Clifford W. "Chip" Cleveland II of Cleveland & Colley, P.C., Prattville, for petitioner.
Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and Yvonne A.H. Saxon, asst. atty. gen., for respondent.
LYONS, Justice.
C.G. was convicted, as an accomplice, of sexual abuse in the first degree, a violation of § 13A-6-66, Ala.Code 1975, and was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. The victim was her five-year-old daughter, A.D. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed C.G.'s conviction. C.G. v. State, 841 So.2d 281 (Ala.Crim.App.2001). We granted certiorari review to determine whether the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in holding that there was sufficient evidence from which a jury could have concluded that C.G. intended to promote or to assist A.D.'s father in the commission of sexual abuse. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
I.
The facts as described in the Court of Criminal Appeals' opinion are as follows:
"The evidence adduced at trial indicated that in 1997, A.D. lived with her mother, [C.G.], in a mobile home in Prattville. A.D. testified that her father, M.D., `sometimes' stayed with them in the mobile home. (R. 24, 32.) According to A.D., on two or three occasions, when her father was visiting, he `hurt [her] on [her] private.' (R. 25.) A.D. specifically testified regarding an incident that occurred while she, [C.G.], and her father were outside watching a comet. A.D. stated that while she was watching the comet with her parents, [C.G.] went inside to prepare dinner, leaving her alone outside with her father. After her mother went inside, A.D. said, her father placed her on the car and `rubbed on [her] private.' (R. 26.) A.D. testified that she could not remember the name for the part of her father's body that he used to rub her, but stated that `it was his private.' (R. 28.) A.D. also testified about a second occasion of sexual abuse by her father, which, she said, occurred when [C.G.] again left her alone with her father. A.D. stated that she had told [C.G.] on two separate occasions that her father had hurt her, specifically that he had hurt her privates. A.D. also said that she no longer refers to [C.G.] as her `mama' because [C.G.] `didn't protect [her]' from her father's abuse and because [C.G.] `wasn't the right mother that she was supposed to be.' (R. 29.)
"Barbara J. Morris, a social worker with the Autauga County Department of Human Resources assigned to the Child Protective Services Unit, testified that she became involved in A.D.'s case in April 1997, when her office received a telephone call reporting that A.D. had been sexually abused. Morris testified that she initially interviewed A.D. at her office to determine whether to involve law-enforcement officers. During that interview, Morris said, A.D. revealed that her father had sexually abused her. After contacting the proper authorities, Morris then telephoned [C.G.] and requested that A.D., who had been placed in the custody of [C.G.'s] sister when the allegations were initially reported, be allowed to remain with [C.G.'s] sister until the investigation was complete. Morris stated that she requested this arrangement because A.D. had indicated to her that [C.G.] and her father had frequent contact and because A.D. had told her that [C.G.] had known of the abuse and had failed to take any action to protect her or to prevent further instances of abuse.
"Morris testified that she subsequently met with [C.G.] in person at [C.G.'s] place of employment. According to Morris, at that time, she gave [C.G.] the option of regaining custody of A.D. if she agreed to keep A.D. away from her father. However, because [C.G.] was unable to assure Morris that she would terminate all contact with A.D.'s father, A.D. remained in her aunt's custody with [C.G.'s] approval. The record reflects that, at [C.G.'s] request, A.D. was later removed from her aunt's home and sent to live with her uncle, [C.G.'s] brother, L.G., and his wife, J.G.1 Morris testified that [C.G.] had told her that she would not discontinue contact with A.D.'s father because she would not believe the allegations unless she heard them from A.D.
"Morris also testified that, during her meeting with [C.G.], she requested that [C.G.] not mention to A.D.'s father the allegations of sexual abuse until the investigation was complete. According to Morris, [C.G.] refused to cooperate, telling Morris that A.D.'s father `needed to know.' (R. 91.) In addition, during the interview, [C.G.] corroborated A.D.'s allegations that there were occasions when A.D. was alone with her father—once when [C.G.] went to feed a neighbor's dog and once when [C.G.] left the house to pick up a pizza for dinner.
"Morris further testified that she arranged a meeting between A.D., [C.G.'s] sister-in-law, and [C.G.]. Morris was also present at the meeting. During the meeting, Morris said, A.D. stated that she had told [C.G.] about her father's abuse. According to Morris, [C.G.] did not appear shocked upon hearing A.D.'s statement, she merely asked when A.D. had told her about the abuse.
"Morris also indicated that her office had supervised monthly visits between A.D. and [C.G.] According to Morris, the visits were hostile. Morris said that A.D. had to be physically forced into the room with [C.G.] on more than one occasion; that A.D. had refused to enter the room with [C.G.] unless Morris was present; and that once in the room, A.D. had very little interaction with [C.G.].
"Morris stated that during her investigation of the abuse of A.D., she discovered that there had been a previous allegation of sexual abuse made against A.D.'s father by another victim in 1993. Although the prior report indicated a finding of sexual abuse, Morris said, the district attorney's office had elected not to prosecute the case. However, according to Morris, when the present allegations arose, the district attorney initiated prosecution on the 1993 charge, and A.D.'s father pleaded guilty to that charge in exchange for charges pending against him in Autauga County alleging the sexual abuse of A.D. being dropped.2 After concluding her investigation, Morris said, she was of the opinion that A.D. had been sexually abused.
"Sharon Peggins, also a social worker with the Autauga County Department of Human Resources, testified that in October 1993 she investigated A.D.'s father in connection with the sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl who was the daughter of a family friend. Peggins stated that after conducting the investigation, she filed a disposition report in which she concluded that the victim had been sexually molested by A.D.'s father. Peggins testified that during an interview on October 4, 1993, with [C.G.], who was living with A.D.'s father at the time, [C.G.] stated that after learning of the allegations, she had moved to Montgomery to live with her parents because she feared that her own children might be removed from her custody. Peggins stated that [C.G.] told her that A.D.'s father `normally tended to be attached to young girls between the ages of four and five,' and that A.D.'s father was uncomfortable bathing or performing other personal care tasks for A.D. (R. 69.)
"Peggins testified that she spoke with [C.G.] again on October 7, 1993, when [C.G.] telephoned her. During this conversation, Peggins said, [C.G.] stated that after discussing the allegations with A.D.'s father, she and A.D.'s father had decided that the victim needed to go to the doctor to be examined. Peggins stated that [C.G.] also said that she needed to have A.D. examined as well because A.D.'s father had `told her that he wasn't sure.' (R. 71.) Peggins testified that she was concerned about A.D. at that time because of her father's admission that he might have molested the first victim; however, because she felt [C.G.] was aware of the situation and would take any measures necessary to protect A.D., she did not start a file for A.D. at that time.
"J.G., A.D.'s aunt and [C.G.'s] sister-in-law, also testified at the trial. According to J.G., at the time of the trial A.D. had lived in her home for approximately four years pursuant to a temporary custody order. J.G. said that when A.D. first came to live with her, she was generally afraid of men. J.G. also stated that on the first day A.D. was in her custody, A.D. made unsolicited disclosures regarding the sexual abuse by her father, and told her that she had repeatedly told [C.G.] about that abuse, but that [C.G.] had failed to help her. J.G. testified that A.D. told her that when she told [C.G.] what her father had done to her, [C.G.] had responded that `she [C.G.] liked it when Daddy did that to her.' (R. 60.) J.G. also testified that A.D. had said that on another occasion when she had told [C.G.] that her father had hurt her, [C.G.] said, `[W]ell, Daddy did a bad thing.' (R. 61.)
"J.G. testified that when she and her husband accompany A.D. on court-ordered visitation with [C.G.], A.D. attempts to avoid [C.G.]. According to J.G., A.D. now refers to her as `mama' and to her uncle as `daddy.' (R. 50.) J.G. also testified that when A.D. refers to her `privates,' she is talking about her vaginal area. (R. 62.)
"[C.G.] testified in her own defense at trial. She stated that she was not `100 percent' sure of A.D.'s father's guilt either in the present case or in the 1993 case. (R. 138, 168.) [C.G.] denied that she had ever told A.D. that it feels good when A.D.'s father rubs her privates. According to [C.G.], the only complaint A.D. made to her was in January 1997 when, she said, A.D. confronted both her and A.D.'s father and accused A.D.'s father of hurting her `coochie.' (R. 139.) However, according to [C.G.], while relating the story, A.D. said that the injury was accidental. [C.G.] said that A.D. told her that the injury occurred while she was
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