Court Opinion

ID: 9747867
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:40:03.77191+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:27.774671
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Justice SCOTT.
I concur with the majority’s determination that the trial court must be affirmed regarding its decision to deny admittance of the video tapes into evidence. However, I must respectfully dissent because I do not believe the trial court erred when it overruled Appellant’s motion to instruct on an unindicted crime. I also dissent because I do not believe the trial court abused its discretion when it permitted testimony from one of Appellant’s prior victims.
I. Refusal to instruct on unindicted crime was not error.
The testimony in this case was undisputed. L.H.’s testimony indicated that Appellant molested him on a continual basis for almost three (3) years — between 1999 and May 2002. L.H. turned twelve (12) in November 2001. Since some of the sexual abuse may have occurred after L.H.’s twelfth birthday, Appellant could have been charged with and found guilty of: (1) sexual abuse in the first degree; (2) sexual abuse in the second degree; or (3) both crimes.
The majority makes much of the fact that although the evidence was sufficient to support charging Appellant with several crimes, Appellant was charged with only one crime. While this may be a legitimate criticism, it is not for this Court to dictate the crimes with which a defendant should be indicted. Right or wrong, the grand jury utilized its discretion to indict Appellant only on sexual abuse in the first degree, even though it could also have indicted Appellant for sexual abuse in the second degree. Since these crimes are not mutually exclusive, i.e. conviction of one crime does not preclude conviction of the other, the trial court was not mandated to submit an instruction for the separate, uncharged, but “lesser” crime of sexual abuse in the second degree. See Hudson v. Commonwealth, 202 S.W.3d 17, 22 (Ky.2006) (“An instruction on a separate, uncharged, but ‘lesser’ crime-in other words, an alternative theory of the crime-is required only when a guilty verdict as to the alternative crime would amount to a defense to the charged crime, i.e., when being guilty of both crimes is mutually exclusive.”). To hold as the majority does today “would allow a criminal appellant to seek reversal of his conviction simply because the trial court failed to instruct as to all the criminal acts he may have committed, regardless of whether the other uncharged crimes have any bearing on guilt as to the charged crimes.” Id.
I further disagree with the majority’s holding that Appellant was entitled to an instruction on sexual abuse in the second degree as a “lesser-ineluded offense.” See Thomas v. Commonwealth, 170 S.W.3d 343, 349 (Ky.2005) (“An instruction on a lesser-ineluded offense is required if the evidence would permit the jury to rationally find the defendant not guilty of the *104primary offense, but guilty of the lesser offense.”)- The majority’s argument would have merit if this truly was one of those “rare instances where the age of the victim at the time of the abuse is in question.” Op. at 94. But that is simply not the case.
There can be no question as to L.H.’s age at the time of the abuse because the evidence was undisputed; it indicated that L.H. was molested repeatedly between his ninth and twelfth birthdays. Since Appellant was not charged with any crimes that occurred after L.H.’s twelfth birthday, it would not have been rational for the jury to find Appellant guilty of sexual abuse in the second degree.1 Accordingly, I believe an instruction on sexual abuse in the second degree as a “lesser-included offense” was clearly improper in this case.
Finally, I see no “serious[ ] flaw” in the jury instruction regarding sexual abuse in the first degree of L.H. Op. at 94. The instruction required the jury to make two findings:
A. That in this county, beginning in 1999 and continuing through and including the month of May[ ] 2002, and before the finding of the Indictment here, he subjected [L.H.] to sexual contact;
AND
B. That at the time of such contact, [L.H.] was less than twelve (12) years of age.
Contrary to the majority’s assertions, there is nothing “inherently inconsistent” about these findings. Op. at 95. The first finding sets forth the broad period of time during which L.H. testified he was exposed to abuse; and the second finding sets forth that L.H. was less than twelve years of age at some point during this period.2 The jury’s narrowed focus was required, of course, because although crimes may have occurred after L.H.’s twelfth birthday, Appellant was not indicted or charged with any of those crimes.
Indeed, these instructions were not plucked from thin air, but rather they were crafted to conform with the evidence as it was presented at trial — that Appellant molested L.H. repeatedly between his ninth and thirteenth birthdays, but that Appellant was only being prosecuted for crimes which occurred prior to L.H.’s twelfth birthday. When the plain meaning of these instructions are properly considered in light of the evidence presented at trial, there is simply nothing about the instructions that could fairly be classified as misleading, inaccurate, or inconsistent. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent because I do not believe there was error regarding the instructions submitted to the jury in this case.
II. Permitting testimony of prior victim was not abuse of discretion.
The majority also faults the trial court for making a very close call on whether the crimes committed against M.M. were “so strikingly similar to the charged offense as to create” a modus operandi. Commonwealth v. English, 993 S.W.2d 941, 945 (Ky.1999). Although the majority disagrees with the trial court’s ultimate de*105termination, it is not proper for this Court to set the trial court’s determination aside unless the decision is clearly “arbitrary, unreasonable, unfair, or unsupported by sound legal principles.” Id. Because I believe the trial court’s decision is nowhere close to arbitrary or unfair, I dissent from the majority’s holding that the trial court’s discretion must be overruled.
Although paying lip service to the concept, the majority fails to respect the “difficult, fact-specific inquiry” conducted by the trial court. Op. at 96. In this case, Appellant was in a position of trust with all three boys, all the boys were about the same age, and most strikingly, Appellant molested all the boys in the same manner. The molestation is particularly unique because the testimony established that Appellant fondled each boy’s genitalia and sometimes performed oral sex on the boys, but never asked the boys to reciprocate or touch Appellant in anyway.
The pertinent analysis in this case is “whether there exist common facts between the acts ... not whether there was common criminality.” Martin v. Commonwealth, 170 S.W.3d 374, 380 (Ky.2005). In an attempt to apply the above principle, the majority completely discounts striking similarities in Appellant’s conduct towards each boy because “sexual contact” and “age” are “mere elements] of the crime.” Op. at 98. Yet, this is clearly a misapplication of the above principle since it is the factual details of each element of a crime which establish the common facts in any particular analysis.
Indeed, this Court has on several occasions considered the factual details of sexual contact when determining whether evidence of a past crime is admissible. See, e.g., Funk v. Commonwealth, 842 S.W.2d 476, 480-81 (Ky.1992) (past crime was similar enough to be admissible in large part because defendant was alleged to have digitally penetrated both child victims), Commonwealth v. English, 993 S.W.2d 941, 945 (Ky.1999) (fact that defendant touched vaginal area of each victim was relevant in determining whether past crimes were “strikingly similar” enough to be admissible); Martin, 170 S.W.3d at 380 (striking similarity in crimes included fact that victims were “abused by similar touching of the vaginal area, always without penetration”). Cf. Dickerson v. Commonwealth, 174 S.W.3d 451, 469 (Ky.2005) (modus operandi was not established in large part because “no facts were introduced to describe the nature of the acts of sodomy” which were perpetrated against each victim). The same is true with age. See, e.g., Anastasi v. Commonwealth, 754 S.W.2d 860, 862 (Ky.1988) (fact that all victims were “young boys” was relevant in establishing “pattern of conduct”); English, 993 S.W.2d at 945 (fact that each victim was a “prepubescent female” was relevant in determining similarity of past crimes); Martin, 170 S.W.3d at 380 (striking similarity in crimes included fact that victims were “between the ages of five to eleven years old at the time of the abuse”). Thus, I believe it was proper for the trial court to consider the strikingly similar ages of each victim at the time of their molestation, as well as the strikingly similar nature of the sexual contact perpetrated by Appellant against each victim, as significant factors in establishing a distinct pattern of conduct by Appellant.
The majority further fails to give proper weight to the fact that Appellant placed himself in a position of trust with each one of these boys. The majority emphasizes a superficial difference between Appellant’s roles as it related to each of the victims— Appellant served in the role of priest with M.M. and then in the role of longtime family friend with E.H. and L.H. While this difference is relevant and should be *106considered, the majority overemphasizes the significance of this superficial title change.
It is relevant to consider that Appellant could no longer utilize the priest role as a means to victimize children since he was removed from that position due to his misconduct against M.M. Second and most pertinent, of course, is that although his title may have been different, his position of power and influence in relation to each victim remained the same. As both a priest and a family friend, Appellant placed himself in a position where young boys looked up to him, trusted him, and sought his counsel and advice. This is a unique and peculiar characteristic that is pertinent to establishing a pattern of conduct and should not be discounted simply because the wolf changed its clothing.
In regard to the differences between the victims, the majority’s points are weak. First, while all three victims accused Appellant of fondling their genitals, E.H. and M.M. alleged that Appellant performed oral sex as well. Second, the abuse occurred in different locations. Finally, Appellant was a priest when he abused M.M., but only a family friend when he abused E.H. and L.H.
In assessing whether evidence is sufficient to constitute a modus operandi, “it is not required that the facts be identical in all respects.” Dickerson v. Commonwealth, 174 S.W.3d 451, 469 (Ky.2005). In this case, the differences are primarily ones of circumstance. When the differences and similarities are balanced in light of the totality of the evidence, the differences are simply not substantial enough to outweigh or dilute the strikingly similar pattern of conduct perpetrated against M.M., E.H., and L.H. See Anastasi, 754 S.W.2d at 861 (strikingly similar conduct found even though sex acts were different and the age of the victims were different); Martin, 170 S.W.3d at 380 (strikingly similar conduct found even though defendant was accused of committing sodomy with only one of three victims, defendant bribed the children with different things, and defendant variously committed acts with one and two children at a time).
Finally, the majority misstated current law when it declared that “the probative value of M.M.’s testimony as to [Appellant’s] pattern [of conduct] would have been destroyed by the fact that [Appellant’s] abuse of M.M. occurred over twenty years before the case before us today.” Op. at 100. In Commonwealth v. English, this Court established that “temporal proximity ... is less significant when the issue is modus operandi....” 993 S.W.2d at 944 (citing with approval a North Carolina case which upheld “admission of evidence of a prior wrongful act which occurred seventeen years before the charged offense”). “Thus, if the prior wrongful act, or a particular aspect thereof, is so similar to the charged offense as to show a modus operandi which tends to prove an element of the charged offense, remoteness alone does not require suppression of the evidence of the prior misconduct.” Id. (Emphasis added). Moreover, contrary to the majority’s assertion, the Commonwealth did cite authority by this Court which approved temporally remote evidence of sexual bad acts.3 See Lear v. Commonwealth, 884 S.W.2d 657, 659-660 (Ky.1994) (although prior bad act was temporally remote, victim’s mother, who herself had been raped by same defendant as a child, *107was permitted to testify regarding her abuse).
When the evidence is viewed in a fair and balanced light, it was not unreasonable or arbitrary for the trial court to determine that the crimes committed against M.M. were “so strikingly similar to the charged offense as to create” a modus operandi. Id. at 945. Therefore, I must respectfully dissent because it is improper for this Court to overrule the trial court’s discretionary determination merely because it would have ruled differently.
CUNNINGHAM, J., joins this dissent.

. If the jury somehow believed that abuse occurred after L.H.’s twelfth birthday, but not prior, the proper verdict in this case would have been not guilty. Of course, this scenario is implausible since L.H. was unable to specify the time when each act of abuse occurred (other than to say that sexual abuse occurred repeatedly during the three year span referenced above). Thus, L.H.’s credibility was an all or nothing proposition; the jury had no choice but to believe or discount the testimony in its entirety.

. Thus, the second finding was simply a subset of the first finding.

. While the opinion does not reference the actual difference in time between the rape of the mother and the rape of her own daughter, one could make an educated guess that the prior bad act occurred no less than fifteen (15) years, and more than likely closer to twenty (20) years, before the charged offense.