Court Opinion

ID: 9667203
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:38:12.429646+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:35.932133
License: Public Domain

CORNELIUS, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
The State produced evidence that on March 11, 1984, shortly before his daughter K_’s third birthday Rhea caused the child to have oral sexual relations with him. The child related the act to her grandmother and others on March 30, 1984. On April 2, an interview with the child was taped by Sann Cisco of the Texas Department of Human Resources. On the videotape, K_confirms that her father had placed his sexual organ in her mouth, but denies that he had touched her sexual organ, had placed her hand on his sexual organ, or that any other sex acts had occurred.1
*172I would hold that the videotape did not violate Tex.Code Crim.Proe.Ann. art. 38.-071, § 2(a)(4) (Vernon Supp.1985). That section provides that a statement, to be *173admissible, must not have been made “in response to questioning calculated to lead the child to make a particular statement. ...”
We have interpreted this provision to prohibit use of the tape only if the statement, taken as a whole, was the product of leading questions. Here, the child steadfastly refused to agree to several suggestions of improper conduct made to her by her interviewer, e.g.:
Q. ... Did Daddy touch K_’s tee-tee?
A. (Nods no)
Q. [D]id he touch K_'s tee-tee?
A. (Nods no)
Q. [D]id he make you put your hand on his tee-tee?
A. (Nods no)
Q. No? Did daddy make you put his tee-tee in your mouth?
A. (Nods yes)
Further, several of the child’s responses were not merely by yes or no answers, but were positive narrative statements by the child in response to nonleading questions. For example:
Q. Okay, then what happened? In the bathtub, was he laying down? What did he tell you to do?
A. I was laying down there and I was sucking it.
The statement, taken as a whole, rebuts the argument that it was so influenced by suggestive questioning as to make it objectionable under Section 2(a)(4).
Neither do I agree that the child, who was three years old when the videotape was made, was incompetent as a witness. The determination of whether a witness is competent is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and will not be disturbed on appeal unless an abuse of discretion is shown. Fields v. State, 500 S.W.2d 500 (Tex.Crim.App.1973). Inconsistencies or contradictions in a child’s testimony do not in themselves render the testimony incompetent. Fields v. State, supra; Smith v. State, 410 S.W.2d 642 (Tex.Crim.App.1966). The test for competency is whether or not the child possesses sufficient intellect to relate transactions about which she is interrogated, and understands the obligation of an oath to tell the truth. Tex.Code Crim. Proc.Ann. art. 38.06(2) (Vernon 1979). To understand the obligation of an oath simply means the witness understands that she has an obligation to tell the truth.
The careful trial judge questioned K_ extensively concerning what was correct and what was not, her capacity to recognize what was true, and her ability to understand and accurately relate occurrences and circumstances. While she apparently did not understand the nature of an oath as such, she clearly demonstrated an ability and a willingness to accurately relate facts, and she refused to accept incorrect answers to questions even when they were suggested. A careful review of the child’s testimony supports the trial court’s conclusion that the child was a competent witness. See Provost v. State, 514 S.W.2d 269 (Tex.Crim.App.1974); Fields v. State, supra; Smith v. State, supra; Clark v. State, 659 S.W.2d 53 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1983, no pet.); Beavers v. State, 634 S.W.2d 893 (Tex.App.— Houston [1st Dist.] 1982, pet. ref’d); D.L.N. v. State, 590 S.W.2d 820 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1979, no pet.). I am not willing to hold that to be competent a witness must necessarily understand the meaning of the word “oath” or agree that he will be punished if he fails to tell the truth. There are undoubtedly many persons who, by reason of age, mental impairment, religious conviction, philosophical bent or whatever, do not understand or do not accept an oath or a system of rewards and punishments. The correct rule is that if a witness is able to relate events and facts accurately, and understands that he is under an obligation to do so, he is competent. D.L.N. v. State, supra. By that standard K_was a competent witness. An indication of her understanding that she had an obligation to tell the truth is the following:
Q. Do you ever make up stories?
A. Huh-uh.
Q. You don’t?
*174A. Huh-uh.
Q. You are shaking your head no?
A. Huh-uh.
Q. You don’t just make up something
that didn’t happen?
A. Huh-uh.
Q. No? You’re shaking your head no. Do you mean no by that?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. You’re shaking your head yes now. Would you tell something that had not happened? You’re shaking your head no; is that right?
A. Uh-huh.
If we require a witness to recite the magic words relating to oath and punishment, some witnesses who are able and willing to tell the truth will be prevented from doing so simply because they are disadvantaged or have aberrant personalities or attitudes.
Moreover, greater latitude should be allowed in accepting testimony from young or handicapped witnesses where, as it does here, their testimony relates to assaults against their own persons rather than to events they may have merely observed. Their ability to accurately relate the facts in the former cases is obviously better than those in the latter cases.
The majority cites an 1895 case in support of the proposition that a three year old is not competent as a witness. I would observe that there is a vast difference between the children of today and the children of 1895. The effects of radio, television, moving pictures, and the educational opportunities which daily confront even very small children, render today’s children far more intelligent, observant, and mature than the children of only a few decades ago. I also find sufficient evidence to support the verdict. Although Rhea denied the act, he admitted that he took a bath with K_, and he was inconsistent when he testified that he kept himself covered at all times during that incident. He also denied committing other offenses which were proven against him. The trial was some seven months after the offense, and
K_’s trial testimony was in open court with her father, lawyers and jury present. Considering all these facts, the jury could have believed that K_was confused and intimidated in open court, and that the other direct and circumstantial evidence was more convincing. One purpose behind the passage of Article 38.071 was to prevent the possibility of a child victim being intimidated by her attacker during in-court testimony. When coupled with the videotape testimony in which she denied other sexual contact but specifically described the oral sex act, her in-court denial may well have resulted from the type of intimidation Article 38.071 was designed to prevent.
Reviewing all the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, I conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Carlsen v. State, 654 S.W.2d 444 (Tex.Crim.App.1983).
I would affirm the judgment.

. The transcription of the videotaped interview follows.
Q. What’s your name?
A. K_
Q. How old are you?
A. Three.
Q. Three? Did you just have a birthday?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Where do you live, K_?
A. In Big Mama’s house.
Q. In Big Mama’s house. Oh ... K_, look at these ... do you see some dolls here?
A. (Nods her head yes)
Q. Gosh ... do you sometimes get to spend the night with your daddy?
A. (Nods her head yes)
Q. Do you get to stay with him?
A. (Nods her head yes)
Q. Do ya’ll (sic) do some fun things together?
A. (Nods yes) Play together_
Q. Play together? Look at one of these dolls ... could one of these dolls be your daddy?
A. Uh-huh. (points to the girl doll)
Q. Which one? This one?
A. This one. (points to the doll in the dress)
Q. This one has a little dress on ... could that be you?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Let’s pretend that doll is you, okay? Look at this doll ... let me show you something special about this doll, okay? Can I show you? I’m going to take the shirt off, now, look real closely. Look what she has right there ... what are those called K_? (pointing to the breasts)
A. (Makes grunting sound) Huh-uh.
Q. What’s the word for that? What are those called? What’s that called?
A. A mouth.
Q. Good K.. What's that called?
A. Eyes
Q. Good .. What's that called?
A. A titty.
Q. Good! Let’s see what else this doll has, what is that? (Takes hold of penis)
A. A tee-tee.
Q. Does your daddy have one of those?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Have you ever seen it?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. When did you see it?
A. Today.
Q. Today? Have you seen it some other times than today?
A. (Nods yes)
Q. Look at this doll ... It’s special, too. This is going to be K_K_, you ... K_ doesn’t have blonde hair, does she? We’re going to pretend like this is you, anyway, *172okay? Look what K__ has. What's that called, K_.?
A. Uh .. a tee-tee.
Q. Alright. Do you have a tee-tee? Right there? Okay. Have you and your dad ever taken a bath together?
A. (Nods yes)
Q. Were ya'Il (sic) sitting in the same bathtub together?
A. (Nods yes)
Q. Well, let’s pretend like that happened, okay? Let’s you and me pretend. K_, take off your clothes, it’s bath time. Do you want me to help you take off your clothes?
A. (Nods yes)
Q. Did daddy get in the bathtub with you? Or were you in there by yourself?
A. (Nods yes)
Q. Together or by yourself?
A. Me and daddy were in there though.
Q. Okay. K_, this is the bathtub. Okay, K_'s in the bathtub. What did daddy do? Did daddy get in the bathtub with you?
A. (Nods yes) Around here.
Q. Okay, there’s daddy in the bathtub. Did Daddy touch K_’s tee-tee?
A. (Nods no)
Q. Did daddy put his hand ... did he touch K_'s tee-tee?
A. (Nods no)
Q. Did he put .. did he make you put your hand on his tee-tee?
A. (Nods no)
Q. No? Did daddy make you put his tee-tee in your mouth?
A. (Nods yes)
Q. Okay, can you tell me about that? What happened?
A. He laid down ...
Q. Okay, then what happened? In the bathtub, was he laying down? What did he tell you to do?
A. I was laying down there and I was sucking it.
Q. You were sucking it?
A. Yeah.
Q. Did he ask you to do that? What exactly did he tell you to do?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Okay. Take the doll and show me what happened when you sucked it? Show me what happened ... (K_puts girl doll’s face on boy doll's lap) Oh, did this part of your daddy go in your mouth? Did it go inside your mouth?
A. Uh-huh.
Okay, did he do anything else with you? Did he put his fingers in your ... what is that called K_?
A. (Nods no)
Q. What is that called?
A. A sweaten ... (nods head yes).
Q. A sweaten ... did he put his tee-tee in your sweaten?
A. (Nods no)
Q. Did he put his fingers inside your sweaten?
A. (Nods no)
Q. But he made you put your mouth on his tee-tee and he laid down in the bathtub, is that right?
A. (Nods yes)
Q. Okay, how many times did that happen?
Q. Three times?
A. (Motions with hand four times)
Q. Okay, what bathroom were you in? At his house?
A. At the old one.
Q. At the old house ... do you know where that is ... what town that’s in?
A. Down here ... you know where at the crossroads?
Q. Yeah, okay, when did that happen? When was the last time that it happened?
A. He was choking mama.
Q. Mama? Who was choking her?
A. She went in here_there she is..
Q. Was your mama there when your daddy put his tee-tee in your mouth?
A. (Nods no)
Q. Who was in the house besides ya’U (sic)?
A. We was there and then we got out of the tub ... and then he let the water out. And that was all of it.
Q. Did he put his tee-tee in your tee-tee?
A. (Nods no)
Q. When was it ... was it the last time that you went to see your daddy that he made you put his tee-tee in your mouth?
A. Then he got up and then he ... I sucked his tee-tee.
Q. You sucked his tee-tee?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Okay, what is that? Do you know what that is?
A. A belt.
Q. Okay. How many times did he make you suck his tee-tee?
A. He was laying down here ...
Q. Did your daddy tell you not to tell anybody?
A. (Nods no)
Q. What did he say? Did he tell you not to tell anybody it happened?
A. (Nods no)
Q. He didn’t say anything? Did he say, “K_, don’t tell anybody that this happened?”
A. (Nods no)
Q. Did he say that?
A. Huh-uh.
Q. Has he ever done this with any other little girls? Just you?
A. (Nods no)
Q. Thank you, K_Thank you for helping me, okay?