Case Name: Freddie WALKER v. STATE of Mississippi
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2004-05-27
Citations: 878 So. 2d 913
Docket Number: No. 2002-KA-00652-SCT
Parties: Freddie WALKER v. STATE of Mississippi.
Judges: SMITH, C.J., CARLSON, GRAVES AND DICKINSON, JJ., CONCUR. EASLEY, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED IN PART BY COBB, P.J. RANDOLPH, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN JOINED BY COBB, P.J., AND EASLEY, J. DIAZ, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 878
Pages: 913–926

Head Matter:
Freddie WALKER v. STATE of Mississippi.
No. 2002-KA-00652-SCT.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
May 27, 2004.
Rehearing Denied Aug. 12, 2004.
Thomas M. Fortner, Jackson, Phillip Broadhead, Columbia, Carl D. Gordon, attorneys for appellant.
Office of Attorney General by W. Glenn Watts, attorney for appellee.

Opinion:
WALLER, Presiding Justice,
for the Court.
¶ 1. Freddie Walker was convicted of statutory rape and sentenced to serve two concurrent life sentences in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The trial court denied Walker's request for a new trial or in the alternative judgment notwithstanding the verdict. On appeal, he raises three issues: (1) that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence a towel containing semen which had not been scientifically identified as his; (2) that the trial court erred in admitting recordings of his telephone conversations with the victim; and (3) that the verdict was based on insufficient evidence and was contrary to the weight of the evidence.
¶2. Finding that the admission of the towel violated the M.R.E. 403 unfair prejudice standard, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
FACTS
¶ 3. Freddie Walker ran a nightly janitorial services business in Jackson. In January of 1999, he met "Mother" and they developed a friendship, which was both professional and intimate. "Mother", a widow since 1995, cared for her four children in addition to providing nightly cleaning services. Because of his positive rapport with the children, Walker and "Mother's" relationship evolved to a point where he was furnished a key to their home, which he frequented.
¶ 4. In mid-April 2000, school officials contacted "Mother" and informed her of rumors circulating that Walker had sexually assaulted M.M., her thirteen-year-old daughter. When confronted, both Walker and M.M. denied that such attacks occurred. Nevertheless on April 21, 2000, "Mother" had M.M. examined by Dr. Harriet Hampton, a specialist in pediatric and adolescent gynecology. The examination proved inconclusive as to vaginal penetration. Dr. Hampton testified that during this visit she was informed by M.M. that she had been previously sexually abused by her older brother ("Brother") who lived in the house during the period that the offenses, which are the subject of this appeal, were alleged to have occurred. Believing the rumors untrue, "Mother" and Walker continued their relationship.
¶ 5. In August of 2000, "Mother" became concerned about her children's activities, especially those of "Brother", and "bugged" the family telephone line. To her dismay, she incidentally recorded several sexually suggestive conversations between Walker and M.M. Immediately, "Mother" contacted the Jackson Police Department and had M.M. examined by a physician. On August 23, 2000, Dr. James Cloy conducted a pelvic examination and found evidence of vaginal penetration and no intact hymen. Walker was questioned by the authorities and subsequently arrested.
¶ 6. Walker, 45, was prosecuted on two counts of capital rape. However, he allegedly sexually assaulted M.M. six times from May of 1999 until August 15, 2000. During the trial, several witnesses testified for the prosecution, including: Mother, M.M., Dr. Cloy, Dr. Hampton, and Detective Kim Harrison of the JPD child protection unit.
¶ 7. The prosecution's most critical pieces of evidence were the recorded conversations and a towel, which allegedly had Walker's semen on it. In the recorded conversations, Walker told M.M. that she was "sexy" and "appealing" and discussed kissing her. Prior to trial, the trial court denied Walker's motion in limine to exclude the taped conversations.
¶ 8. With regards to the towel, the prosecution received it from "Mother" in Au gust of 2000. It was alleged that following one the attacks in the family's living room, Walker used the towel to clean himself. Seeing this, M.M. went upstairs only to return after Walker had left. M.M. then retrieved an additional towel from "Mother's" bedroom, which she wrapped the soiled towel in and held until giving it to "Mother" in August of 2000. This incident was alleged to have occurred in August of 1999, but was not made part of the indictment.
¶ 9. Prior to trial, Walker filed a motion to suppress the towel. He argued that, without any confirmation that the semen was his, there was no connection between the towel and him and that its admission would violate his right to a fair trial. After due consideration, the trial court denied the motion.
¶ 10. Walker raises several issues on appeal.
DISCUSSION
I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ADMITTING A TOWEL AS EVIDENCE OF AN ALLEGED PRIOR BAD ACT PURSUANT TO M.R.E. 401, 402, 403 AND 404(B).
¶ 11. Relying on M.R.E. 404(b), the State argues that the towel was admitted because as evidence to a similar, prior offense it corroborated the charges in the indictment; showed Walker's lustful disposition toward M.M.; and showed the probability that he committed the crime. Further, the State maintains that the probative value outweighs any prejudicial effect and that therefore there is no M.R.E. 403 violation.
¶ 12. "A trial judge enjoys a great deal of discretion as to the relevancy and admissibility of evidence. Unless the judge abuses this discretion so as to be prejudicial to the accused, the Court will not reverse this ruling." Jefferson v. State, 818 So.2d 1099, 1104 (Miss.2002) (quoting Fisher v. State, 690 So.2d 268, 274 (Miss.1996)). See also Hill v. State, 774 So.2d 441, 444 (Miss.2000); Crawford v. State, 754 So.2d 1211 (Miss.2000); Gilley v. State, 748 So.2d 123, 126 (Miss.1999); Hughes v. State, 735 So.2d 238, 269 (Miss. 1999).
¶ 13. M.R.E. 404 provides, in part:
(b) Other Crimes, Wrongs, or Acts. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident.
¶ 14. The decision of the trial court to admit the towel was based on Crawford v. State, 754 So.2d 1211, 1220 (Miss.2000); Hicks v. State, 441 So.2d 1359 (Miss.1983); and Barbetta v. State, 738 So.2d 258 (Miss.Ct.App.1999), which stand for the general rule that in the prosecution of sexual offenses, evidence of prior sexual acts between the accused and the victim is admissible to show the accused's lustful, lascivious disposition toward the particular victim, especially in circumstances where the victim is under the age of consent. See Crawford, 754 So.2d at 1220; Hicks, 441 So.2d at 1361; Barbetta, 738 So.2d at 260.
¶ 15. Though M.M. testified regarding how she retrieved the towel, the prosecution's failure to positively connect the semen on the towel to Walker renders the towel inadmissible. To simply admit such a towel, without employing the available scientific means for authentication, fails the unfair prejudice standard set forth in M.R.E. 403, infringed upon Walker's right to a fair trial, and served only to bolster the testimony of the prosecution's witnesses. See generally Crawford, 754 So.2d at 1220 (Rule 403 is an ultimate filter through which all otherwise admissible evidence must pass). With no direct link to the accused, a soiled towel would tend to mislead, confuse, and incite prejudice in the jury, especially in a capital rape trial involving a 13-year-old victim.
¶ 16. Furthermore, the towel was not properly authenticated. M.R.E. 901(a) provides:
(a) General Provision. The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.
"Under M.R.E. 901, authentication and identification are conditions precedent to admissibility. Generally these serve simply to establish that a matter is what it is claimed to be." Jones v. State, 798 So.2d 592, 593 (Miss.Ct.App.2001); See also Robinson v. State, 733 So.2d 333, 335 (Miss.Ct.App.l998)("Testimony that a particular material is a controlled substance is of no relevance unless the State also proves the defendant's connection to that particular substance.") Without confirming whether the semen on the towel indeed belonged to Walker, the prosecution submitted the towel as a towel stained with his semen.
¶ 17. Not addressed by either party or the trial court was this Court's opinion in Winston v. State, 754 So.2d 1154 (Miss. 2000). On certiorari, this Court affirmed in part and reversed and rendered in part a decision by the Court of Appeals affirming the conviction of capital rape. See also Winston v. State, 726 So.2d 197 (Miss.Ct. App.1998). Relevant to the instant appeal is that though there was no physical evidence collected by the rape kit or otherwise linking Winston to the victim, the conviction was affirmed based on the testimony of .the victim, her relatives, the responding policeman and the examining doctor. Winston, 754 So.2d at 1156. Like our decision in Winston, we do not suggest today that physical evidence is needed to uphold a conviction of capital rape. Winston, 754 So.2d at 1156.
¶ 18. In Winston, the child testified she stopped by Winston's home because he was supposed to provide her lunch. While eating, Winston began fondling her and carried her off to his bedroom, where he forced her to engage in various sexual acts. At some point, members of the victim's family, including her mother, came to his home looking for the child. Winston initially claimed that the child was no longer there, however after the child's voice was heard from the back of the house, he produced the girl. Because she was crying and her clothes were disheveled, the mother was suspicious and asked the victim if Winston had touched her. Though she initially denied it, after being slapped by her mother the victim admitted to her family members that he had molested her. At this time, the police were called to Winston's home. As did the members of the victim's family, the officer later testified that the victim's pants and shirt were open and that her breasts were exposed. The officer drove the victim to the hospital where the emergency room physician administered a rape examination kit. The doctor testified that from the examination he determined that the victim had engaged in intercourse within the two preceding hours.
¶ 19. In Winston, the results from the crime lab tests on the rape kit did not link Winston to the victim. Winston, 754 So.2d at 1155. Unlike Winston, no rape kit was conducted on M.M. because of the time lapse between the alleged molestation and the time it was reported. Other than the testing for semen, no lab tests were conducted on the towel.
¶20. Detective Kim Harrison, the lead investigator, testified that the Jackson Police Department Crime Lab received both the towel and samples of blood taken from Walker. Detective Harrison testified that no blood samples were taken from other individuals. Katina Robins, who specializes in forensic serology at the JPD crime lab, testified that she secured a sample of the semen present on the towel and placed it in a freezer pack to be preserved for further serological testing. However, neither witness could provide a reason why, despite their efforts to obtain and preserve samples from the defendant and the towel, that no further serological testing was conducted.
¶ 21. We are not faced with a situation where the victim was found in the suspect's house under suspicious conditions, coupled with his suspicious conduct, and then immediately driven by a police officer to the hospital where a rape kit was administered. Though the rape kit did no disclose physical evidence to link Winston to the rape, the physician concluded, based on his examination, that the victim had engaged in intercourse within the preceding two hours. See id. Here there was no immediate investigation of the reported incidents.
¶22. In the instant case, the need for scientific testing is clear. First, there was testimony that at one point the child claimed to have been sexually assaulted by her older brother. Second, the sexual attacks charged in the indictments allegedly occurred in June and August 2000. However, the semen on the towel resulted from a sexual attack in August of 1999.
¶ 23. Because the prosecution failed to link the semen on the towel to Walker, we find that the admission of the towel violated M.R.E. 403 and reverse. In accordance with the suggestions of the prosecution's criminologist, further scientific testing is necessary.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY REFUSING TO GRANT WALKER'S MOTION IN LIMINE SEEKING TO PROHIBIT THE INTRODUCTION OF AUDIOTAPE CONVERSATIONS IN VIOLATION OF M.R.E. 401, 402, AND 403.
¶ 24. Walker claims that during the trial the prosecution played'several irrelevant tape recorded conversations which unfairly influenced the jury and prejudiced the defense. Relying on our decision in Ragin v. State, 724 So.2d 901 (Miss.1998), Walker maintains that prosecution failed to satisfy M.R.E. 401's relevancy requirement and that the evidence violated unfair prejudice limitation set forth under M.R.E. 403. The Court disagrees.
¶ 25. In Ragin, we affirmed the trial court's decision to admit audio tapes and transcripts concerning a drug sale. 724 So.2d at 903-04. Discussing the two requirements for the admissibility of the audio tapes, the Court stated:
We have announced that the prosecution must prove the recordings are relevant pursuant to Miss. R. Evid. 401 as well as authentic as required by Miss. R. Evid. 901 before they are deemed admissible. In Middlebrook v. State, 555 So.2d 1009 (Miss.1990) we held the prosecution is required to lay a substantial predicate before a tape recording may be received into evidence. First, the recording must pass the relevancy test of Rule 401; i.e., it must have a "tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." Miss. R. Evid. 401.
Id. at 903. As to the second requirement, the Court noted that M.R.E. 901 will be "satisfied if evidence is introduced which is 'sufficient' to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims." Id.
¶ 26. Here, the recorded conversations, laden with sexual overtones, are clearly relevant as evidence of Walker's disposition towards M.M. This satisfies the M.R.E. 401. As for M.R.E. 901, Walker tacitly authenticated the conversations himself.
¶27. When questioned by the authori-. ties, Walker explained through his conversations with M.M. he sought to raise her self-confidence and by telling her that she was "sexy" and "appealing" he wanted her to know that others found her attractive. In light of such explanation, the Court finds that the tapes are what they were purported to be (i.e. conversations between Walker and M.M.) and we reject his challenge to their authenticity.
¶ 28. Whether the evidence presented satisfies Rules 401 and 901 is a matter left to the discretion of the trial judge. M.R.E. 104(a). See also Ragin, 724 So.2d at 903. Without an abuse of discretion, his decision will be upheld. Id. (citing Stromas v. State, 618 So.2d 116, 119 (Miss. 1993)). See Butler v. State, 592 So.2d 983, 984 (Miss.1991).
¶ 29. For these reasons, this issue is without merit.
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY DENYING A DIRECTED VERDICT OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE DENIED A MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL AND J.N.O.V. BECAUSE THE EVIDENCE WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO SUSTAIN A JURY VERDICT.
¶ 30. Because issue one is dispositive, we need not address this issue.
CONCLUSION
¶ 31. Because the prosecution failed to connect the semen on the towel to Walker, we find that the towel's probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. We reverse the trial court's judgment and remand this case for a new trial consistent with this opinion.
¶ 32. REVERSED AND REMANDED.
SMITH, C.J., CARLSON, GRAVES AND DICKINSON, JJ., CONCUR. EASLEY, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED IN PART BY COBB, P.J. RANDOLPH, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN JOINED BY COBB, P.J., AND EASLEY, J. DIAZ, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
. However, this Court noted that the Court of Appeals erroneously stated that Winston was linked by blood-type matching to the semen sample taken from the victim. Id. at 1156.