Opinion ID: 2815243
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Child-abuse Convictions

Text: In the second issue on appeal, Gabaree argues that the district court should have concluded that he also was prejudiced by counsel’s performance with regard to his convictions for child abuse. He asserts that the testimony of Drs. Kelly and Sisk improperly bolstered the girls’ testimony about physical abuse and insists that, but for counsel’s performance, he would have been acquitted of these charges. The district court concluded that Gabaree was not prejudiced by counsel’s performance with respect to the child-abuse charges. The court noted that other evidence at trial corroborated the testimony of the girls and the doctors that he had physically abused them: Bruises and marks suggesting physical abuse were found on the girls; expert testimony confirmed that the marks were consistent with the items that the girls testified had been used on them (belts, belt buckles, cigarettes, and cigarette lighters) and were not caused by accident; pictures of the girls’ injuries were displayed to the jury; Gabaree’s mother testified that she thought her son’s acts of -14- purported discipline were too severe; and Gabaree admitted whipping the girls, though he insisted that it was to discipline them and was not inappropriate. Nor did the girls’ testimony suffer from the same inconsistencies as their testimony regarding the alleged sexual abuse. We agree with the district court. The State’s case in support of these charges was significantly stronger than its evidence of sexual abuse. Even without Dr. Sisk’s improper testimony that Gabaree likely was acting in accordance with his questionnaire answers, the wealth of other admissible evidence—including Dr. Kelly’s testimony that the marks he observed on the girls were consistent with intentional abuse—makes it unlikely that counsel’s performance affected the verdict on these counts.