Court Opinion

ID: 9779041
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 21:34:17.177181+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:19.890107
License: Public Domain

CHAPA, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the majority opinion that the appellant’s brief fails to direct this Court to *89properly preserved error in the record to sufficiently show the trial court committed reversible error. However, I take issue with the State’s suggestion that evidence of Mrs. Bertha Kirshner’s past ill-feelings towards appellant was inadmissible as too remote to have sufficient probative value to outweigh the potential risk of prejudice, embarrassment or harassment to her.
Child molesting cases present very special problems to trial and appellate judges which require very careful scrutiny. The typical child molesting case involves a child of tender age. Because the law recognizes the natural inclination of such children to be irresponsible, it imposes no severe duties upon them. The fact that such a child can be influenced easily by its custodian must also be recognized. Thus a serious question of who really is the complainant is always present in such cases.
The natural inclination to feel extraordinary sympathy for a child perceived sexually abused is as great as the natural inclination to feel repulsion, disgust and vengefulness towards an adult accused of the sexual abuse. The potential, under these emotionally charged circumstances, to insufficiently concentrate on the constitutional rights of an accused is enhanced. These circumstances should not result in depriving an accused of a fair trial under the law. Nor is it meant to suggest that children of tender age are to be ignored when their rights are infringed upon. It is with all children in mind that constitutional rights must be protected. For the children of today will be the adults of tomorrow, who will be the ones to suffer should the constitution become an old dead parchment of no significant value which will no doubt occur tomorrow if it is not upheld today.
This is such a case which involves a complainant who was three years and one month old at the time of the alleged offense, and four years and eight months old at the time of the trial. The alleged incident made the subject of this trial allegedly took place on the 19th day of August, 1984, and involved the allegation that the appellant inserted his finger in the child’s “tutu,” a term which was used in the home for vagina. The record reflects the child testified while sitting on the lap of her older sister. Her testimony contained the expected deviations of a child of such a tender age. The child complainant failed to answer some questions, other answers could not be understood by the reporter, other answers resulted in merely “indicating,” some of her answers were clearly in error, and at one point during the trial, the child made the following spontaneous statement according to the record:
/EURBGS [sic] that one with the mustache, did a bad thing to me. Maybe he is the one. He looks like my daddy.
The record further reflects that during the video interview, after accusing the appellant of improperly touching her with her clothes on, the complainant ended the interview stating appellant had not done what was alleged. Complainant’s mother, Bertha Kirchner, had custody of the child from March 1983, when she divorced the appellant, the natural father of the child. She testified that the child complained to her of the incident on the 19th of August, 1984, after appellant had left from exercising his visitation rights. The testimony of Dr. William P. Gross disclosed that he found no evidence the child was molested when he examined her about one week after the alleged incident. Thus, the testimony of Bertha Kirchner, as well as her influence on the child complainant became extremely critical. The ill-will evidence suggested too remote by the State led up to and surrounded the divorce of the parties in March 1983.
The issue then is the application of the sixth amendment of the Constitution of the United States which provides:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor and to have the *90assistance of counsel for his defense. (Emphasis added).
U.S. Const.Amend. VI.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has clearly indicated that the sixth amendment must be liberally construed in order that an accused receive all the protection intended by the Constitution. In Evans v. State, 519 S.W.2d 868 (Tex.Crim.App.1975), the court held it was reversible error to exclude evidence that the state’s witness was under an indictment for sodomy at the time of trial. The Court reasoned that it would tend to establish bias motive on the part of a state’s witness, and should have been admitted. In so holding, the court stated:
The Court has frequently stated that great latitude should be allowed the accused in showing any fact which would tend to establish ill feeling, bias, motive and animus upon the part of any witness testifying against him. See Seal v. State, 496 S.W.2d 621 [Tex.Cr.App.1973]; Hooper v. State, 494 S.W.2d 846 [Tex.Cr.App.1973]; Burkhalter v. State, 493 S.W.2d 214 [Tex.Cr.App.1973]; Wood v. State, 486 S.W.2d 359 [Tex.Cr.App.1972]; Jackson v. State, 482 S.W.2d 864 [Tex.Cr.App.1972]; Fletcher v. State, 437 S.W.2d 849 [Tex.Cr.App.1968]; Blake v. State, 365 S.W.2d 795 [Tex.Cr.App.1963]. See also, Mutscher v. State, 514 S.W.2d 905 [Tex.Cr.App.1974]. (Emphasis added).
Id. at 871.
The accuracy and truthfulness of Knock’s testimony was a key element in the State’s case against appellants. The claim of bias, interest and motive which the defense sought to develop was admissible to afford a basis for an inference of undue pressure because of Knock’s vulnerable status as an indictee, as well as of Knock’s possible concern that he might be a suspect in the offense. Cf. Mutscher v. State, supra.
We conclude that appellants were denied the right of effective cross-examination, which is ‘constitutional error of the first magnitude and no amount of showing of want of prejudice would cure it.’ Davis v. Alaska, [415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974)]; Brookhart v. Janis, 384 U.S. 1, 86 S.Ct. 1245, 16 L.Ed. 2d 314 [1966].
Id. at 873.
In Steve v. State, 614 S.W.2d 137 (Tex.Crim.App.1981), the Court held that in a case of indecency with a child, it was reversible error to exclude evidence showing that a child abuse investigation was pending against the mother of the complaining child at the time the charge was made against the accused. In so holding the Court stated:
The trial court sustained the state’s objection that this evidence was irrelevant. The motives which operate on the mind of a witness while he testifies should never be regarded as immaterial or irrelevant. McDonald v. State, 77 Tex.Cr.Rep. 612, 179 S.W. 880 (1915). Great latitude should be allowed the accused in showing any fact which would tend to establish ill feeling, bias, motive, or animus upon the part of any witness testifying against him. The jury should be given the opportunity to judge for themselves the witness’s credibility in light of the witness’s feelings toward the accused and his motive for testifying. Wood v. State, 486 S.W.2d 359 (Tex.Cr.App.1972); Coleman v. State, 545 S.W.2d 831 (Tex.Cr.App.1977). (Emphasis added).
Id. at 140.
The State concedes that the basis for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal’s holdings is the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974). However, the State contends Davis is not controlling because it is inapposite to the case before us. I disagree. The reasoning of the Supreme Court in Davis applies extraordinarily well to the facts in the case before us. In Davis, Richard Green was a crucial witness for the State in establishing the guilt of the accused. Prior to the trial, the trial court granted the State a motion for a protective order to prevent any reference to Green’s juvenile record by the defense in cross-examination. The juvenile *91offense had been committed over a year before the trial, but he was still on probation. The trial court granted the protective order, relying on Alaska Rule of Children’s Procedure 23,1 and Alaska Stat. § 47.10.080(g) (1971).2 Davis, 415 U.S. at 311, 94 S.Ct. at 1107.
The Supreme Court of the United States held it was reversible error emphasizing the Sixth Amendment guarantees significant cross-examination rights which include exposure of a witness’ motivation in testifying.3
*92In reversing, the Supreme Court stated:
The State’s policy interest in protecting the confidentiality of a juvenile offender’s record cannot require yielding of so vital a constitutional right as the effective cross-examination for bias of an adverse witness. The State could have protected Green from exposure of his juvenile adjudication in these circumstances by refraining from using him to make out its case; the State cannot, consistent with the right of confrontation, require the petitioner to bear the full burden of vindicating the State’s interest in the secrecy of juvenile criminal records. The judgment affirming petitioner’s convictions of burglary and grand larceny is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. (Emphasis added).
Davis, 415 U.S. at 321, 94 S.Ct. at 1112.
In the case before us, it is reasonable to assume that if the Supreme Court of the United States considered that “the right of confrontation [was] paramount to the State’s policy of protecting a juvenile offender” it would likewise consider the right of confrontation of the appellant herein paramount to protecting Mrs. Kirchner. Davis, 415 U.S. at 319, 94 S.Ct. at 1111. The State’s argument as to remoteness suffers considerably in face of the recognition by the Supreme Court that: “[A] partiality of mind at some former time may be used as a basis of an argument to the same state at the time of testifying.” Davis, 415 U.S. at 317 n. 5, 94 S.Ct. at 1111 n. 5 (emphasis in original). The argument encounters further opposition from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal when they proclaim that “[t]he motives which operate on the mind of a witness while he testifies should never be regarded as immaterial or irrelevant.” Steve v. State, 614 S.W.2d at 140. The truthfulness of Mrs. Kirchner as well as the potential influence she had upon the child complainant were key elements of the State’s case against appellant. Evidence of ill will, bias, motive, and animus of Mrs. Kirschner towards the appellant was admissible to form a basis for an inference that such an attitude could have influenced both Mrs. Kirchner’s testimony as well as the testimony of the child, who was in her custody and control. As recognized by the Supreme Court, there is no way of knowing what effect, if any, this would have on a jury, but the jury has the right to make that determination. Davis, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105. The evidence of Mrs. Kirchner’s ill-feeling toward appellant during the period in question was relevant and admissible.

. Rule 23 provides:
"No adjudication, order, or disposition of a juvenile case shall be admissible in a court not acting in the exercise of a juvenile jurisdiction except for use in a presentencing procedure in a criminal case where the superior court, in its discretion, determines that such use is appropriate.” Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. at 311 n. 1, 94 S.Ct. at 1108 n. 1

. Section 47.10.080(g) provides in pertinent part:
'The commitment and placement of a child and evidence given in the court are not admissible as evidence against the minor in a subsequent case or proceedings in any other court_”
Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. at 311 n. 2, 94 S.Ct. at 1108 n. 2.

. In Davis v. Alaska, the Supreme Court stated:
The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right of an accused in a criminal prosecution ‘to be confronted with the witnesses against him.’ This right is secured for defendants in state as well as federal criminal proceedings under Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400, 85 S.Ct. 1065, 13 L.Ed.2d 923 (1965). Confrontation means more than being allowed to confront the witness physically. 'Our cases construing the [confrontation] clause hold that a primary interest secured by it is the right of cross-examination.’ Douglas v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 415, 418, 85 S.Ct. 1074, 1076, 13 L.Ed.2d 934 (1965).
******
... A more particular attack on the witness' credibility is effected by means of cross-examination directed toward revealing possible biases, prejudices, or ulterior motives of the witness as they may relate directly to issues or personalities in the case at hand. The partiality of a witness is subject to exploration at trial, and is ‘always relevant as discrediting the witness and affecting the weight of his testimony.’ 3A J. Wigmore Evidence § 940, p 775 (Chadbourn rev 1970). We have recognized that the exposure of a witness’ motivation in testifying is a proper and important function of the constitutionally protected right of cross-examination. Green v. McElroy, 360 U.S. 474, 496, 79 S.Ct. 1400, 1413, 3 L.Ed.2d 1377 (1959).4
In the instant case, defense counsel sought to show the existence of possible bias and prejudice of Green, causing him to make a faulty initial identification of petitioner, which in turn could have effected his later in-court identification of petitioner.5
We cannot speculate as to whether the jury, as sole judge of the credibility of a witness, would have accepted this line of reasoning had counsel been permitted to fully present it. But we do conclude that the jurors were entitled to have the benefit of the defense theory before them so that they could make an informed judgment as to the weight to place on Green’s testimony which provided ‘a crucial link in the proof ... of petitioner’s act.’ Douglas v. Alabama, 380 U.S. at 419, 85 S.Ct., 1077, 13 L.Ed.2d 934. The accuracy and truthfulness of Green’s testimony were key elements in the State’s case against petitioner.
******
... In this setting we conclude that the right of confrontation is paramount to the State’s policy of protecting a juvenile offender. Whatever temporary embarrassment might result to Green or his family by disclosure of his juvenile record — if the prosecution insisted on using him to make its case — is outweighed by petitioner’s right to probe into the influence of possible bias in the testimony of a crucial identification witness.
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As in Alford, we conclude that the State's desire that Green fulfill his public duty to testify free from embarrassment and with his reputation unblemished must fall before the right of petitioner to seek out the truth in the process of defending himself.

- In Greene we stated:
‘Certain principles have remained relatively immutable in our jurisprudence. One of these is that where governmental action seriously injures an individual, and the reasonableness of the action depends on fact findings, the evidence used to prove the Government’s case must be disclosed to the individual so that he has an opportunity to show that it is untrue. While this is important in the case of documentary evidence, it is even more important where the evidence consists of the testimony of individuals whose memory might he faulty or who, in fact, might be perjurers or persons motivated by malice, vindictiveness, intolerance, prejudice, or jealousy. We have formalized these protections in the requirements of confrontation and cross-examination_’ 360 U.S. at 496, 79 S.Ct., at 1413, 3 L.Ed.2d 1377.

.- '[A] partiality of mind at some former time may be used as the basis of an argument to the same state at the time of testifying; though the ultimate object is to establish partiality at the time of testifying.' 3A J. Wigmore, Evidence, *92§ 940, p 776 (Chadbourn rev 1970). (Emphasis in original; footnotes omitted).
Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 315-321, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1109-12, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974).