Hayes v. State, 96-80
| Decision Date | 04 April 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-80,96-80 |
| Citation | 935 P.2d 700 |
| Parties | Shaun A. HAYES, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Sylvia Lee Hackl, State Public Defender; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel, for appellant.
William U. Hill, Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Kimberly A. Baker-Musick, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Before TAYLOR, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN and LEHMAN, JJ.
Shaun A. Hayes (Hayes) appeals from his conviction and sentence for knowingly taking immodest, immoral or indecent liberties with his four year old daughter in violation of WYO. STAT. § 14-3-105, based on several assignments of evidentiary error. Finding no error or abuse of discretion, we affirm the conviction and sentence of the district court.
Appellant Hayes presents the following as his statement of the issues:
I. Was the appellant denied a fair trial when two physicians were able to give expert opinions based on the victim's statements and the victim's mother's statements absent any physical findings of abuse?
II. Was the appellant denied a fair trial due to discovery violations by the state and the trial court's rulings on discovery?
III. Did the trial court's adverse rulings on several evidentiary matters prevent the appellant from having a fair trial?
The State of Wyoming presents the issue as simply, "[w]hether appellant's trial was fair?"
In December of 1993, Hayes and his wife, the mother of the victim, separated. During Hayes' criminal trial, the mother reported that the victim mentioned some sexual abuse by her father in October and November of 1993, but because the mother did not find any evidence of abuse and the victim did not say anything else which suggested inappropriate conduct, she took no further action at that time.
In late March, the mother and Hayes' mother traveled to Greeley, Colorado, with the victim. On March 24, 1994, while in Colorado, the victim saw a male horse and commented to her mother that the horse was a boy because he had a "crotch in his pee-pee." The victim continued, telling her mother The victim's mother decided to contact the Department of Family Services (DFS) when they returned to their home in Gillette, Wyoming.
The next day, when they arrived in Gillette, the mother contacted DFS and the Gillette Police Department and made interview appointments for March 29, 1994. A DFS social worker and a Gillette police detective interviewed the victim. As a result of those interviews, the victim was examined by Dr. Julie Fall and Dr. Andrew Sirotnak and began attending counseling sessions with Dr. William Heineke.
On April 21, 1995, a felony information was filed, alleging Hayes violated WYO. STAT. § 14-3-105 by sexually molesting the victim, whose date of birth is November 5, 1988, on or between February, 1993, and December, 1993. On April 25, 1995, counsel for Hayes filed a demand for discovery pursuant to Rule 16 of the Wyoming Rules of Criminal Procedure. Hayes pled not guilty to the charges on May 24, 1995.
The victim, the mother, the three doctors, the social worker and the detective, among others, all testified at trial. After the trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict, convicting Hayes of indecent liberties with a minor. On December 19, 1995, Hayes was sentenced to three to five years in the state penitentiary and fined one thousand dollars. Hayes filed a timely notice of appeal.
Hayes argues his trial was not fair because the trial court erred in several of its evidentiary rulings. Rulings on the admissibility of evidence are within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed on appeal absent demonstration of a clear abuse of discretion. McGinn v. State, 928 P.2d 1157, 1161 (Wyo.1996) (citing Vit v. State, 909 P.2d 953, 957 (Wyo.1996)). This Court will not find an abuse of discretion as long as a legitimate basis exists for the trial court's rulings. McGinn, 928 P.2d at 1161. Thus, unless the trial court's decision exceeds the bounds of reason, no abuse of discretion will be found. Vit, 909 P.2d at 956-57.
Hayes also alleges the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to declare a mistrial after the testimony of one of the witnesses. We review a trial court's denial of a motion for a mistrial under the same abuse of discretion standard discussed above. Hodges v. State, 904 P.2d 334, 343 (Wyo.1995).
Dr. Fall's testimony
Hayes complains the trial court erred when it admitted expert testimony from Dr. Fall which was based, in part, on the history provided by the victim's mother. When the State called Dr. Fall to testify, she began her testimony by explaining that she examined the victim on March 30, 1994. During voir dire by defense counsel, Dr. Fall stated that she examined the victim to evaluate her for signs of sexual molestation and obtained a history of the victim from the mother. Counsel objected to the testimony. After hearing testimony from Dr. Fall that generally examinations for sexual molestation include obtaining a history from the parent and that requesting some history is a normal practice, the trial court overruled the objection.
Dr. Fall testified about her conversation with the victim and the victim's description of what Hayes did to her. Dr. Fall also related the mother's brief reiteration of statements made to her by the victim as part of the history. The mother's comments were much less specific and merely cumulative to the victim's description. Dr. Fall then testified that, in her expert opinion, the victim's behavior was consistent with a child who had been sexually abused. She based her opinion on the history given to her from the victim and the mother and the fact that children the victim's age do not have the imagination to make up stories like the one related to her by the victim. After Dr. Fall completed her testimony, counsel moved for a mistrial, claiming Dr. Fall improperly stated an opinion on the ultimate issue. The court denied that motion.
Hayes claims Dr. Fall's testimony does not fall within Rule 803(4) of the Wyoming Rules of Evidence and should not have been admitted by the trial court. WYO. R. EVID. 803(4) provides:
The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule, even though the declarant is available as a witness:
* * * * * *
(4) Statements for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment.--Statements made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment and describing medical history, or past or present symptoms, pain or sensations, or the inception or general character of the cause or external source thereof insofar as reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment;
* * * * * *
Clearly, those statements made to Dr. Fall by the victim are admissible under WYO. R. EVID. 803(4). The statements made by the victim to the witness were consistent with the purpose for which the witness became involved with the victim and Dr. Fall relied on those statements in connection with her diagnosis of sexual abuse. See Blake v. State, 933 P.2d 474, 477-78 (Wyo.1997); Betzle v. State, 847 P.2d 1010, 1017 (Wyo.1993); Owen v. State, 902 P.2d 190, 195 (Wyo.1995).
Hayes also argues that Dr. Fall's testimony was not admissible because it was based, in part, upon statements given to her by the victim's mother. In McGinn, we addressed a similar argument, where the testifying expert psychologist related information given to her by the defendant's sister concerning sexual abuse perpetrated upon her by the defendant. McGinn, 928 P.2d at 1162. In McGinn, we quoted CHRISTOPHER B. MUELLER & LAIRD C. KIRKPATRICK, FEDERAL EVIDENCE § 358, at 691 (footnotes omitted):
Testimony presenting psychiatric and psychological evaluations can rest on out-of-court statements by the subject and by other examiners, as well as statements by lay people who know the subject (friends, family, nonprofessional caretakers). The hearsay doctrine does not block such uses of statements by the subject, and statements by other examiners would likely be admissible. Again the point is that the expert testimony may rest on them regardless whether they are proved or fit an exception, and even if the expert did not learn of them by firsthand observation, so long as his source was reasonable. Both the defense and the government regularly use such testimony when the issue is sanity (criminal responsibility) or competency to stand trial, and similar testimony is admissible in other contexts.
McGinn, 928 P.2d at 1162 (emphasis in original).
Although out-of-court statements made by a third party ordinarily may not be used to prove the truth of the matter asserted, such statements may be allowed for the limited purpose of showing the basis of an expert's opinion, so long as other experts in the field would reasonably rely on similar evidence. WYO. R. EVID. 703; 1 McGinn, 928 Hayes also appeals the trial court's denial of his motion for a mistrial. After Dr. Fall stated her opinion that the victim had been sexually abused, Hayes moved for a mistrial because the doctor had improperly given her opinion on the ultimate issue. We have held:
P.2d at 1162-63; LP v. Natrona County Dep't of Pub. Assistance and Social Svs., 679 P.2d 976, 1004 (Wyo.1984). The State properly provided a foundation for the evidence presented by asking Dr. Fall to explain: 1) where she obtained her information; 2) that in child sexual abuse cases it is normal to obtain information from family members; 3) that she relied upon this information as a basis for her diagnosis; and 4) how she relied upon that information to come to her conclusions. Dr. Fall's testimony concerning the mother's statements were not offered for the truth of the matter asserted,...To continue reading
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