31 results for 'cat:"Sex Offender" AND cat:"Witnesses"'.
J. Christopher finds that defendant was properly convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child. There was no error in allowing the detective to testify as an outcry witness since the victim was seventeen at the time of her outcry and thus "qualified as a child declarant under the outcry statute." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Christopher, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 14-23-00209-CR, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses
J. DeWine finds the trial court erred when it allowed a witness to testify by video in this sexual relations case of a father with his minor adopted child. The father argues that the video testimony should have been face-to-face, and since it wasn’t, this violated his constitutional right to confront a witness. The appeals court and this one found that the use of video conferencing was a harmless error, and it had no bearing the father’s conviction of sexual battery. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: DeWine, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1247, Categories: sex Offender, Battery, witnesses
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J. Price finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant for child molestation and incest against his daughter. Defendant argues that his daughter was improperly found competent to testify and that she made hearsay statements on the record. The lower court followed all the proper procedures in allowing a child to testify on such a serious issue and showed real thought in considering what was "reasonable to expect for a 6-year-old’s memory." Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Price, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 57808-5-II, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses, Child Victims
J. Waterman finds that defendant was properly convicted of sexually abusing his girlfriend's daughter beginning when she was nine years old. Video of a forensic interview with the victim was properly admitted since defendant cross-examined the victim by asking her about specific statements she made during the interview. Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Waterman, Filed On: January 26, 2024, Case #: 21-1676, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses
[Consolidated.] J. Lagoa finds that the district court properly convicted defendant of sex trafficking of a minor and production of child porn. Substantial evidence shows that defendant was the victim's pimp, knew the victim was underage, intentionally had sex with a minor, and took a photo of the act with his phone. However, the district court improperly convicted defendant of witness tampering. Although defendant told his mother to convince the victim to recant, federal charges had not yet been filed against defendant when the victim made the statements. Affirmed in part.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Lagoa, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 19-14969, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses, Human Trafficking
J. Gundrum finds the circuit court improperly granted defendant's motion for a new trial in a case in which he was convicted in 2001 of four counts related to his alleged sexual assault of his seven-year-old step-daughter on two occasions in 1998 and 1999. Defendant's confrontation clause challenge to the admission of out-of-court statements from his step-daughter and her younger brother and his claim that he was denied a fair trial by being unable to cross-examine a witness for the state regarding immunity he was granted for his testimony both fail, as the statements admitted at trial were either non-testimonial or ultimately harmless and, while the state and defendant agree the circuit court erred by keeping defendant from cross-examining the physician witness for the state, the error was also harmless in that it would not have meaningfully affected the outcome of the trial. On remand the circuit court is directed to reinstate defendant's 2013 amended judgment of conviction. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gundrum, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 2021AP001590-CR, Categories: Confrontation, sex Offender, witnesses
J. Mitchell finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's post-conviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. It is unlikely the jury's guilty verdict would have changed had counsel objected to the state's propensity witness testimony. Further, defendant was not prejudiced by alleged hearsay testimony about defendant sexually abusing others because many of the witnesses were available at trial for cross-examination. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mitchell, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: WD85449, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses, Child Victims
J. Lindsey finds the trial court correctly overruled defendant's objection to allowing defendant's minor stepdaughter he was alleged to have sexually abused to testify via closed-circuit TV in a case in which defendant was ultimately found guilty and convicted of molestation and sexual battery. The trial court's case-specific findings in support of allowing the stepdaughter to testify via CCTV, including those balancing defendant's constitutional rights, the public interest and protection of the child, were upheld by substantial evidence, so there was no error in its order. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Lindsey, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 22-0760, Categories: Constitution, sex Offender, witnesses
J. Barrett finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for rape, sexual assault and sexual indecency with his girlfriend's minor daughters, sentencing him to a total of 76 years in prison. The assaults in question were videotaped and corroborated by victim testimony. Testimony that defendant made no effort to cover his genitals at a certain point allowed the jury to deduce that he purposely did so for sexual gratification. Witness credibility is an issue for the jury. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Barrett , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: CR-23-28, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses, Child Victims
J. Fox finds that the lower court properly denied post-conviction relief to defendant regarding his sexual abuse convictions. Defendant moved for relief after one his victims recanted her trial testimony, but the circumstances around the victim recanting were not considered credible. She recanted while suffering from a mental health crisis and while not under oath, so the lower court properly deemed that her trial testimony while under oath was more reliable. Defendant raised no other arguments or evidence on appeal that would otherwise justify his request. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Fox, Filed On: September 8, 2023, Case #: S-23-0068, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses
J. Ahlers finds that defendant was properly convicted of stalking and witness tampering in his trial for sexual abuse of a child because evidence indicated defendant contacted the victim from jail through his mother in an effort to convince her to recant her testimony. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Ahlers , Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 22-0192, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses
J. Alvarez upholds defendant's conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child, which he committed on his brother. The trial court properly refused to allow defendant to question his brother about the recantation of his accusation regarding the assault during the punishment phase of the trial, as the recantation is not relevant during sentencing. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Alvarez, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 04-21-00417-CR , Categories: Sentencing, sex Offender, witnesses
J. Boomgaarden finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of sexual abuse. Defendant claims on appeal that the trial court improperly allowed sexually explicit content as evidence and that the prosecutor wrongfully elicited testimony from defendant's victim, his daughter. But defendant has not shown how any of these alleged errors injected prejudice into proceedings, and there is no evidence they impeded on defendant's right to a fair trial. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Boomgaarden, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: S-22-0267, Categories: Fair Trial, sex Offender, witnesses
J. Myren finds that the circuit court properly entered judgment after defendant was convicted of ten counts of sexual contact with a child under age sixteen and one count of first-degree rape. Defendant was not prejudiced by testimony offered by a mental health practitioner who had served as the victim’s counselor. Affirmed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Myren, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 2023SD41, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses
J. Pritzker finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of rape. Defendant contends he had consensual sex with the victim, but witnesses testified the victim had been drinking heavily and fell asleep in a bar booth before leaving with defendant, and that friends discovered her naked and asleep at defendant's house after tracking her down. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Pritzker, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 112168, Categories: Evidence, sex Offender, witnesses
J. Sheehan finds that the trial court improperly convicted defendant for two counts of gross sexual imposition of a minor. The trial court improperly allowed the victim's mother to submit hearsay evidence in the form of the conversations between her and her sister about the accused, as that contains character evidence. Also, the victim's mother's opinion that her daughter is telling the truth cannot be used as evidence to vouch for the daughter's credibility. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Sheehan, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 111935, Categories: Evidence, sex Offender, witnesses
J. Powers finds the juvenile court erred when it applied an incorrect legal standard to determine witness competence. “The state had the burden to prove that [the witness] had sufficient ability to perceive, recollect, and communicate about those events so that it was worthwhile for [the witness] to testify.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Powers, Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: A175034, Categories: Competence, sex Offender, witnesses
J. Golemon finds the trial court improperly convicted defendant for the continuous sexual abuse of a child, his ex-girlfriend’s daughter. Although the trial court found there was a necessity in allowing the witness to whom the victim first revealed the abuse to testify remotely, it failed to provide case-specific reasons for the necessity finding. The record did not support a finding that the remote testimony furthered an important public policy, and it can’t be said that the error didn't contribute to conviction. Reversed and remanded for new trial.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Golemon, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00157-CR, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses, Child Victims
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's habeas petition claiming that a prosecutor improperly told the jury an acquittal would require them to find the witnesses were lying. Defendant argued this forced him to prove his innocence, making his trial unfair. On de novo review, "the prosecutor's comments might give us significant pause," but the federal court's review is deferential to the state court's decision, which was not an unreasonable application of federal law. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 21-2819, Categories: Fair Trial, sex Offender, witnesses
J. Greer finds that defendant was properly convicted of sexually assaulting a fellow student at the University of Northern Iowa. Defendant contends a witness's discovery deposition should have been admitted at trial, but the witness's recollection of events was spotty at best. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Greer, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 22-0524, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses
J. Moulton finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant of rape when the state failed to disclose to the defense that the DA was helping the purported victim obtain an immigration benefit known as a U visa. A jury could find that obtaining a U visa was so important to the victim that it could potentially cause him to fabricate his testimony, especially when there was other evidence undermining the victim's story. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Moulton, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: 02768, Categories: sex Offender, witnesses, Discovery