Opinion ID: 1891149
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jesse

Text: ¶ 34. Regarding Jesse, we cannot find that the error was harmless. The prosecution's case consisted of two parts: (1) circumstantial evidence strongly indicating that Jesse was abused in some way, and (2) direct evidence comprised of Jesse and Joey's testimony that the abuse was sexual. Thus, the boys' testimony was critical to proving the elements of a sexual act under 13 V.S.A. § 3251(1) (contact between defendant's mouth and the victims' penises). Striking Jesse's graphic and detailed hearsay testimony from the record leaves only Joey's bare bones affirmationI know it happenedof events that occurred when he was three and four. ¶ 35. Although such a combination of strong circumstantial evidence and brief eyewitness testimony could be sufficient for a jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant is guilty, that is not the test under the harmless error analysis. Instead, we must be able to say beyond a reasonable doubt that the offending testimony did not contribute to the jury's verdict. Carter, 164 Vt. at 553, 674 A.2d at 1264. Here, Jesse's testimony was simply too important to the State's case, and too graphic and disturbing to say it was ignored by the jury. Nor was it so fully corroborated or cumulative as to make the error meaningless. Therefore, we find that the erroneous admission of Jesse's testimony was harmful and, accordingly, reverse defendant's conviction for aggravated sexual assault on Jesse. ¶ 36. We explain this conclusion by going through the four relevant Van Arsdall factors, focusing primarily upon (1) the strength of the prosecution's case without the offending testimony and (2) the strength of the offending testimony, and then considering whether the importance of the offending testimony is mitigated because it is (3) corroborated on its material points or (4) is cumulative. ¶ 37. Regarding the first factor, we conclude that, even absent the offending testimony, the State presented enough evidence to affirm the conviction. Evidence that he was severely abused in some manner included testimony regarding Jesse's condition when he first arrived at day care, his psychological profile, and the bruises discovered on his body. The State's expert witness on child sexual abuse, Dr. Hagan, testified that Jesse's adverse behaviorsbiting, self-mutilation, head banging, swearing, nightmares, delayed potty training, and wetting and soiling clothessuggest that a child has suffered a significant assault on what was previously a trusting relationship. Dr. Hagan further testified that although consistent with sexual abuse, there are many possible sources of that adverse behavior. ¶ 38. Evidence that the abuse was sexual was supplied by the eyewitness testimony of Joey, who testified that defendant had used her mouth to lick his penis, and that it happened to Jesse too. There was also some limited circumstantial evidence that the abuse was sexual. Even though Jesse's hearsay statements were not admissible under V.R.E. 804a, portions of his testimony would have been admissible for the limited, nonhearsay purpose of showing that Jesse had detailed knowledge of sexual techniques and practicesspecifically, fellatio and cunnilingusthat are beyond the normal knowledge or experience of three-year-old children. See V.R.E. 801(c) (statement not hearsay unless offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted). Thus, for the purposes of this inquiry only, we can assume the jury had corroborating evidence that Jesse was sexually cognizant far beyond his years. See State v. Swan, 114 Wash.2d 613, 790 P.2d 610, 620 (1990) (en banc) (collecting cases) (accurate description by three-year-old children of fellatio, intercourse, and ejaculation demonstrated precocious sexual knowledge and is corroborative of sexual abuse), cert. denied, Swan v. Washington, 498 U.S. 1046, 111 S.Ct. 752, 112 L.Ed.2d 772 (1991); State v. McCafferty, 356 N.W.2d 159, 164 (S.D.1984) (collecting cases) (A young child is unlikely to fabricate a graphic account of sexual activity because such activity is beyond the realm of his or her experience.). ¶ 39. Finally, the State's allegations of sexual abuse of Jesse were corroborated by nearly identical and even more extensive evidence of sexual abuse of his older brother Joey. Before reviewing this evidence, we explain its limited nature. In State v. LaBounty, 168 Vt. at 133-34, 716 A.2d at 4-5, which also involved an appeal of separate convictions for aggravated sexual assault by one defendant against two children, we refused to require separate trials for each offense under V.R.Cr.P. 14(b)(1) on grounds that evidence relating to both offenses would have been admissible in separate trials to show a common scheme or plan under V.R.E. 404(b). There, the victims separately reported abuse by the husband of their preschool teacher and told nearly identical stories. We held that, to show a common objective, plan, and method under V.R.E. 404(b), the State could put in evidence revealing `the common features of defendant's conduct, the settings, and the victims.' Id. at 135, 716 A.2d at 6 (quoting State v. Johnson, 158 Vt. 344, 352, 612 A.2d 1114, 1119 (1992) (single trial for camp counselor on multiple charges of sexual exploitation of minor campers)). ¶ 40. Here, the two victims also reported separately. Defendant argued that the victims were brainwashed and the stories fabricated. Thus, the State was entitled to refute defendant's allegations by introducing evidence tending to show that Joey was abused in the same way as Jesse, using the same methods, and at the same time or under similar circumstances. See V.R.E. 404(b). In this respect, the corroborating evidence is quite extensive. The two boys reported almost identical stories, suffered similar psychological effects, had the same advanced sexual knowledge, and said they were both threatened in the same manner to secure their silence. ¶ 41. Considering all of the above evidence, we conclude that the first factor favors upholding the conviction. Even without Jesse's erroneously admitted testimony, the State presented sufficient evidenceincluding an eyewitness and well corroborated circumstantial evidencefor a jury to find defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of aggravated sexual assault on Jesse. ¶ 42. In contrast, the second major factor, the strength of the offending evidence, militates against affirming the conviction. Jesse's improperly admitted hearsay testimony was one of the most important and compelling aspects of the State's case. Through the testimony of Susan Butterfield, Jesse's teacher and initial foster mother, and his counselor, Dr. Hagan, the jury heard Jesse make repeated and detailed but childlike descriptions of his mother forcing upon him multiple acts of fellatio and cunnilingus: Mommy hurts my pee pee. She pulls it and bites it and she licks it; She drinks my pee, together with a demonstration by sucking on his own finger and his teacher's finger; Mommy puts her pee pee in my face; I touch mommy's pee-pee and I don't like it. It smells silly, and mommy scares me. ¶ 43. This testimony was not the prosecution's only direct evidence that the abuse Jesse suffered was sexual, but it was by far the strongest and most detailed. The only other direct evidence was Joey's confirmation at trial: Yes she did it to Jesse, but not to Brittany, and his hearsay testimony to Doctors Hagan and Rosen that I know it happened [to Jesse too]. Given the explicit, highly detailed and graphic nature of Jesse's hearsay statements, we find this evidence simply too damaging and too explicit to say it was ignored by the jury in favor of Joey's bare-bones affirmance of the abuse, or the limited circumstantial evidence. Thus, we find that this factor strongly favors reversal. ¶ 44. Lastly, we look to see if the strength of the offending evidence is mitigated by the third and fourth factors, that is, was the offending evidence corroborated on its material points or was it cumulative of properly introduced evidence? As we have already noted, Jesse's testimony was well corroborated by a wealth of circumstantial evidence indicating identical and simultaneous abuse of his brother Joey. But, on the material point of Jesse's testimonythat defendant touched his penis with her mouththe corroborating evidence available to the jury was comparatively weak. Here, there was only Joey's affirmation that I know it happened, and circumstantial evidence of Jesse's precocious sexual knowledgeneither of which has the same persuasive power as Jesse's detailed and graphic descriptions of having oral sex forced upon him by his mother. ¶ 45. Nor can we dismiss the error as cumulative. Again, none of the other evidence regarding Jesse had the same graphic and disturbing content. Although Joey gave virtually identical testimony that was properly admitted, Jesse's testimony cannot be considered cumulative of Joey's since Joey described abuse of himself, not Jesse. Moreover, based on the court's instructions to the jury that it must find independent evidence of guilt of abuse of each child, we must assume that if the jury considered Joey's testimony about the abuse he suffered when deliberating on the charge for abuse of Jesse, that it did so only as corroborative evidence and not as cumulative evidence. [5] ¶ 46. In weighing these four factors, we cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that the erroneously admitted evidence did not contribute[] to the jury's verdict. Carter, 164 Vt. at 553, 674 A.2d at 1264; see also Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 23-24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967) (An error in admitting plainly relevant evidence which possibly influenced the jury adversely to a litigant cannot ... be conceived of as harmless.). Here, the offending testimony was simply the strongest evidence of abuse of Jesse presented at trial. While there was perhaps sufficient circumstantial and lesser quality direct evidence to sustain a conviction for sexual assault, we cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury ignored this more powerful and more direct evidence of guilt in reaching its verdict. Thus, we conclude that it was harmful error to admit Jesse's hearsay testimony. Defendant's conviction for aggravated sexual assault of Jesse must be reversed, and she must be given a new trial.