Court Opinion

ID: 9952579
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-20 07:17:32.790262+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:41:02.428337
License: Public Domain

Affirmed and Opinion Filed March 12, 2024

                                        In The
                            Court of Appeals
                     Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
                               No. 05-22-00886-CR

                    DENNY EDWARD MILLER, Appellant
                                  V.
                      THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

                On Appeal from the 59th Judicial District Court
                           Grayson County, Texas
                       Trial Court Cause No. 072748

                        MEMORANDUM OPINION
                   Before Justices Goldstein, Garcia, and Miskel
                           Opinion by Justice Goldstein
      Denny Edward Miller appeals his aggravated sexual assault of a child

conviction.   A jury convicted appellant and sentenced him to forty years’

confinement. In a single issue, appellant argues the trial court erred in overruling

his objection to expert testimony that the child complainant had not been coached.

We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

      Because appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to

support his conviction, only a brief recitation of the facts is necessary. In November

2020, appellant was charged by indictment with aggravated sexual assault of a child.
In three counts, the indictment alleged appellant “intentionally or knowingly

cause[d] the penetration of the sexual organ of A.C., a child who was then and there

younger than 14 years of age, by” appellant’s sexual organ and appellant’s finger

and, “with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of the defendant, engage[d]

in sexual contact with A.C., by touching the breast of the victim, a child younger

than 17 years of age.”

      At trial in May 2022, A.C. testified she was fifteen years old at the time of

trial and, when she was thirteen years old, appellant came to live with A.C. and her

parents. On the night of the assault, A.C. went to appellant’s room and watched a

movie with him. Appellant “started grabbing” A.C. and pushed her down on the

bed. Appellant took off A.C.’s shorts and underwear and “started fingering” her,

which she clarified meant “sticking his fingers inside” her vagina. Appellant also

put his penis inside A.C.’s vagina and reached under her shirt and squeezed her

breast. Appellant stopped when he “ejaculated inside” A.C.

      Dana Reynolds testified she is the program director at the Grayson County

Children’s Advocacy Center and is also a forensic interviewer.                Reynolds

interviewed A.C. three times. The prosecutor asked Reynolds if she had ever

“encountered a child who looks coached in an interview.” Reynolds testified she

had. The prosecutor asked “what does it look like?” and defense advised he was

going to object. At a bench conference outside the hearing of the jury, appellant

raised the following objection:

                                          –2–
         Your Honor, I would object to any question about coaching. I think
         that borders on the area of her vouching for her credibility by saying
         she hadn’t been coached or indicating that she hasn’t been coached. I
         think that’s a comment on credibility.

The trial court then took a break for lunch. During the break, outside the presence

of the jury, the trial court overruled the objection. The trial court instructed the

prosecutor, “I just want to make sure I caution you, [prosecutor]. Please do not elicit

from the witness whether the child’s truthful.” The trial court further cautioned the

prosecutor: “[a]nd only information that is going to be helpful – based upon her

experience and expertise – that would be helpful to the jury in making a decision

today.”

         With the jury returned to the courtroom, the following exchange between the

prosecutor and Reynolds took place:

         Q. Ms. Reynolds, before the break, I had asked you in your training and
         experience had you ever encountered a child during a forensic interview who
         had appeared to have been coached?
         A. Yes.
         Q. Okay. What does it look like?
         A. Every child is different, but some characteristics may be they are -- they
         sound very scripted or throughout the interview they may change what they're
         saying, not stay consistent, or they are not -- they don't provide very many
         details.

The prosecutor asked Reynolds whether, at a “second interview” on September 14,

2020, “[A.C.] appear[ed] to have been coached?”1 Reynolds answered, “No” and

testified that A.C. gave details about the abuse, and those details included sensory

   1
       Defense counsel renewed his “objection for the record,” which the court overruled.
                                                   –3–
details. Reynolds testified “[s]ensory details are anything that may be something

they hear, they smelled, or they felt.” At the conclusion of trial, the jury found

appellant guilty of counts one and two alleging aggravated sexual assault and not

guilty of count three alleging indecency with a child by sexual contact. This appeal

followed.

      In a single issue, appellant argues the trial court erred in overruling appellant’s

objection and admitting Reynolds’ testimony about “coaching” because that

testimony was an inadmissible opinion on A.C.’s truthfulness. Appellant asserts he

was harmed by this testimony because credibility was the central issue in the case.

      An appellate court reviews a trial court’s decision to admit expert testimony

for an abuse of discretion. Rhomer v. State, 569 S.W.3d 664, 669 (Tex. Crim. App.

2019). A trial court abuses its discretion when it acts without reference to any

guiding rules and principles or acts arbitrarily or unreasonably. Id.

      Rule 702, Testimony by Expert Witnesses, provides:

      A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience,
      training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise
      if the expert's scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will
      help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact
      in issue.
TEX. R. EVID. 702.

      Expert testimony which assists the jury in determining an ultimate fact is

admissible, but expert testimony which decides an ultimate fact for the jury, such as

“a direct opinion on the truthfulness of the child,” crosses the line and is not

                                          –4–
admissible under Rule 702. Yount v. State, 872 S.W.2d 706, 708 (Tex. Crim. App.

1993). However, while an expert’s testimony that a child witness is truthful is

inadmissible under Texas Rule of Evidence 702, an expert’s opinion on signs of

coaching or manipulation may assist the trier of fact and may therefore be

admissible. See Schutz v. State, 957 S.W.2d 52, 73 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997) (“We

hold that [the expert’s] testimony that the complainant did not exhibit the traits of

manipulation did not constitute a direct comment upon the truth of the complainant’s

allegations.”); see also White v. State, No. 05-21-00901-CR, 2022 WL 2763357, at

*3 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2022) (testimony describing “red flags” and asserting child

did not exhibit any red flags or signs of exaggeration not direct comment on

complainant’s truthfulness.).

      Here, in keeping with the trial court’s express admonition, the prosecutor did

not seek to elicit from Reynolds an opinion on whether A.C. was truthful. Instead,

Reynolds testified only that A.C. did not “appear to have been coached,” followed

by an explanation of sensory details. On this record, we conclude this testimony did

not constitute a direct comment upon the truth of the complainant’s allegations. See

Schutz, 957 S.W.2d at 73. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in

admitting this testimony. See Rhomer, 569 S.W.3d at 669. We overrule appellant’s

single issue.

                                         –5–
      We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

                                          /Bonnie Lee Goldstein//
230886f.u05                               BONNIE LEE GOLDSTEIN
Do Not Publish                            JUSTICE
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b)

                                       –6–
                            Court of Appeals
                     Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
                                 JUDGMENT

DENNY EDWARD MILLER,                         On Appeal from the 59th Judicial
Appellant                                    District Court, Grayson County,
                                             Texas
No. 05-22-00886-CR          V.               Trial Court Cause No. 072748.
                                             Opinion delivered by Justice
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee                 Goldstein. Justices Garcia and Miskel
                                             participating.

    Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, the judgment of the trial court is
AFFIRMED.

Judgment entered this 12th day of March, 2024.

                                       –7–