the victim, arguing that they oсcurred at times several months before the alleged rape, “therefore the chain of causation would be broken with respect to the capital rape and the alleged sexual battery activity.” (citing
¶ 22. The trial judge denied the motion based upon
¶ 23. “Determining whether to admit evidence under
During the trial D.M. was permitted to testify that Harold White forced her to have sex with him two to three times a week for a period of six months, between May and October of 1984. White made a motion in limine to prevent such testimony, which was overruled. White contends that such testimony wаs immaterial to the disposition of the case, was highly prejudicial, and tended to show that he was guilty of crimes other than the one in issue. Hicks v. State, 441 So.2d 1359 (Miss.1983), synthesizes this Court‘s previous holdings on this issue in Otis v. State, 418 So.2d 65 (Miss. 1982), Speagle v. State, 390 So.2d 990 (Miss.1980), Davis v. State, 367 So.2d 445 (Miss.1979), and Brooks v. State, 242 So.2d 865 (Miss.1971), and held that those cases control the posture of this particular issue. In all of those cases, this Court held that such evidence is admissible in this limited situation to show appellant‘s lustful, lascivious disposition toward his particular victim, especially where, as here, the victim was under the age of consent. Most recently, this Court has again held that it was not error to permit testimоny of previous
sexual offenses between appellant and his victim. Woodruff v. State, 518 So.2d 669 (Miss.1988). There is nothing in this case to distinguish it from any of these previous cases. Therefore, this assignment of error is without merit.
White v. State, 520 So.2d at 499-500.
¶ 24. The trial judge was correct in admitting the testimony under
V. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN SUSTAINING THE APPELLEE‘S RELEVANCY OBJECTION TO THE PROFFERED TESTIMONY OF BETTY JONES.
¶ 25. Crawford argues that the trial court abused its discretion by excluding the testimony of Betty Jones, who would have testified that she left her children (females, ages 14 and 10 or 11) in Crawford‘s care on numerous occasions during 1996 and that they had not been abused. The trial court ruled, based upon
¶ 26. We agree with the trial judge‘s ruling. Crawford cites Hughey v. State, 729 So.2d 828, 831 (Miss.Ct.App.1998) (defendant‘s right to present his defense is limited by considerations of relevance and prejudice) and Terry v. State, 718 So.2d 1115, 1121 (Miss.1998) (“defendant was entitled to present her theory of the case and have the jury determine whether someone else could have taken the money. Any fears of confusion the trial judge may have harbored could have been resolved by giving limiting instructions to the jury.“).
¶ 27. In Terry, the evidence was relevant to allow the defendant to show other theories on who could have committed the crime in question and should have been admitted. In Hughey, the Court of Appeals held that:
... whether Crofford was homosexual was not relevant and also was prejudicial, potentially to Crofford and more certainly to the State. Hughey was not foreclosed from pursuing the store clerk‘s potential need for money, but was only prevented from asking sexual orientation. He did not ask whether Crofford went to prostitutes, but neither was he blocked from doing so. While Hughey was not permitted to ask Crofford about his sexual orientation, he was allowed to question him as to other possible reasons Crofford might have had to fabricate the robbery story. Those questions included: whether he allowed customers to make purchases on credit, whether he took money from his own register in order to purchase drugs, and whether he and two other individuals stole the money and divided it up later that evening. Hughey was allowed to testify as to his own version of the events, with the exception of Crofford‘s alleged homosexuality and drug habit.
Hughey v. State, 729 So.2d at 831. The testimony of Betty Jones that Crawford did not abuse оther children he kept, would not be relevant as to what occurred between Crawford and the victim. Betty Jones could not know whether he did or did not abuse her children under his care; she was not present. It is important to note that the victim kept silent for almost a year about sexual acts occurring frequently in her own home. She did not even tell her mother, “because I was scared.”
¶ 28. The trial judge did not abuse his discretion in excluding Betty Jones‘s testimony. This issue is without merit.
VI. THE DECISION OF THE JURY IS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.
¶ 29. Crawford argues that there was no DNA evidence presented against him, no physical еvidence demonstrating that a rape had occurred, and that the victim was not credible since she testified that she had never lied in her life and that
¶ 30. The standard оf review for the determination of whether a jury verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence is that this Court must “accept as true the evidence which supports the verdict and will reverse only when convinced that the circuit court has abused its discretion in failing to grant a new trial.” Collier v. State, 711 So.2d 458, 461 (Miss.1998) (citing Herring v. State, 691 So.2d 948, 957 (Miss.1997); Jackson v. State, 689 So.2d 760, 766 (Miss.1997)). A new trial will not be ordered unless the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction “unconscionable injustice” Groseclose v. State, 440 So.2d 297, 300 (Miss.1983).
¶ 31. “[O]ur case law clearly holds that the unsupported word of the victim of a sex crime is sufficiеnt to support a guilty verdict where that testimony is not discredited or contradicted by other credible evidence, especially if the conduct of the victim is consistent with the conduct of one who has been victimized by a sex crime.” Collier v. State, 711 So.2d 458, 461 (Miss. 1998) (citing Christian v. State, 456 So.2d 729, 734 (Miss.1984); McKinney v. State, 521 So.2d 898, 899 (Miss.1988); Otis v. State, 418 So.2d 65, 66 (Miss.1982)).
¶ 32. We have examined the record and these arguments. There was ample evidence to support the finding of the jury and the trial court, such that the verdict, if allowed to stand, does not sanction an unconscionable injustice. This issue is without merit.
CONCLUSION
¶ 33. This Court has examined the assignments of error and finds no merit to them. The сonviction of David E. Crawford of the crime of capital rape and the sentence of life in prison are affirmed.
¶ 34. CONVICTION OF CAPITAL RAPE AND SENTENCE OF LIFE IMPRISONMENT IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AFFIRMED.
PRATHER, C.J., SULLIVAN AND PITTMAN, P.JJ., BANKS, SMITH, MILLS AND WALLER, JJ., CONCUR. McRAE, J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY.