Garcia v. State
| Decision Date | 30 August 2018 |
| Docket Number | NO. 01-17-00309-CR,01-17-00309-CR |
| Parties | JUAN RUBEN GARCIA, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
On Appeal from the 300th District Court Brazoria County, Texas
A jury convicted appellant Juan Ruben Garcia of four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. See TEX. PENAL CODE § 22.021(a)(1)(B). It assessed punishment at 10 years in prison for each count and recommended that Garcia be placed on community supervision. The court suspended the sentence, and it placed Garcia on community supervision for 10 years.
Garcia filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus challenging the validity of the order imposing community supervision. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 11.072 §§ 1, 2(b)(1). He asserted that his trial attorney provided him with ineffective assistance of counsel. The trial court entered findings of fact and an order denying Garcia's application.
On appeal, Garcia contends that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel failed to object to improper bolstering and improper outcry testimony, and he failed to object to hearsay statements made by the complainant. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that Garcia failed to prove that his counsel's performance was constitutionally deficient. Accordingly, we affirm the order of the trial court.
Complainant A.B. lived in a two-bedroom apartment with her mother and her sister. When A.B. was nine or ten years old, her aunt moved into the apartment with her husband, appellant Juan Ruben Garcia, and their two young sons. Approximately two or three years later, the Garcia family moved out of the apartment.
When A.B. was 15 years old, she confided in her neighbor Sandra that Garcia had sexually abused her while the families lived together. Later, when A.B. was 16 or 17, she confided in her cousin's girlfriend, Gloria, that her uncle molested her when she was a child. Gloria told one of A.B.'s relatives, Patricia, that A.B. needed help. Patricia told A.B.'s mother to talk to her, but she did not explain why. Eventually A.B. told her mother that she had been sexually abused by Garcia.
In March 2009, A.B. was taken by her mother to the Alvin Police Department to report the abuse. A.B. spoke with a crime-victim liaison. Then she told Sergeant L. Barkdull about the abuse, but she did not want charges to be filed. There was no further investigation at that time.
Two years later, in April 2011, A.B. returned to the Alvin Police Department, this time with Patricia. She spoke with the same crime-victim liaison to whom she had spoken in 2009. Separately, she spoke with Detective G. White, who interviewed her about the details of the sexual abuse and made a written report. Following an investigation led by Detective J. Morrison, also of the Alvin Police Department, a grand jury indicted Garcia of four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
At trial, A.B. testified that after Garcia's family moved into her family's apartment, her mother and aunt took night classes together and would leave thechildren at home with Garcia. A.B. testified that after her mother and aunt left, and she and the other children were in bed, Garcia would get her from her room and bring her to the living room where he would sexually abuse her. Garcia penetrated her vagina with his penis and his fingers, made her perform oral sex on him, and eventually penetrated her anally. The abuse occurred in the living room most of the time, but Garcia sometimes abused A.B. in her room when no one else was home. A.B. could not recall the first instance of abuse, but she testified that she "felt like it was on a normal basis."
A.B. testified that the abuse stopped when she was 13 because Garcia moved out. She had not told anyone about the abuse while it was happening, and she did not tell anyone for some time afterwards. Her neighbor Sandra was the first person she told about the abuse, when she was 14 or 15 years old. A.B. believed that Gloria was the next person in whom she confided. She later told her school principal about the abuse.
Sgt. Barkdull testified about A.B.'s 2009 report of the sexual abuse. A.B. had reported that Garcia started sexually abusing her when she was eleven years old. A.B. stated that the abuse started with Garcia touching her over her clothing, and he then moved to touching her underneath her clothing. According to the 2009 report, the abuse continued to progress, and Garcia forced A.B. to perform oral sex on him and penetrated her vagina with his fingers and with his penis. Garcia wouldgo into A.B.'s bedroom when the other children were asleep and wake her to initiate the abuse. The abuse went on for two years. A.B. could not estimate how many incidents of abuse had occurred during that period, but she reported that it happened numerous times. A.B. reported that the abuse occurred almost every time Garcia was left alone with her and the other children, which happened when A.B.'s mother and aunt left to attend night school together.
A.B. told Sgt. Barkdull that she had not come forward before because Garcia threatened to abuse her sister if she reported the abuse. Sgt. Barkdull explained what the next steps in the investigation process would entail, but A.B. was not interested in moving forward with her report at the time. Sgt. Barkdull made a written report, but A.B. did not give a written statement, and there was no further investigation.
Det. White also testified about his 2011 interview, when A.B. stated that Garcia sexually abused her from the ages of 10 to 13 years old. She reported that the abuse occurred at night when her mother and aunt were in class and the other children were in bed. Garcia would go into A.B.'s room and wake her, then he would take her to the living room to sexually assault her. A.B. told Det. White that the abuse included vaginal, oral, and anal penetration. Det. White testified that he specifically asked A.B. whether Garcia had penetrated her vagina with his penis "the first time," and she said yes.
Det. White testified that while interviewing A.B., he had looked for signs of deception as well as any motive to fabricate allegations. He found neither. The State asked him whether the statements given by A.B. in 2009 and 2011 were consistent. Det. White had not known about A.B.'s previous report when he first spoke with her, but he later reviewed Sgt. Barkdull's written report from 2009. He testified that the 2009 report was consistent with the details A.B. shared during his interview. Det. White stated that he was not concerned that A.B. told him that the abuse included anal penetration although there was no mention of that in 2009. He testified, based on his training, that a few "slight" inconsistences between different recitations of the same story was "natural." He also stated that, in his experience, sexual-abuse victims who had been subject to anal penetration did not always initially report that. Det. White testified that his comparison of Sgt. Barkdull's written report and the abuse A.B. reported to him did not cause him "any problem or cause for concern at all."
After his interview with A.B., Det. White prepared a written witness report. He spoke with the crime-victim liaison who met A.B. in 2009 and 2011. He also spoke with A.B.'s mother and her aunt Patricia.
Det. Morrison testified that she was assigned to the investigation following A.B.'s 2011 report. Although she did not interview A.B. about the details of the abuse, Det. Morrison reviewed Sgt. Barkdull's 2009 report and Det. White's 2011report. The State asked Det. Morrison about her comparison of the allegations contained in each report. Det. Morrison testified that the 2009 and 2011 reports were "very consistent," and that she had no concern that A.B. had lied in either.
As part of her investigation, Det. Morrison interviewed Garcia about A.B.'s allegations. He told her he had no idea what she was talking about, and he denied ever having any sexual contact with A.B. Garcia had admitted that his family lived with A.B.'s family for two or three years, but he initially denied ever being left alone with the children. Later, he conceded that he had been alone with the children when his wife and A.B.'s mother went to class, but he stated it was only for an hour.
Sandra and Gloria each testified about A.B.'s outcries. Sandra testified that A.B. told her that Garcia would go into her bedroom while her mother and aunt were at class and "touch her." He would "walk around in his boxers with his private part hanging out," and "he actually did have sex with her." Sandra testified that A.B. only told her about the sex once, and she knew "there was a lot more" that A.B. did not want to tell.
Gloria testified that A.B. had told her that "her aunt's husband" had molested her as a child. She further testified that A.B. could not remember how old she was when the abuse occurred, but she said it had happened "at her aunt's house" and lasted for two years.
A.B.'s mother testified about the time period when Garcia had lived in her home, including the sleeping arrangements inside the apartment and the transportation and childcare arrangements. She and her sister took night classes, leaving Garcia at home with the children. A.B.'s mother did not know about the abuse while Garcia was living in her home, nor did she suspect anything. A.B. eventually told her mother that Garcia had sexually abused her, but she would not give any details. A.B.'s mother confronted her sister and Garcia. Then she took A.B. to the police station the following day to report the abuse.
After the State rested, Garcia presented his defense. Garcia's wife and their two sons testified about the years they lived with A.B. They each testified about the family relationships during that time period and in the subsequent years. Each denied observing any signs of abuse.
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