Opinion ID: 2508156
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Admission of Evidence Pursuant to W.R.E. 404(b)

Text: [¶ 19] On August 1, 2002, the State filed a Notice of Intent to Use Evidence in response to a Demand for Notice of Intent to Introduce Evidence under 404(b) filed by Watters. The State indicated that TD would testify about sexual contact with Watters that took place at the family home in Glenrock in Converse County from December of 2000 until May of 2001. TD would also testify that Watters had taken explicit photographs of them engaged in sexual activity and that he had shown her those pictures on his computer. The State intended to offer TD's testimony and the photographs for the following purposes: To show a course of conduct or pattern of sexual abuse, to show motive, to place the offense in its proper setting and to properly understand the context of the charged offenses, to support the credibility of the victim and corroborate her testimony, and to overcome defense claim of fabrication or improper motive    [.] Watters objected to the proposed evidence, and the trial court considered the matter during a motions hearing on August 13, 2002. At the hearing, the State emphasized that TD's testimony about her sexual relationship with Watters prior to the incident on April 24, 2002, was relevant and admissible pursuant to W.R.E. 404(b) to show a course of conduct and a pattern of sexual abuse. The State asserted that the photographic evidence was admissible to corroborate that testimony. [¶ 20] The State also noted that the second-degree sexual assault charge required a showing that Watters was in a position of authority over TD, which he used to cause her to submit. The State argued that the testimony was relevant to establish the context necessary to prove that element of the charged crime. On August 26, 2002, the trial court issued an order admitting TD's proposed testimony and the photographs pursuant to Rule 404(b). The court noted that the proposed testimony of TD was properly characterized as course of conduct evidence, which is admissible to give `the jury a complete story when it is relevant and necessary to tell the complete story for the jury's understanding.' Solis v. State, 981 P.2d 28, 31 (Wyo.1999). The trial court also cited identity as a proper purpose before concluding that the probative value of the evidence outweighed any prejudicial effect. [5] At trial, TD testified about the prior sexual acts in Glenrock and described the explicit photographs taken by Watters of them engaging in sex. Over Watters' objection, the trial court admitted all but one of the photos. [6] [¶ 21] On appeal, Watters reiterates his objection to TD's testimony and the photographs. He complains that the State used a shotgun approach but that none of the proffered reasons for admission made any sense in the context of this case. Watters did not deny that he had sexual intercourse with TD on April 24, 2002, at the group home. Accordingly, he argues that the 404(b) evidence was not relevant because it did not help determine whether TD had the capacity to consent to sex. Watters insists that the evidence was not necessary to bolster TD's credibility either, since he did not make that an issue. He claims that the State's true motive for getting this evidence before the jury was to argue character. Watters points to two excerpts from the State's closing argument that he describes as thinly veiled improper character argument: Now, not only the pictures and the photographs, what other evidence do you have that tells you what we know about this man? What tells you that [Watters] knew his behavior was wrong? The testimony that you have at your disposal for that, those photographs again. There's no face. There's no heads. Why is that? You think maybe he's trying to hide the identity in taking those photographs? If it's a sweet, loving relationship, you just take pictures of two people holding each other or kissing. Because these are pictures of sexual acts, that is an indication to you ladies and gentlemen of using an individual. That's what that tells you. .... Now, [defense counsel] indicated that we totally didn't talk about April 24th, 2002, and the only thing that we wanted to talk about was Converse County. But Converse County and what happened over there is primarily what happened through the whole 11 years of [TD's] life. (Sic). And that's what we're talking about here is who she is as a person. Because that's what they're trying to defend, that she was a consenting adult that could have a consensual relationship. But we go back in history and tell you what kind of person she is. And that's why it's relevant. And then what was going on in that house over in Glenrock is relevant too because it shows you what [Watters] was doing with her, not a loving, consensual relationship, but using her for his own sexual gratification. (emphasis by Watters). Similarly, Watters argues that the photographs of his sexual conduct with TD were not probative of any element of the crime charged and were highly prejudicial because their explicit nature could only inflame the jury. [¶ 22] The admission of evidence under Rule 404(b) is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Gleason v. State, 2002 WY 161, ¶ 18, 57 P.3d 332, ¶ 18 (Wyo.2002). We have described the standard of an abuse of discretion as reaching the question of the reasonableness of the trial court's choice. Griswold v. State, 2001 WY 14, ¶ 7, 17 P.3d 728, ¶ 7 (Wyo.2001). Judicial discretion is a composite of many things, among which are conclusions drawn from objective criteria; it means exercising sound judgment with regard to what is right under the circumstances and without doing so arbitrarily or capriciously. Id. In the absence of an abuse of discretion, we will not disturb the trial court's determination. Id. The burden is on the defendant to establish such abuse. Trujillo [v. State ], 2 P.3d [567] at 571 [(Wyo.2000)]. Gleason, at ¶ 29 (quoting Skinner v. State, 2001 WY 102, ¶ 25, 33 P.3d 758, ¶ 25 (Wyo.2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 994, 122 S.Ct. 1554, 152 L.Ed.2d 477 (2002)). [¶ 23] The State offered several purposes for admitting TD's testimony regarding the prior sexual acts with Watters that took place in Converse County. At the motions hearing, the State focused on two of those purposes in particular: course of conduct and bolstering TD's credibility. The trial court agreed and admitted the testimony on this basis along with a finding that the evidence was probative of identity. We agree with the trial court. As the trial court noted, evidence is admissible to show course of conduct if it will present the jury with a complete story:    The testimony does not bear upon separate criminal occurrences or bad acts. Rather, it is helpful to explain what happened between appellant and his victim, and is integral to understanding the context of the crime charged.... In some jurisdictions it is defined as the evidence of the context of the offense and consequently admissible with the reasoning that `events do not occur in a vacuum and the jury has the right to have the offense placed in its proper setting.'... (Emphasis in original; citations omitted). Miller v. State, 755 P.2d 855, 861 (Wyo.1988) (quoting Scadden v. State, 732 P.2d 1036, 1044 (Wyo.1987)). [¶ 24] At trial, TD described how Watters appeared at the group home on the evening of April 24, 2002. TD was eating dinner when she observed Watters approaching. TD testified that she was scared because she was afraid that Watters was going to do something. TD ran downstairs to her bedroom to avoid Watters. However, she forgot to lock her door. Watters entered the room and sweet talked TD into doing something she testified that she did not want to do  have sexual intercourse. The testimony from TD regarding her prior sexual contact with Watters explained her actions: It told the jury why she was scared and why she tried to avoid Watters. The incident on April 24th did not happen in a vacuum  it was a direct outgrowth of the prior incidents. Even if Watters admitted that the incident at the group home occurred, the State was still entitled to present its case to the jury. TD's testimony regarding the prior sexual incidents was short and concise  TD simply stated that Watters had engaged in sexual conduct with her while they lived at the Watters' marital home in Glenrock without describing the nature of the sexual conduct in any detail mitigating much of the prejudicial affect of the testimony. [¶ 25] TD's testimony was also relevant to the second-degree sexual assault charge against Watters. That charge alleged that Watters was in a position of authority over TD and that he used that position to cause her to submit. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-303(a)(iv). In Humphrey v. State, 962 P.2d 866 (Wyo.1998), the defendant was charged with second-degree sexual assault on his daughter who lived with him, his wife, and two spiritual wives. The district court admitted testimony under Rule 404(b) relating to the defendant's relationship with his extended family, including instances of death threats, sexual encounters with the women in the household, and the strict discipline that was imposed by the defendant. Id. at 870. We affirmed, concluding that the evidence was properly admitted to show course of conduct: We have repeatedly stated that a defendant's uncharged misconduct is admissible to demonstrate a course of conduct which clarifies what happened between an accused and the victim or serves to enhance the natural development of the facts. [Citations omitted]. The relevance of the evidence is equally patent. In this case, an essential element of the charged offenses required the State to show that Humphrey used his position of authority to cause the victim to submit. We agree with the district court that testimony illustrating the family dynamics to which this victim was subjected was clearly relevant to show Humphrey's abuse of authority. Humphrey, 962 P.2d. at 871. As in Humphrey, TD's testimony was relevant to the question of whether Watters had used his authority over her to cause submission. Under the circumstances, we cannot find an abuse of discretion. [¶ 26] In addition to TD's testimony, the trial court admitted four photographs that graphically depicted sexual conduct between Watters and the victim. The photographs did not depict the face of either party, but TD's doctor testified that he could identify her from distinctive scars on her body caused by a childhood water-scalding incident. [¶ 27] At trial, Watters argued that his sexual relationship with the victim was a loving, consensual one. The State countered that Watters was using his position of authority over the victim as her foster father/guardian to exploit her for sexual gratification. The existence of the photographs tends to undercut Watters' theory and bolster the State's. The photographs are evidence that the motivation for the sexual relationship was not love but sexual gratification, a point the State made in its closing argument. The photographs go directly to the parties' theories of the case and were clearly relevant evidence. See Hopkinson v. State, 632 P.2d 79, 139 (Wyo.1981) (Photographs depicting torture of murder victim were admissible as they were relevant to the State's theory of the case as it correlated to the defendant's motive to commit the murder and making them circumstantial evidence of guilt.). The explicit nature of the photographs may have made for unpleasant or uneasy viewing for the jury. However, there is no question that they possessed significant probative value under the circumstances of this case, and Watters has not convinced us that the probative value of the photographic evidence was outweighed by any prejudicial affect. [¶ 28] Finally, as part of his argument on this issue, Watters pointed to two extracts from the State's closing argument at trial and asserted that the State used this evidence to argue guilt based upon his character. Our review of the record indicates that the argument the State was making was not related to character but to the charge that Watters had caused TD to submit through abuse of his position of authority over her and to the relevance of the photographs as identifying Watters and corroborating TD's testimony about the prior sexual acts. We find no error in the State's argument.