Scales v. State
| Decision Date | 05 September 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 68258,68258 |
| Parties | SCALES v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
W. Franklin Freeman, Jr., Forsyth, for appellant.
E. Byron Smith, Dist. Atty., Tommy K. Floyd, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.
The defendant, David Scales, appeals his conviction of the offenses of incest with his 15-year-old daughter, sodomy with the same 15-year-old daughter, and child molestation of his 12-year-old daughter. The jury was unable to reach a verdict as to another count of incest with a different 15-year-old daughter and a mistrial was declared as to that count. Held:
1. The trial court did not err in overruling defendant's Motion for a New Trial on the general grounds. The evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty of the offenses charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560.
2. The second enumeration alleges it was error for the court to fail to charge the jury that corroboration would be required to warrant a conviction for the offenses of incest, sodomy, and child molestation. We find no error. The statutes involved, Code Ann. §§ 26-2002 (now OCGA § 16-6-2), 26-2006 (now OCGA § 16-6-22), and 26-2019 (now OCGA § 16-6-4), do not contain a requirement for corroboration. Cases which engrafted such an additional element were reversed by Baker v. State, 245 Ga. 657 (5), 266 S.E.2d 477. Therein the Court agreed that the modern trend was to eliminate any corroboration requirement in prosecution of cases dealing with criminal sexual conduct. 245 Ga. at 666, 266 S.E.2d 477. "A conviction for incest may be based upon the uncorroborated testimony of the prosecuting witness, if the testimony is sufficient to convince a rational trier of fact of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." 245 Ga. at 666, 266 S.E.2d 477. No corroboration has been required for a conviction of child molestation. Page v. State, 120 Ga.App. 709 (3), 172 S.E.2d 207; Young v. State, 125 Ga.App. 204 (2), 186 S.E.2d 805; Baker v. State, 245 Ga. 657, 666, 266 S.E.2d 477, supra. This court has also found that there was no requirement for corroboration in a conviction for the offense of sodomy. Clardy v. State, 87 Ga.App. 633, 639 (6), 75 S.E.2d 208; Motes v. State, 161 Ga.App. 173 (3), 288 S.E.2d 256; Massey v. State, 165 Ga.App. 67, 299 S.E.2d 148.
3. Defendant's next door neighbor apparently departed for parts unknown after advising defendant he had impregnated his daughter and wanted to marry her. Defendant requested funds for employment of an investigator to attempt to locate this person. It was refused. Granting or denying a motion for funds to employ an investigator is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and will not be reversed on appeal absent abuse of that discretion. Crenshaw v. State, 244 Ga. 430 (2), 260 S.E.2d 344. We have found no abuse of discretion.
4. After the jury had returned its verdict, counsel for defendant stated "that during the period of time that the trial was going on and this wasn't mentioned until after the jury had retired, was that apparently, the three prosecuting witnesses, the three Scales girls, were all--while they were supposed to be sequestered, they would leave the room where they were and go to the bathroom together or go elsewhere together, talking among themselves." He contended this was a violation of the rules of sequestration. No attempt was made to call the three girls as witnesses to find out if these acts occurred and when they occurred--before, after, or during their testimony, and what was said--if anything, regarding their testimony. ...
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State v. Collins
...657, 266 S.E.2d 477 (1980) (noting that legislature had removed corroboration requirement from rape statute) with Scales v. State, 171 Ga.App. 924, 321 S.E.2d 764 (1984) (corroboration not required for conviction of incest, sodomy, and child molestation); see also OCGA § 16-6-3 (conviction ......
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Atkins v. State, A99A1697.
...This is one reason that Georgia law does not require corroboration of a child molestation victim's testimony. Scales v. State, 171 Ga.App. 924(2), 321 S.E.2d 764 (1984); see Baker v. State, 245 Ga. 657, 664(5), 266 S.E.2d 477 (1980); see also OCGA § 24-4-8. Accordingly, "taking the victim[s......
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Powell v. State
...not corroborated, Georgia law does not require corroboration of a child molestation victim's testimony. See Scales v. State, 171 Ga.App. 924, 924–925(2), 321 S.E.2d 764 (1984) ("No corroboration has been required for a conviction of child molestation"). The victim's testimony alone is suffi......
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Miles v. State
...testimony was not corroborated is without merit, as no corroboration was required for the charged offenses. Scales v. State, 171 Ga.App. 924-925(2), 321 S.E.2d 764 (1984). Moreover, this contention mischaracterized the evidence, for Dr. Bull's testimony did provide Judgment affirmed. McMURR......