Bateman v. State
| Decision Date | 21 November 2013 |
| Docket Number | No. 2012–KA–00372–SCT.,2012–KA–00372–SCT. |
| Citation | 125 So.3d 616 |
| Parties | Clayton Paul BATEMAN a/k/a Clayton P. Bateman v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Office of State Public Defender by Hunter N. Aikens, George T. Holmes, Francis Ryan Brossetti, attorneys for appellant.
Office of the Attorney General by Stephanie B. Wood, attorney for appellee.
EN BANC.
¶ 1. Clayton Paul Bateman was convicted in the Harrison County Circuit Court of two counts of sexual battery and two counts of touching a child for lustful purposes. He was sentenced to a total of thirty years' imprisonment. Bateman now appeals his conviction. Finding no reversible error, we affirm Bateman's convictions and sentences.
¶ 2. In 2009, Clayton Paul Bateman and Melissa Anglada lived together in a mobile home in Saucier, Mississippi, with their four children. Bateman and Anglada had dated for roughly a decade, but never married. Bateman was awarded custody of the couple's children in 2007, but the couple continued living together until the date Bateman was arrested. This case involves Bateman's two oldest daughters, “Rene” and “Bailey.” 1 In 2009, Rene was nine years old, and Bailey was eight years old.
¶ 3. On March 16, 2009, Anglada called the Harrison County Sheriff's Department to report an allegation of sexual abuse of Rene by Bateman. Officer Bill Scarbrough responded to Anglada's parents' mobile home, where Anglada, Rene, and Bailey were located. After hearing the allegations of abuse, Officer Scarbrough contacted Deborah Lacey, a social worker with the Harrison County Department of Human Services. Lacey took Rene and Bailey to a Harrison County children's shelter.
¶ 4. On March 18, 2009, forensic psychologist Dr. Donald Matherne performed an assessment of Rene and Bailey at the request of the Department of Human Services. Rene told Dr. Matherne that Bateman would sometimes touch her vaginal area with his fingers underneath her clothes. He also would make her touch his “private area.” Bailey also stated that Bateman had touched her vaginal area with his fingers underneath her clothes. Both girls told Dr. Matherne that Bateman had threatened them not to tell anyone about these touchings.
¶ 5. On March 19, 2009, Rene and Bailey were interviewed separately by Investigator Carolyn Prendergast, a criminal investigator for the Harrison County Sheriff's Department. Rene informed Investigator Prendergast that on March 16, Bateman had pulled her pants down and rubbed her “hiney” with his hand. (Rene and Bailey both refer to the female genitals as “hiney.”) Rene stated that Bateman had done this on multiple occasions, though she couldn't remember the first time it happened. In addition, Rene stated that Bateman would sometimes use his mouth and tongue to touch or lick her “hiney.” Bateman also made Rene touch his “private” on several occasions. (Rene and Bailey both refer to the male genitals as “private” or “hiney.”)
¶ 6. Bailey told Investigator Prendergast that when she was younger, Bateman would touch her “hiney” with his hand and would sometimes put his hand inside her “hiney.” She could not remember any specific instances and initially stated that he had stopped this behavior when she was four years old. At first, Bailey informed Investigator Prendergast that she had never seen her father touch anyone else inappropriately, but she later stated that she once saw him touching Rene.
¶ 7. On March 20, 2009, Rene and Bailey were examined by Dr. Daniel Overbeck, an emergency room doctor at the Garden Park Medical Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. Dr. Overbeck conducted complete physical examinations of both girls. Bailey's exam was normal. Rene's hymen was absent, and there was some redness and irritation around her clitoris.
¶ 8. Bateman was arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of Rene and Bailey on March 18, 2009. He was indicted by a grand jury in Harrison County on January 19, 2010. Bateman was charged with three counts of sexual battery and two counts of touching a child for lustful purposes. Specifically, Count I charged Bateman with sexual battery for “inserting his finger into the vagina” of Rene. Count II charged Bateman with sexual battery for “performing cunnilingus” upon Rene. Count III charged Bateman with touching a child for lustful purposes for “touch[ing] or rub[bing] with his hands the vagina” of Rene. Count IV charged Bateman with sexual battery for “inserting his finger into the vagina” of Bailey. Count V charged Bateman with touching a child for lustful purposes for “touch[ing] or rub[bing] with his hands the vagina” of Bailey. All these acts were alleged to have occurred on or between March 16, 2008, and March 16, 2009.
¶ 9. At trial, Rene testified that on March 16, 2009, she went into Bateman's room and “he pulled my pants down and he put his hand in my pants and he rubbed my hiney.” 2 She could not remember if Bateman had touched her underneath her underwear on that particular day. Rene stated that her father would touch her with his hands, his mouth, and his penis. Rene was questioned about the details of her father's behavior and gave the following response:
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She also described how Bateman would use his mouth to touch her inappropriately.
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Rene also testified that Bateman would make her touch his penis with her hands and mouth. When questioned about the frequency of this abuse, Rene could not give a specific answer, but stated that Bateman had never gone more than a month or two without touching her inappropriately in some way.
¶ 10. Bailey also testified that Bateman had touched her with his hands and mouth:
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She stated that she could remember only one occasion when he had touched her with his mouth. Bailey also could not remember when the abuse began, but said, “I wasn't that young when it stopped.” Bailey said she could remember more at trial than when she talked to Investigator Prendergast back in 2009, and she did not think Bateman had ever gone more than a year without touching her.
¶ 11. Prendergast recounted the details of her interviews with Rene and Bailey. The jury was allowed to hear the audiotapes of those interviews. In the interviews, both girls described the details of Bateman's alleged abuse, indicating on an age-appropriate anatomical diagram that they had been touched in their vaginal areas.
¶ 12. Dr. Overbeck recounted his examinations of Rene and Bailey from 2009. He informed the jury that Rene's hymen was absent and that there was some irritation on her vaginal area. Dr. Overbeck explained that, in his opinion, an eight-year-old girl's hymen could be broken only by some sort of penetration. On cross-examination, Dr. Overbeck indicated that it is possible, though very uncommon, for a female to lose her hymen by some way other than penetration, such as through a serious blunt-force trauma. Based on his examination, Dr. Overbeck concluded that his findings regarding Rene were consistent with a child who had been sexually abused. Dr. Overbeck also informed the jury that his examination of Bailey was normal. While it was not possible for Dr. Overbeck to determine whether Bailey had been touched inappropriately, he did conclude that she had not been penetrated.
¶ 13. In describing his examinations of Rene and Bailey to the jury, Dr. Matherne explained his utilization of the “fist demonstration” to determine what degree of penetration, if any, might have occurred. During his examinations, he asked the girls to make a fist with one hand, representing the area that was touched, and to use the other hand to describe how they were touched. Dr. Matherne testified that Rene “took her hand, she touched the exterior and then she inserted, and she inserted it all the way in.” Based on this demonstration, Dr. Matherne testified that Rene's interview was consistent with a child who had suffered sexual abuse. Referring to Bailey, Dr. Matherne stated, “When using the fist demonstration, the depth of penetration was very shallow, and it was apparent that there was no significant digital penetration on her part when she was conveying to me what happened.” Nevertheless, Dr. Matherne expressed the opinion that Bailey's interview was consistent with a child who had “experienced an inappropriate act.”
¶ 14. Bateman testified on his own behalf and denied the abuse. He presented no other evidence or witnesses. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned a verdict finding Bateman guilty of Counts I, II, III,...
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