Court Opinion

ID: 9679229
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:44:56.170451+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:11.573451
License: Public Domain

Karen R. Baker, Judge. A jury in Benton County Circuit Court convicted appellant, Robert Lee Sparkman, of raping T.B., a four-year-old girl, and sentenced him to 216 months’ imprisonment in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Appellant’s sole point on appeal is that the admission of a video-taped interview of the child during his trial violated his right of confrontation guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Appellant relies on the recent Supreme Court of the United States case of Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004).1 We affirm. Prior to trial, appellant filed a motion to determine T.B.’s competency to testify. Appellant also filed a motion in limine to bar introduction of the videotaped interview of the child taken by Janice McCutcheon at the Child Advocacy Center. On March 13, 2003, a hearing was held to determine the competency of the child and the admissibility of her videotaped interview. T.B. testified and revealed that she was not able to distinguish between a truth and a lie. Also during her direct examination, T.B. was unwilling to answer questions regarding appellant. At the conclusion of the direct examination, defense counsel did not take the opportunity to cross-examine T.B. As a result, the trial judge determined that the child was unavailable as a witness. Furthermore, the trial judge determined that the videotape of the child’s interview was admissible as evidence at trial. A jury trial was held on July 30, 2003. At the trial, Angela Acey, T.B.’s mother, testified that she and appellant met in September 2001. At the time, she and T.B. were living with her parents. She and appellant began dating and eventually moved in together. During the time they lived together, appellant was unemployed, and Acey worked at a daycare and at the Days Inn. From March 2002 to June 2002, while Acey worked at the Days Inn, she left T.B. in appellant’s care. Heather Sangwin, Acey’s sister, testified that she and T.B. were very close. Sangwin testified that they spent time together on a regular basis. In June 2002, T.B. went swimming with her aunt and her cousin. Sangwin testified that she had the opportunity that day to talk to T.B. about appellant. She asked T.B. if appellant had ever “touched her sexually.” Without hesitation, T.B. told Sang-win that appellant had touched her and “pointed to her private.” T.B. also said that appellant had touched her with his tongue. T.B. told Sangwin that she had not told her mother about the incident because appellant told T.B. that he would hurt her if she did. Knowing that T.B. would be in Sangwin’s mother’s care throughout the rest of the weekend, Sangwin called the Springdale Police Department and the hotline on Monday morning to report the information. Sangwin went to the police department to answer some questions regarding the incident. When the police questioned Acey during the investigation, she told detectives that she was very surprised at the allegations against appellant. Soon thereafter, T.B. was interviewed by Janice McCutch-eon at the Children’s Advocacy Center. As forensic interviewer, McCutcheon interviews victims of alleged child abuse. McCutch-eon testified that T.B. mentioned several times during the interview that appellant had “whupped” her. McCutcheon testified that she uses dolls during the interviews that are anatomically correct. McCutcheon also testified as to the following: “When I asked her how the defendant touched her, she pressed one doll against the other. She took the penis with her hand and put it there. I asked a clarifying question of what she was doing. From my recall, she said inside.” After T.B. disclosed the penetration, McCutcheon said she had difficulty getting her to continue and to focus. Brad Abercrombie from the Rogers Police Department conducted an interview of appellant on June 26, 2002. The videotape and a transcript of tíre interview were admitted into evidence and played for the jury. At the beginning of the interview, appellant acted surprised when he learned of the charges against him. Appellant also denied having committed the offense. However, further into the interview, appellant described an occasion when he and T.B. were “cuddling” in his bed together. She was coloring, and appellant was lying next to her with her rear end towards him. Appellant admitted that while the two were cuddling, his hand “must have accidentally hit her on, hit her on her privates that’s all.” Appellant further admitted to Detective Aber-crombie that he made T.B. touch his penis and that T.B. kissed his penis. He also admitted to Abercrombie that he ejaculated in her presence. Dr. Karen Farst worked at the Children’s Advocacy Center on the day T.B. was brought in for an examination. Dr. Farst explained that, while there appeared to be no injury to T.B.’s inner thigh area and labia majora, a “notch” was discovered on her hymen. The notch was located at the “five o’clock position.” Dr. Farst described a notch as healing tissue that appeared like a scar. Dr. Farst explained that trauma to the hymen meant that there had been penetration beyond the labia majora. Any injury to the hymen would require overstretching to the point of tearing. As the tear healed back together, the notch or indentation appeared. The location of the notch was significant in that a notch at the five o’clock position was indicative of the force and direction of penetration. The fact that the labia majora was not injured indicated that the labia was open when the trauma occurred and allowed Dr. Farst to rule out accidental injury. The notch was described as being two to three weeks old in that it was healing and had thickened and become white and plaque-like. Dr. Farst opined that the notch found on T.B.’s hymen was consistent with intentional penetration past her genitalia. Following Dr. Farst’s testimony, the State rested its case. Defense counsel then moved for a directed verdict on the basis that the State had failed to prove a prima facie case of rape. The motion was denied, and the defense did not present any witnesses. Ultimately, the jury convicted appellant of raping T.B. and sentenced him accordingly. This appeal followed. Appellant’s only point on appeal is that the admission of the video taped interview during his trial violated his right of confrontation guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), upon which appellant relies, held that out-of-court statements by witnesses that are testimonial are barred under the Confrontation Clause unless witnesses are unavailable and defendants had a prior opportunity to cross-examine, regardless of whether such statements are deemed reliable by the court, abrogating Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56 (1980). Appellant specifically asserts that under Crawford the child’s videotaped interview “clearly contributed to the conviction” and should not have been admitted as evidence in his trial. We need not address whether the trial court erred in admitting the video taped interview because we find that, even if the admission was error, it was harmless.  Although some constitutional rights are so fundamental that their violation can never be deemed harmless error, see Allen v. State, 310 Ark. 384, 838 S.W.2d 346 (1992), others are subject to the harmless-error analysis. Jones v. State, 336 Ark. 191, 984 S.W.2d 432 (1999) (citing Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967)). To conclude that a constitutional error is harmless and does not mandate a reversal, this court must conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the verdict. Id. (citing Schalski v. State, 322 Ark. 63, 907 S.W.2d 693 (1995); Allen v. State, supra; Vann v. State, 309 Ark. 303, 831 S.W.2d 126 (1992)). Our supreme court has held that trial error, even involving the Confrontation Clause, is subject to a harmless-error analysis. See Watson v. State, 318 Ark. 603, 887 S.W.2d 518 (1994); see also Winfrey v. State, 293 Ark. 342, 738 S.W.2d 391 (1987). In Winfrey v. State, supra, our supreme court stated that “when determining whether the denial of a party’s right to cross-examine a witness for possible bias is harmless error, the court considers a host of factors, including the importance of the witness’s testimony, whether the testimony was cumulative, whether evidence existed that corroborates or contradicts the testimony of a witness, and the overall strength of the prosecution’s case.” See also Sullivan v. State, 32 Ark. App. 124, 798 S.W.2d 110 (1990). The correct inquiry is whether, assuming that the damaging potential of the cross-examination was fully realized, this court might nonetheless say that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Winfrey v. State, supra. In applying the Chapman analysis, we excise the interview of T.B. conducted by McCutcheon and determine whether the remaining evidence shows beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the verdict. See Chapman v. California, supra. In this case, the jury had before it appellant’s own admission during his interview with Detective Abercrombie that he engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with T.B. Appellant specifically admitted that, while appellant and T.B. were lying in his bed together, appellant put his hand on T.B.’s private area. Appellant further admitted that he made T.B. touch his penis and that T.B. kissed his penis. He also admitted that he ejaculated in her presence.2 In addition to appellant’s own admission of his actions, Dr. Farst described the “notch” that was discovered on T.B.’s hymen as being located at the “five o’clock position,” which was indicative of the force and direction ofpenetration. She was able to rule out accidental injury, and she opined that the notch was consistent with intentional penetration past her genitalia. Mc-Cutcheon also testified without objection that T.B. used the dolls to demonstrate how appellant touched her and that “T.B. pressed one doll against the other.” McCutcheon further testified that T.B. disclosed during the interview that penetration occurred.3 Finally, T.B.’s aunt testified that T.B. told her that appellant had touched her in her private area. Therefore, given the other evidence presented at trial, the introduction of the video tape is at best cumulative. Thus we conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the introduction of the video tape did not contribute to appellant’s conviction and its introduction was harmless. Accordingly, we affirm. Gladwin, Vaught and Crabtree, JJ., agree. Hart, J., concurs. Griffen, J., dissents.   This Court attempted certification of this case to our Supreme Court, which declined to accept it.    The dissent describes appellant’s actions as merely “improper judgment” on his part, when, in fact, appellant specifically admitted to Detective Abercrombie that appellant “hit her on her privates” with his hand; that he “made T.B. touch his penis;” that “T.B. kissed his penis;” and that he ejaculated in her presence.    The dissent notes that McCutcheon’s testimony regarding T.B.’s statements during the interview was “equally inadmissible.” However, appellant made no specific objection at trial to McCutcheon’s testimony regarding T.B.’s statements. Further, appellant does not assert on appeal that the trial court erred in admitting McCutcheon’s testimony. Arguments not raised on appeal are deemed abandoned. See King v. State, 323 Ark. 671, 916 S.W.2d 732 (1996).