Court Opinion

ID: 9690889
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 19:50:15.423012+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:06.058595
License: Public Domain

*695(Abrahamson, C.J.,
¶ 79. concurring) ("[T]he doctrine of harmless error is a work in progress."). Regardless of what standard we use, however, the result is the same. We again acknowledge that Norwood unequivocally incriminated himself and that his admissions were devastating evidence against him. We further recognize that the jury almost certainly considered these statements. Indeed, it specifically asked the court if it could have copies of the statements during deliberations. Nonetheless, this damning evidence merely duplicated other overwhelming evidence of guilt.
¶ 23. The jury heard evidence that Norwood was buttoning his pants and putting his belt back on when David and his friend entered the home, that Norwood apologized at the scene instead of disclaiming guilt, and that after the incident, he took off for California with his belongings and nearly all of his money. Most catastrophic of all for Norwood's defense, he admitted on the stand that he had put his hand in the child's pants and touched her vagina. We quote the following excerpt from cross-examination:
Q. So you didn't put your hand inside [Angelia's] pants?
A. That was an accident.
Q. Oh, so you did put your hand inside her pants, but you're saying it was an accident.
A. What you're trying to do is trying to confuse me. And I've already testified, okay, that I accidentally put my hand in her pants. And I didn't rub her vagina or pubic area or whatever for any . .. gratification whatsoever.
*696Q. So you did touch her on the vagina.
A. And so — But when I say this, okay, this was an accident. I didn't mean that to occur. I wasn't trying to get any satisfaction from her, no gratification at all.
Q. Where did you touch her?
A. I touched her vagina and I'm sorry.
Q. Now — And you're saying it was an accident that you put your hand down inside her pants and touched her on the vagina?
A. Yes.
We frankly do not see how any reasonable jury would have believed Norwood's story that he "accidentally" put his hand in a child's pants and touched her vagina. His on-the-stand, virtually Perry Mason-style confession, alone or combined with the other circumstantial evidence of guilt, would have sealed Norwood's fate even if the statements from the letter had never been introduced.3
"Other Acts" Evidence
¶ 24. Norwood next complains that the testimony of Trina O. unfairly prejudiced him. He concedes that *697this "other acts" evidence was relevant and offered for a proper purpose but objects to the manner in which it was introduced on two grounds. First, he maintains that the timing of Trina's testimony was unfairly prejudicial because she was the State's first witness. Nor-wood asserts that this order of presentation inflamed the jury against him from the very beginning of the proceeding by painting him as "a bad man, a criminal, a child molester." Moreover, he posits that presenting Trina's testimony first may have confused the jury as to which female was the alleged victim.
¶ 25. We disagree with both contentions. Nor-wood cites no authority for the proposition that otherwise admissible evidence is rendered unfairly prejudicial by the timing of its presentation, and we know of none. Further, the order of presentation did not obfuscate the identity of the victim. During opening statements, the State clearly identified and described an eight-year-old victim of a sexual assault that occurred several months earlier while Norwood was babysitting her. No reasonable jury would have mistaken Trina, an adult woman, for Angelia. Moreover, the State clearly apprised the jury that Trina was not present on the night in question.
¶ 26. Aside from the timing of Trina's testimony, Norwood objects to the fact that she testified at all, asserting that the State could have presented the case without using live testimony and instead simply introduced the judgment of conviction or entered a stipulation that the prior sexual assault of Trina had occurred. We deem this argument waived because trial counsel never objected to the form in which the "other acts" evidence came in.
*698¶ 27. Norwood argues in the alternative that if trial counsel failed to properly object, she provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Even if we assume that counsel's performance was deficient, Norwood cannot demonstrate that counsel's failure to object prejudiced his defense. As with the letter, we conclude that Norwood's admission on the stand, combined with other evidence of his guilt, would have led the jury to convict Norwood even if Trina had never testified.
¶ 28. We affirm the judgment of conviction and the order denying postconviction relief. Norwood waived his opportunity to substitute the judge because he did not make his request until proceedings had started. Although the court should not have admitted any statements from Norwood's letter to the court— because they were an integral part of his offer to plead out — the error was harmless in light of other explosive evidence of guilt. Norwood also has no complaint about the form or order of presentation of the "other acts" evidence. He waived his objection as to form, and we find nothing prejudicial about the timing of Trina's testimony.
By the Court. — Judgment and order affirmed.

 The parties devoted the majority of their briefs and oral arguments to the admissibility of portions of the letter pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 904.08. We need not address this issue, however, given that our analysis under Wis. Stat. § 904.10 is dispositive. See Gross v. Hoffman, 227 Wis. 296, 300, 277 N.W. 663 (1938) (we need not discuss alternative grounds where one suffices).