Opinion ID: 2510618
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Admission of the Child's Testimonial Statements in the Videotaped Police Interview

Text: The People argue that the court of appeals erred in holding that admission of the child's testimonial statements in the videotaped police interview was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We begin our analysis by determining under which standard we review the trial court's constitutional error. Two types of constitutional error exist, structural error and trial error. People v. Miller, 113 P.3d 743, 749 (Colo.2005); Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 8-9, 119 S.Ct. 1827, 144 L.Ed.2d 35 (1999). Structural errors are defects affecting the framework within which the trial proceeds, and they require automatic reversal. Id. (quoting Neder, 527 U.S. at 8, 119 S.Ct. 1827). Trial errors are errors in the trial process itself, and reviewing courts may apply either harmless error or plain error analysis. Miller, 113 P.3d at 749 (citing Neder, 527 U.S. at 8-9, 119 S.Ct. 1827). When a defendant alleges a trial error, we review the error under the harmless beyond a reasonable doubt standard if the defendant preserved his claim for review by raising a contemporaneous objection. Miller, 113 P.3d at 745; see People v. Fry, 92 P.3d 970, 973 (Colo.2004) (reviewing the erroneous admission of testimonial evidence under the harmless beyond a reasonable doubt standard where at trial the defendant had objected on Confrontation Clause grounds). When a defendant who failed to raise a contemporaneous objection alleges a trial error, we apply the plain error standard of review. Miller, 113 P.3d at 745. Confrontation Clause violations are trial errors. Fry, 92 P.3d at 980. At trial Vigil did not argue that admission of the videotaped interview violated his rights under the Confrontation Clause. People v. Vigil, 104 P.3d 258, 263 (Colo.App.2004). Therefore, we review admission of the videotape for plain error. [9] Plain error review addresses obvious and substantial error, and the defendant bears the burden of persuasion. Miller, 113 P.3d at 750; United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 734, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993). Errors that so undermine the fundamental fairness of the trial as to cast serious doubt on the reliability of the judgment of conviction constitute plain error. Id. In this case, the People presented the following evidence which provided the jury a basis, apart from the videotaped statement, for finding Vigil guilty of sexual assault on a child: 1) the child's father saw Vigil and the child in a position that strongly suggested sexual assault; 2) the child made accusatory statements to his father, describing how Vigil hurt him, and made statements to both his father and his father's friend describing where he was hurt; 3) after fleeing the child's father's home, Vigil told the police officer, I done a bad thing and then stabbed himself in the throat and chest; 4) at the hospital Vigil told emergency room personnel that he wanted to die and that he did a bad thing; 5) the child told the doctor that someone had hurt him and described how it felt when he was hurt; 6) after examining the child, the doctor concluded that the history and physical exam were consistent with attempted anal intercourse; 7) the serology lab found a large amount of spermatozoa on the anal swab that the doctor took when he examined the child. The court of appeals noted that the defense impeached the testimony of the father and the father's friend with evidence the men had been drinking alcohol and that Vigil's statements to the police and medical personnel were not inconsistent with the defense's theory that no completed act of sexual assault occurred. Vigil, 104 P.3d at 264. However, the videotape was not the only evidence which refuted the defense's theory. For example, the presence of spermatozoa on the anal swab and the doctor's testimony were inconsistent with the theory that no completed act of sexual assault occurred. We find that, even without the child's videotaped statements, the jury had an ample basis for finding Vigil guilty of sexual assault on a child; therefore, the error did not cast serious doubt on the reliability of the judgment of conviction. Accordingly, we hold that admission of the videotaped police interview did not constitute plain error.