Court Opinion

ID: 7821603
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-09-07 17:56:26.267416+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:30:45.135916
License: Public Domain

Richard L. Mays, Justice. The appellant, James French, was charged with two counts of rape and incest of his granddaughter when she was ten and four counts of rape .and incest when she was eleven. After viewing a video cassette film of one of the occasions which was visually recorded by appellant as he committed an offense, the jury convicted appellant and sentenced him to 15 years on one count of rape and five years on each of the other five, as well as six years on one count of incest and two years on the other five. The trial judge directed that the sentences be served consecutively, making a total sentence of 56 years. The appellant now contends that his convictions should be set aside because the trial judge wrongfully denied him a continuance and improperly admitted evidence, including the video cassette film. We disagree and, therefore, affirm. Appellant, 61 at the time, was arrested on March 7, 1979 after his wife, son and daughter contacted the prosecuting attorney and turned over a video cassette film which appellant had made of himself as he performed cunnilingus on his granddaughter. His granddaughter had further disclosed that appellant had forced her to submit to such acts on six separate occasions over a 14 month period, beginning in January of 1978 and ending in March of 1979. On March 26, 1979, appellant was psychologically evaluated by the state mental hospital which found him to be without psychosis in early April. On May 4, 1979, appellant’s counsel filed a motion for continuance indicating that he needed time beyond May to prepare for trial, assemble defense witnesses, and evaluate medical evidence. No affidavit accompanied the motion. At a hearing on this motion on May 8, 1979, appellant’s counsel indicated that he had primarily filed the motion because he had other, criminal and civil trials scheduled toward the end of May and that he needed additional time to obtain the results from certain psychological tests which appellant was undergoing from a private psychiatrist. However, when the judge asked whether there would be a defense of mental disease or defect, appellant’s counsel responded, “In essence, Your Honor, no” and then went on to intimate otherwise. The motion was denied. On May 25, 1979, appellant’s counsel renewed his motion for continuance, attaching a statement from a psychiatrist who was psychologically treating and evaluating appellant. All the statement indicated was that the doctor needed more time to render an evaluation. The record does not reveal that this motion was acted upon before appellant’s counsel announced ready for trial on May 31, 1979. Appellant was subsequently convicted on all counts and sentenced to the penitentiary. It is well established that a trial court has wide latitude in granting a continuance, and its judgment will not be reversed absent a clear abuse of discretion. Figeroa v. State, 244 Ark. 457, 425 S.W. 2d 516 (1968); Grissom v. State, 254 Ark. 81, 491 S.W. 2d 595 (1973). Among the factors to be considered by the trial court in ruling on a motion for continuance are the diligence of the movant, the probable effect of any evidence which the movant alleges is unavailable, and the filing of an affidavit establishing the legitimacy of the evidence to be produced. Kelley v. State, 261 Ark. 31, 545 S.W. 2d 919 (1977). Even if it is conceded that appellant was properly diligent, a concession which is probably unnecessary under the facts before us, appellant’s motion was not accompanied by an affidavit and did not state the probable effect of the psychological evidence which appellant alleged was not yet available. Moreover, the psychological evidence which was available indicated that appellant was legally sane, and appellant’s counsel indicated to the court that he was not going to rely on a defense of insanity. These circumstances do not justify a finding that the trial judge abused his discretion in denying appellant’s motion for continuance. Appellant’s second argument concerning the improper admission of evidence is twofold. First, he contends that the state’s evidence should have been excluded because of a private agreement between the prosecuting attorney and appellant’s relatives not to prosecute appellant for the crimes revealed by their disclosures to the prosecutor. Even if such an agreement were legal, we simply find no factual basis in the record to support its existence. At the very least, the trial court was justified in disregarding any such agreement since the prosecuting attorney disclaimed any knowledge of it. Second, the appellant contends the obscene film depicting appellant’s shocking conduct should have been excluded because its probative value was substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect. We disagree. The young victim was reluctant to testify against her grandfather and was extremely vague and indefinite in her responses to the prosecutor’s questions. She repeatedly stated that she could not remember what had happened and had to be continually prompted by references to her written statement. Under these circumstances, we think the film’s probative value outweighed any prejudice to appellant. Affirmed. Fogieman, C.J., and Hickman, J., concur. Purtle, J., dissents.