Parrish v. State

• Decision Date: 14 May 1985
• Docket Number: 4 Div. 343
• Citation: 494 So.2d 705
• Parties: Perry Demon PARRISH v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 705

494 So.2d 705

Perry Demon PARRISH v. STATE.

4 Div. 343.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

May 14, 1985.

Rehearing Denied April 22, 1986.

Certiorari Denied Aug. 22, 1986

Alabama Supreme Court 85-916.

Ira De Ment and Ronald W. Wise, Montgomery, for appellant.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and James B. Prude, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

McMILLAN, Judge.

From a conviction of first-degree sexual abuse and a sentence of 20 years under the Alabama Habitual Felony Offender Act, this appeal follows. Based upon the totality of the circumstances, the express wording of the sexual abuse statutes, and this Court's interpretations of those statutes, the decision of the trial court is due to be affirmed.

At trial, the victim testified that she was 12 years old at the time the events occurred. On the day in question, the victim had gone boating with her brother, her mother, and her father (the victim's parents were divorced and custody of the victim was awarded to her mother). After the outing, the victim was very tired and was also sick to her stomach. Her mother had been dating the appellant and they went to his mother's house on Arnold Street, where he was living. ¹ Since the victim was ill, she lay down inside the house while her mother remained on the porch. At that time, the appellant was not at the house, since he had gone out with "a bunch of his friends". Later on, the appellant arrived with his friends and the victim heard "hollering." After a while, the appellant came in and lay beside the victim on the bed. The appellant put his hand up the victim's "britches" and touched her private parts, while he held her down "with his foot over my leg." The victim pretended to wake up and the appellant left. She then went to the bathroom and discovered that she was bleeding. Throughout the ordeal, the victim's mother remained on the porch.

The victim testified that she did not immediately tell her mother what had happened, since this had happened before and when she tried to talk to her mother about it, her mother had ignored her. On an earlier occasion, the victim, the victim's mother, and the appellant were sleeping together in the same bed. During the night, the appellant touched her private parts in the same manner as described above. When the victim tried to talk to her mother about the attack, her mother told her she would talk to her about it later. The victim stated that she assumed her mother would talk to the appellant so she did not tell anyone else at that time. However, she told her father after the second incident and he then took her to the police station.

On cross-examination, the victim testified that the sexual attacks occurred at the appellant's mother's house on Cawthorn Street, as well as at her house on Arnold Street. After the second incident on Arnold Street, she went to the bathroom and discovered blood in her panties. The victim also testified that "... I wasn't real sure what it was and I was kind of scared." After she told her father, she was taken to the hospital and was examined by a physician. The victim's father testified that when his daughter first began to tell him about what had happened, he did not let her finish and took her directly to the police department.

The State called Jamie Grace, a Sergeant with the Andalusia Police Department to the stand. On July 23, 1983, the witness testified, she talked with the victim concerning an incident involving the appellant. The witness was told that one incident occurred in a house on Arnold Street and another occurred on Cawthorn Street. The witness recommended that the child be taken to a hospital since she was bleeding vaginally. The information given by the child to this witness was consistent and at the time the questioning took place, the victim's father was not in the room; neither was the victim's mother. Additionally, it did not appear that the victim had been coached in any way. According to the witness, the victim explained to her that the lapse of time between the occurrence of the assault and the report to the police was due to the fact that the victim's mother had custody of the victim and the father had only visitation rights. The witness also stated that no complaint was received from the victim's mother.

On behalf of the State, Dr. Joe Sanders testified that he examined the victim for signs of sexual molestation. Although the physical findings of the examination showed no signs of trauma, the doctor testified that he would not expect to find positive physical findings where sexual contact had occurred two or three months earlier. At the time of the examination, the victim had not reached puberty. Also, the witness testified that even if something more than superficial damage had been done to the victim, the damage could have healed in the intervening time.

The State also called the victim's mother, who testified that she was divorced from the victim's father and had been spending a great deal of time with the appellant. She testified that they had been dating and were sleeping together. The witness testified that the second incident occurred after the witness, her son, her ex-husband, and the victim had been on a boat ride together. When they returned to the appellant's house on Arnold Street, the victim went in and lay down because she was sick and had a stomach ache. When the appellant came in with some of his friends, the witness could tell he had been drinking and was "on pot." Because of his condition, the witness became angry and remained on the front porch while the appellant went inside. About 30 or 45 minutes later, she went into the house and the appellant was in the living room. Since she was still mad at him, they did not say anything to one another. When her daughter came out of the bedroom and told her she wanted to leave, the witness stated that she ignored her daughter and made her stay at the house until the witness was ready to leave.

On an earlier occasion, at the house on Cawthorn Street, the witness testified, she, the victim, and the appellant were in bed together. The witness testified that she was asleep and thought that everyone else was asleep. Later, however, her daughter tried to tell her what had happened, but, she said, "I again ignored her." The witness went on to testify that there was another event which indicated, to her mind, that the appellant might have sexually abused her daughter. On this particular occasion, the witness woke up and saw the appellant kneeling beside her daughter's bed. When she called his name, he came running back and said he was sleep-walking and had been looking for his fishing boots. Again, the witness testified that she "looked over it" and had no idea that this was going on. At one time, the appellant had told her about a friend of his who was "going with" a woman, as well as with the woman's daughter. At that time, the witness stated "this will never happen to my daughter."

The witness testified that when her daughter first told her about what was going on, she ignored her and did not take the time to listen to her. She did not do anything even after the incident where she observed the appellant kneeling next to her daughter's bed. Although the bedroom was illuminated by a street light, she could not tell what the appellant was doing. However, she could see that he was kneeling by her daughter's bed and when she called his name he came running back and made excuses for his being over there. The next day, he reminded her over and over again that he had really been walking in his sleep. At the time, the appellant was on the work release program from State prison.

The appellant, Perry Demon Parrish, testified in his own behalf. At the time of the incident, the appellant was serving a three-year prison sentence for second degree burglary and grand larceny and was living with his mother. His mother lived in a house on Cawthorn Street, but moved to a house on Arnold Street in June of 1983. The appellant met the victim's mother through her work while he was a trusty in the county jail, and they began an affair. The appellant testified that the victim's mother often brought her daughter to visit him. When they spent the night together in his mother's house on Cawthorn Street, they would all sleep together in one room. After he moved to his mother's house on Arnold Street, the appellant stated that he, the victim's mother, and the victim would all sleep together. Since the appellant's mother had dark curtains over the windows and the curtains were usually drawn, there was "no way" that the street light would have given enough light for the mother to see what she said she had seen. Although the appellant had sex with the victim's mother on several occasions, he denied that he had ever sexually abused or molested her daughter at "any time at any place."

On the day in question, the appellant testified that he had been drinking "just a tad" and had smoked marijuana but stated, "I wasn't at the time." Additionally, he said he was "a long ways from being drunk or intoxicated." As to the earlier incident, the appellant testified that he had never sexually molested the victim and had never said that he was sleep-walking. According to the appellant, one night he was coming back from the bathroom and bumped into the victim's mother because the room was so dark. During the time he was out of prison, he was on the "S.I.R. Program."

On behalf of the appellant, the appellant's mother was called to the stand. She testified that her son came to live with her when he was released from prison on a work release program in May of 1983. At that time, she was living on Cawthorn Street. Prior to that time, the appellant had been a trusty. Around the last of June, she moved to a house on Arnold Street. On numerous occasions, the victim and the victim's mother would come to her house and spend the night. The witness stated that her son and the victim's mother...