State Of North Carolina v. Townsend
| Decision Date | 21 December 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 08 CRS 52044-45,NO. COA10-477,No. 08 CRS 53363,COA10-477,08 CRS 52044-45,08 CRS 53363 |
| Parties | STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. ANTHONY TOWNSEND |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Appeal by defendant from judgments entered 18 December 2009 by Judge Thomas H. Lock in Cumberland County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 14 October 2010.
Attorney General Roy A. Cooper, III, by Assistant Attorney General Anita LeVeaux, for the State.
Geoffrey W. Hosford, for defendant-appellant.
Anthony Townsend ("defendant") appeals his 18 December 2 009 convictions of one count of attempted first-degree sexual offense, three counts of indecent liberties with a child, and one count of first-degree statutory rape. For the reasons stated herein, we hold no error.
Defendant was born on 16 January 1965. On 17 April 1999, defendant married Benita Townsend ("Townsend"). Townsend has twodaughters, J.B. and A.V., 1 but neither girl is defendant's biological daughter. A.V. was born in 1987 and J.B. in 1992.
J.B. has known defendant since she was three years old. She testified that, initially, he had been a father figure to her. However, in May 2001, defendant called J.B. into his and Townsend's bedroom to show her a Disney website in preparation for their upcoming family vacation. J.B. testified that she saw a "porn web site" on the computer screen. J.B. left the room, but defendant called her back. Then defendant pulled J.B.'s shirt off, eventually removed all of her clothes, and told her that her mother had said it was okay. A pornographic movie was on the television. Defendant looked at the movie and told J.B. that they could be doing that. According to J.B., defendant then removed his clothes. Approximately five minutes later, Townsend arrived home. Defendant told J.B. to move behind the bed and put her clothes back on. Before Townsend came into the room, she yelled that she could see defendant in the bedroom because the door was smaller than the door frame.
With respect to the May 2001 incident, Townsend testified that she knocked on the locked bedroom door and was unable to open it because defendant was holding the door closed. Townsend retrieved a butter knife and pried the door partially open. Once Townsend was able to enter the room, she testified that J.B. was clothed; however, Townsend noticed that an "adult movie" still was on thetelevision. As defendant continued to put on his shorts, Townsend told J.B. to get into the car with her brother, Lyndon.2 Once in the car, J.B. told Townsend about the incident with defendant; they did not return home until later that night.
Another incident occurred one year later, in the spring of 2002. According to J.B., while she and defendant were in his bedroom, defendant told her that it was time for her to "become a woman." Defendant told J.B. to remove her clothes, and he also removed his clothes. Defendant, wearing a condom, leaned over the side of the bed and put his penis into her vagina. Then, defendant pulled his penis out and allowed the ejaculate to fall onto the floor. J.B. never told him to stop, but she did tell him that it hurt, hoping that he would stop. Townsend was at work when this occurred; J.B. never told her mother because she was afraid that she would not believe her.
J.B. testified that another incident occurred "a couple of months" later. J.B. was in her room talking with one of her friends on the phone when defendant hung up her phone and made J.B. "play with him or jerk him off." Defendant ejaculated onto the floor, leaving J.B. to clean it up.
According to J.B., shortly thereafter, defendant approached her again. Defendant called J.B. into his bedroom and attempted to have anal sex with her, but she would not let him. Defendant then put his penis into her vagina and ejaculated onto her stomach.
On another occasion, while defendant was watching pornography, he called for J.B. to come into the room. At that point, he put his penis into her mouth and moved her head until he ejaculated.
J.B. testified that, during this same time period, defendant entered her bedroom one night wearing nothing but a towel. Defendant took off J.B.'s clothes and, without a condom, put his penis into her vagina, later ejaculated onto her sheets, and walked out of the room. According to J.B., she acted as if she were asleep during this incident and still did not tell her mother.
J.B.'s half-sister, A.V., is five years older than J.B. For some time, A.V. also lived with defendant, Townsend, J.B., and Lyndon. A.V. testified that, in January 1998, she was playing a video game in Townsend and defendant's bedroom when defendant entered the room and sat down behind her on the bed. This made A.V. "really, really uncomfortable." A.V. began to leave the room, but defendant said, "Let me show you something." He then kissed her on the mouth. A.V. told her grandmother — and eventually, Townsend — what had happened. According to A.V., Townsend confronted defendant, but he denied the incident. A.V. did not report the incident to the police because Townsend believed defendant instead of her.
Approximately one year later, A.V. and J.B. were in the backyard chasing one another around their pool. A.V. testified that, as she ran past defendant, he grabbed her leg, causing her to trip and fall. As defendant helped her up, he grabbed and touched A.V.'s vaginal area on the outside of her swimsuit.
Later that same year, defendant, A.V., J.B., and Lyndon were lying on a pallet watching a movie. A.V. went to the kitchen for some food, and when she returned, her brother was asleep and had been moved to the other side of defendant. A.V. testified that, after she lay back down, defendant began to fondle her vaginal area and kiss her breasts. He then pulled her pants down and attempted to penetrate A.V.'s anal area. A.V. testified that, at first, she could not tell if defendant's penis was against her skin or simply against her clothes, but later, when defendant attempted to penetrate her anal area, she knew that it was touching her skin. A.V. was in pain, but she never told defendant to stop. Finally, when the pain became significant, she stood up and went to her room. Defendant told A.V. that her mother was aware of what he was doing and that if A.V. told anyone, he would hurt Townsend.
According to A.V., on her fifteenth birthday, she and a neighbor had a "cake fight." As A.V. was cleaning up the cake, defendant walked into the kitchen and said, "I want that flower[,]" ostensibly referring to the rose made from icing which decorated the birthday cake. A.V. told him, "[Y]ou can't have my flower." Defendant responded, A.V. then called Townsend into the kitchen and asked what "deflower" meant. Townsend told her that it meant to take one's virginity. A.V. told Townsend that defendant had used that term with her. According to A.V., Townsend responded by grabbing a knife, walking down the hallway toward defendant's room, and calling defendant's name. Townsend, with the knife behind herback, confronted defendant in the hallway, but she eventually handed the knife to A.V., who returned it to the kitchen. Townsend and defendant then continued to argue in their bedroom. Defendant testified that he merely wanted to eat the icing rose off the cake.
Townsend testified that she was aware of A.V.'s allegations against defendant, but she thought that they were prompted by A.V.'s desire to move back home and by her wish for Townsend and A.V.'s father to reunite. Townsend also was aware of A.V.'s allegations that defendant had kissed A.V. on the lips. Townsend acknowledged that she did not go to the police. Townsend told police that defendant did not "get along" with either J.B. or A.V.
In February 2007, Townsend told A.V. that she would support her daughter if she wanted to report defendant's activities to the police. Subsequently, A.V. told police that, several years earlier, defendant had touched her inappropriately. A.V. was attending college at the time.
J.B. and Townsend had had some conflicts arising out of Townsend's concern about J.B.'s sexual activity. On 17 December 2007, during one of their arguments about this issue, J.B. told Townsend that defendant had sexually assaulted her. Townsend testified that J.B. said, Townsend testified that she spoke with investigators at the child advocacy center when J.B. told her that defendant was "messing with" her. J.B. told Townsend of the times that defendant had sexually assaulted her while Townsend was atwork. Townsend testified that J.B. told her that defendant had called her into the room and told her to take her clothes off, bent her over the bed, and had vaginal intercourse with her.
On the same day that J.B. told her mother about the incidents, Townsend called the police to report defendant's alleged conduct. When Townsend obtained a restraining order against defendant in December 2007, defendant moved out of the residence he shared with her. However, in October 2008, defendant moved back in with Townsend.
In 2008, J.B. met with Dr. Laura Gutman for a sexual assault examination. J.B. admitted at trial, but not to Dr. Gutman, that she had had sexual intercourse with her boyfriend subsequent to the alleged assault by defendant but before Dr. Gutman examined her. Based upon the medical examination, Dr. Gutman concluded that there was "very strong support for the conclusion that J.B. had been sexually assaulted."
On 14 December 2 009, defendant was charged with one count of attempted first-degree sexual offense, three counts of indecent liberties with a child, and one count of first-degree statutory rape. At trial, defendant attempted to elicit information from Townsend as to J.B.'s personal profiles on the social websites MySpace and Facebook. According to defendant, the content of the profiles was...
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