Opinion ID: 697705
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Videotaped Testimony

Text: 53 Boyles's next assignment of error is that it was improper for the judge to allow the infant Matthew Escalante to testify on videotape, outside his presence, because the judge failed to rule that Matthew was competent to testify, and further that Matthew was brainwashed by his mother, that the prosecutor asked him leading questions, and that because of these errors, there was no guarantee that Matthew's testimony was trustworthy, and its admission was error. 54 Although Boyles raises all of these errors on appeal, we wish to make it clear that Boyles never offered any objection either at the pre-trial hearing, nor when the videotaped testimony was presented to the jury. In fact, Boyles's trial counsel stated that the defense has no objection. Because Boyles offered no objections on the issue, he waived his right to appeal the propriety of the videotaped testimony and we need not review his claim of error. Lakich, 23 F.3d at 1207 (quoting Olano, --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 1777) (forfeiture is the failure to make the timely assertion of a right, waiver is the 'intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right' ). 55 In spite of Boyles's intentional relinquishment of his right to appeal the videotape question, we proceed to discuss the issue only because of the lack of caselaw from this circuit on the issue of the use of videotaped testimony from children and infants. The Supreme Court has recognized that the state's (society's) interest in protecting an infant or child witness from unnecessary trauma outweighs the defendant's right to confront the witnesses against him. Maryland v. Craig, 497 U.S. 836, 855, 110 S.Ct. 3157, 3168-69, 111 L.Ed.2d 666 (1990). This holding was codified in 18 U.S.C. Secs. 3509(b)(2)(A) and (B) which allows the court to take videotaped testimony from a child witness if the court finds that [t]he child will be unable to testify because of fear, or [t]here is a substantial likelihood, established by expert testimony, that the child would suffer emotional trauma from testifying in open court. 56 The Court has cautioned that such findings are case-specific and has enumerated three prerequisites to allowing a child to testify on videotape. Craig, 497 U.S. at 855, 110 S.Ct. at 3168-69. A court must initially find that the videotaped deposition is necessary to protect the welfare of the particular child witness who seeks to testify. Id. It is clear that a court cannot rest its findings on merely the general trauma a child may face in court, but rather, must find that the child would be traumatized by the presence of the defendant himself. Id. at 856, 110 S.Ct. at 3169. Finally, the emotional trauma caused by the defendant must be more than mere nervousness or excitement or some reluctance to testify. Id. (quotation omitted). 57 At a pre-trial hearing to address the government's motion that Matthew be permitted to give his testimony on videotape, at which government and defense counsel, the judge, a court reporter, and Tomow were all present, the court heard testimony from Dr. Nancy E. Perry, a licensed psychologist who was qualified as an expert in the field of child psychology. 14 She opined, after examining Matthew, that he would suffer emotional trauma by testifying about the alleged rape in open court, and testified that the potential trauma that Matthew would suffer would be reduced if he were not required to testify in the presence of Boyles. 58 The court also heard testimony from Dona Beauprey, the Domestic Violence Specialist from the Menominee County Human Services Department who counseled Tomow after she was raped. Beauprey spoke with Matthew during the course of the counseling and testified that Matthew told her he saw his mother crying, that the man who made his mother cry also hurt him by placing his hands around his neck, that the man used foul language, and threw him into the back of the car. Matthew also told Beauprey that he was afraid during the course of events. Beauprey testified that Matthew seemed apprehensive to discuss the incident with her. Finally, during the court's questioning of Matthew in camera, he recounted the same story he told Beauprey and told the court that he was afraid of the man from the woods. Based upon the evidence received at the hearing, and the court's observation and questioning of Matthew, the judge found that: 59 the child is likely to be unable to testify in open court in the physical presence of the defendant because of fear, and because there is a substantial likelihood, which was established by the expert testimony provided by Dr. Perry, that the child would suffer emotional trauma from testifying in court. 60 The district court's ruling that the jury could view the videotaped testimony of Matthew was proper. It had received expert testimony to the effect that Matthew would likely suffer emotional trauma should he be forced to testify in court and that the trauma would be lessened if he did not have to face Boyles while testifying. The court also determined that Matthew's fear of Boyles was more than just mere reluctance or nervousness. It is not our role to second-guess the evidentiary rulings of the district judge who not only heard the expert testimony, but also had the opportunity to hear and observe Matthew testify, see, e.g., United States v. Trussel, 961 F.2d 685, 689-90 (7th Cir.1992), and determined, based upon all the evidence received, that he should not be forced to testify in the presence of the defendant. 15 61 The defendant avers that Tomow had a full year to brainwash Matthew, but points to no evidence in the record of any such brainwashing. In fact, Tomow testified at trial that she had not spoken with Matthew about the rape since the night of the attack. The defendant makes another reckless accusation without support in the record and argues that Matthew was coached in his testimony because the government used leading questions when examining Matthew, 16 but the government's action in doing so was entirely proper because the questions helped to elicit difficult testimony from an infant, and they aided the court in its search for the truth in this most trying situation. This court has recognized that when dealing with infant and children witnesses, procedural requirements--such as absence of leading questions--may 'in many instances be inappropriate or unnecessary to a determination whether a given statement is sufficiently trustworthy.'  Doe v. United States, 976 F.2d 1071, 1080 (7th Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 58, 126 L.Ed.2d 28 (1993) (quoting Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990)). Furthermore, when viewing the video, the jury had the opportunity to observe that the infant child Matthew was being asked leading questions and could evaluate his testimony in light of this knowledge, his responses and facial expressions, speech patterns and his general demeanor while testifying. We refuse to review the jury's determination absent extraordinary circumstances, Rose, 12 F.3d at 1421, and none of the defendant's arguments about Matthew's testimony persuade us that extraordinary circumstances exist. 62 We hold that the defendant's arguments about the admissibility of Matthew's videotaped testimony are without merit.