Case Title: Kolb v. State

Citation: 542 So. 2d 265

Docket Number: 58374

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1989-04-12T00:00:00Z

Document:
542 So. 2d 265 (1989) John Daniel KOLB v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 58374. Supreme Court of Mississippi. April 12, 1989. *266 Thomas M. Fortner, Pascagoula, for appellant. Mike Moore, Atty. Gen. by DeWitt Allred, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. Before HAWKINS, P.J., and PRATHER and ROBERTSON, JJ. HAWKINS, Presiding Justice, for the Court: John Daniel Kolb was indicted by the grand jury of Jackson County for feloniously engaging in sexual penetration with M.F., a child under the age of twelve years. Venue was changed to Forrest county where he was convicted and sentenced as a recividist under Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-81 (1977) to ten years imprisonment without parole. Upon appeal he argues the evidence did not authorize his conviction under Miss. Code Ann. §§ 97-3-95, -97 (1985), an erroneous and prejudicial cross-examination of him as to whether he was a homosexual, and erroneous admission into evidence of letters he wrote after incarceration to two acquaintances. For the reasons which follow, we find no error and affirm. M.F. was born February 17, 1975. He and his mother lived in North Biloxi. He was swimming in the YMCA pool near Ocean Springs in the spring of 1985 when Kolb, a gymnastics instructor, asked him if he would like to try out for gymnastics. M. then enrolled in the program. On Saturday, November 2, 1985, M. and his cousin D. were invited to Kolb's home in Ocean Springs, along with a number of other boys, for a cook-out. Late that afternoon when Mrs. F. went to get M. and D., Kolb asked her permission for them to spend the night with him, and they could go to the movies, and then sleep in a tent in the yard. It developed that only M., D. and a six-year-old child J. stayed. The boys did not get in the movies because the film was "R" rated. Kolb bought some beer which he drank during the course of the evening. He also took the boys to a local McDonald's. Around 1:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 3, police officers Therese A. Vanek and Timmy Tue of the Ocean Springs police department were on patrol when they noticed two boys on a bicycle, one on the handle bars and the other peddling. The boys were M. and D., and they were waving for attention. The officers stopped, and found M. upset and excited. He reported having been sexually molested by Kolb. *267 The parents were called, the boys' statements were evaluated by police officers, and a warrant issued for Kolb's arrest. He was taken into custody about 3:30 a.m. at his home. While Kolb was in jail, he wrote two acquaintances, Liz Welch, a fitness instructor at the YMCA, and David Harris, the chief executive officer of the Gulf Coast YMCA. The letter to Welch contained the following: The letter to Harris contained the following: Prior to trial and under a court order, Kolb was psychiatrically evaluated by a local psychiatrist, to whom he revealed his homosexuality, extending back to his childhood. The psychiatrist made a lengthy report to the circuit judge. The contents of this report were never admitted into evidence before the jury, however. At trial the police officers testified to M.'s being very upset, excited and having reported sexual abuse by Kolb. M. testified that when the boys returned to Kolb's house late Saturday night, Kolb got him away from the other boys, and into his bedroom. Then he told M. to take off all his clothes, and lie spread eagle. M. testified Kolb then started to lick or kiss him, and he turned his head, and then Kolb licked his neck and chest, and sucked his penis. M. further testified that after performing this fellatio, Kolb walked with him to the tent and left. D. asked M. if Kolb had done it to him, too. After some discussion between the two, they left on Kolb's bicycle for help. When the officers went to arrest Kolb, the Martin child was still asleep in the tent. Mrs. F. testified as to the difference between M. before and after November 3, 1985. She said that he had recurring nightmares, was afraid to go to school, and wanted to stay home. His grades had gone down, he threw up at school, and she had sought counseling for him. Kolb's letter's to Welch and Harris were also introduced into evidence over the objection of Kolb as to relevancy. Kolb testified in his own defense. On direct examination he testified as follows: Further on direct examination, he testified: Kolb also testified there was nothing in the letter to Welch admitting he had behaved improperly with M.F., and that he did not intend it to be an admission of misbehavior. As to the letter to Harris, Kolb testified: On cross-examination Kolb was questioned as to whether some of the statements in the letters did not implicate him as having sexual problems as opposed to drinking and other problems. Kolb denied that they did, and the district attorney then asked him if he had not started becoming a homosexual when he was seven or eight years old. He was also asked, over defense objection, whether he had pleaded guilty to homosexual conduct some eighteen years previous. The district attorney started to question Kolb about his statements to the psychiatrist, and the circuit judge excused the jury. The district attorney argued that the statements Kolb made to the psychiatrist were admissible, because Kolb had perjured *269 himself. However, no questions were asked Kolb in the presence of the jury about the psychiatrist's letter. Indeed, Kolb was never required to answer in chambers whether or not he had told the psychiatrist he was homosexual. We address first whether Kolb was convicted under the proper statute. He argues on the ground of insufficiency of evidence that the offense as to which the State offered evidence did not constitute a crime under Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-95. The pertinent portions of Miss. Code Ann. §§ 97-3-95, -97 read: The evidence in this case of the conduct of Kolb, which the jury clearly believed, comes under Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-95, -97. Kolb's only objection to the introduction of the letters during the State's case-in-chief was their relevancy. Rules 401 and 402 of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence (MRE) state: The question is whether these letters had a tendency to make any fact that was of consequence to the determination of the outcome more probable. Put simply, did these letters make it more probable that Kolb had committed the act with which he was charged. Because the vast majority of the human race does not have sexual urges toward small children such as those manifested by Kolb, and sexual acts such as those with which he was charged are repugnant and difficult to believe, when any person is charged with such conduct it is relevant that the individual did have those sexually deviant tendencies. The letters were relevant as tending to show Kolb had such urges conjoined with the issue of whether he in fact engaged in the act with which he was charged. The weight to be given to the letters was entirely up to the jury. In Harrelson v. State, 217 Miss. 887, 891, 65 So. 2d 237, 239 (1953), we stated: This is still a good rule of law. See also, Trunnel v. State, 487 So. 2d 820 (Miss. 1986); Evans v. State, 422 So. 2d 737 (Miss. 1982); Yawn v. State, 220 Miss. 767, 71 So. 2d 779 (1954). Although Kolb offered no objection to the admission into evidence of the letters as violative of either or both Rules 403 and 404 of MRE, the federal courts in considering this question have held such evidence admissible. McGahee v. Massey, 667 F.2d *270 1357, cert. den., 459 U.S. 943, 103 S. Ct. 255, 74 L. Ed. 2d 199 (11th Cir.1982); U.S. v. Free, 574 F.2d 1221, cert. den., 439 U.S. 873, 99 S. Ct. 209, 58 L. Ed. 2d 187 (5th Cir.1978); Oliphant v. Koehler, aff'd. 594 F.2d 547, cert. den., 444 U.S. 877, 100 S. Ct. 162, 62 L. Ed. 2d 105 (6th Cir.1978). There is no merit to this assignment. As above stated, the letters were clearly admissible to be considered by the jury to determine whether Kolb had sexual urges toward small children and did perpetrate this act on M. On direct examination Kolb himself injected the issue of his homosexuality. He did not simply deny that he had perpetrated the act with M., but further voluntarily injected the issue by stating that he had never and would never engage in such conduct. Beyond this, he attempted to explain his letters to Welch and Harris as meaning something other than his own homosexuality. Rule 404(a) states: Because Kolb on direct examination specifically made it an issue of whether or not he was homosexual, it was proper cross-examination on the part of the State to question him about this character trait. We find no error, and affirm. AFFIRMED. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., DAN M. LEE, P.J., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, ANDERSON and BLASS, JJ., concur. PITTMAN, J., not participating.