Maddox v. State, A03A1150.
| Decision Date | 02 October 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. A03A1150.,A03A1150. |
| Citation | 263 Ga. App. 507,588 S.E.2d 305 |
| Parties | MADDOX v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Bunn, Byrd, Newsom & Hix, Donna S. Hix, Columbus, for appellant.
J. Gray Conger, Dist. Atty., Julia A. Slater, Roger H. Anderson, Asst. Dist. Attys., for appellee.
Anthony Maddox was convicted on three counts of child molestation and three counts of aggravated child molestation. On appeal he contends that (1) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to sustain his convictions, and that (2) his trial counsel was ineffective. We find that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions and that evidence supported the finding that Maddox's trial counsel was effective, and we therefore affirm.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence reveals that in February 1997, Maddox was at home playing with his live-in girlfriend's ten-year-old daughter, N.S., when he got on top of N.S., placed his hand under her shirt, and rubbed her breasts. N.S. told her mother about the incident, but when the mother spoke with Maddox about it, he claimed that the incident had occurred by mistake.
Maddox was at home alone with N.S. on her eleventh birthday in June 1997, and he told N.S. on that day that he wanted to give her a birthday present. N.S. entered a bedroom where she witnessed Maddox with his pants unzipped and his penis exposed. Maddox got on top of N.S. and rubbed his penis against her. He then turned her over and continued to rub his penis against her. He only stopped when someone came to the house and rang the doorbell.
That same night, Maddox put his penis and his hand between N.S.'s legs while she was trying to sleep in her mother's bed. He then took N.S. to her room, where he placed his penis into her mouth and then had anal sex with her until he ejaculated. Maddox had anal sex with N.S. on at least two other occasions that summer. There were also further incidents of Maddox kissing and touching N.S. inappropriately. On one of these occasions, Maddox was polishing N.S.'s nails and then started kissing her. He then ordered N.S. to pull down her panties, and he touched her vagina. On another occasion, he kissed N.S. while he was naked. After kissing her, he made N.S. pull down her panties, and then he rubbed his penis against her vagina until he ejaculated.
In June, N.S. told a neighbor about Maddox touching her inappropriately. N.S. also told the police that Maddox had forced her to have sex with him. In addition, Maddox himself admitted to his sister, N.S.'s mother, the mother's sister, and police that on one occasion N.S. had performed oral sex on him and that he had had anal sex with her, but he claimed that the incidents occurred by accident because (1) eleven-year-old N.S. had initiated the encounter, and (2) Maddox mistakenly thought that N.S. was actually N.S.'s mother at the time of the encounter because he was sleepy when it happened.
N.S.'s mother took her to see several doctors, one of whom discovered what appeared to be the beginning stages of herpes and another discovered signs of a lax sphincter. N.S. also saw a child psychiatrist, and she told the psychiatrist about Maddox's repeated sexual encounters with her from February to July 1997.
Maddox called N.S. after he was arrested, and he explained to N.S. that he had hurt her because she was mature for her age, and because he needed help. He further explained to N.S.'s younger sister that he did not get involved with her because she was not as mature as N.S. and she was too little to handle the pain.
Maddox was convicted on three counts of child molestation and three counts of aggravated child molestation, and following the denial of his motion for new trial, Maddox appeals.
1. Maddox contends that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to sustain his convictions. We disagree.
On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence. Short v. State, 234 Ga.App. 633, 634(1), 507 S.E.2d 514 (1998). We do not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility, but only determine if the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find the defendant guilty of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).
Here, the evidence revealed that Maddox had repeated sexual encounters with N.S. over the course of several months and had anal sex with the child on at least three occasions. He further admitted to...
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...this testimony, the jury was authorized to find that Damerow was guilty of this offense as charged. See id.; Maddox v. State, 263 Ga.App. 507, 508–509(1), 588 S.E.2d 305 (2003). Damerow nevertheless argues that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence, and therefore, he was entitl......
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