State v. Brown
| Decision Date | 04 May 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-231-C,89-231-C |
| Parties | STATE v. Edmond J. BROWN. A. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
This case comes before the court on the appeal of the defendant, Edmond J. Brown, from a jury verdict of guilty on all nine counts of a first-degree-sexual-abuse indictment. Edmond J. Brown (defendant) was sentenced to twenty years for count 1; twenty years for count 2, to be served consecutively to the sentence for count 1; twenty years for count 3, ten to serve, ten suspended with probation, to be served consecutively to the sentences for counts 1 and 2; and twenty years on each count, counts 4 through 9, to be served concurrently with the sentences for counts 1, 2, and 3. The defendant, in sum, faces a sentence of fifty years to serve, with ten years suspended and ten years probation.
The defendant raises several issues on appeal, claiming that the trial justice abused his discretion by allowing the state to use leading questions with the complaining witness, by allowing the state to introduce evidence beyond the bill of particulars, and by allowing the state to introduce into evidence a pornographic catalog bearing defendant's name on the mailing label. Furthermore, defendant alleges that the trial justice erred in his charge to the jury instructing the jurors that they could find defendant guilty in regard to each of the nine counts, basing their findings upon evidence that was beyond the bill of particulars. It is our considered opinion that the trial justice erred in charging the jury beyond the bill of particulars, and we therefore vacate the judgments and remand for a new trial. In the interest of judicial economy we address other nondispositive issues raised on appeal in order to assist the trial justice at defendant's new trial.
At defendant's trial before a jury on various days between November 22, 1988, and February 3, 1989, the following facts were elicited. Edmond Brown met his wife (Mother) in August of 1979 and they were married two months later. At this time defendant moved into the family home with his new wife and her two children, to whom we shall refer to as Amy, aged 7 1/2, and Rob, aged 10. In March of 1981 a baby girl was born to the couple whom we shall call Lynn. Shortly after her birth, defendant legally adopted Amy and Rob.
After maternity leave, Mother returned to her work in a doctor's office. In 1982 Mother began working part time at a hospital during the weekends and then in the evenings, in addition to her full-time day job. Eventually she began working full time at the hospital. Her hours were 3 to 11 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, but she sometimes worked overtime until 2 or 3 a.m.
The defendant worked as a jeweler for twenty-five years until he retired in 1987. The defendant then became the parent with the primary responsibility of caring for the children. He was very strict and believed in corporal punishment. When Mother objected to his methods of discipline early on in the marriage, defendant deferred to her even though he disagreed. Mother testified that he never hit the children thereafter.
The eldest daughter, Amy, testified that near the start of the marriage, defendant became "unusually intimate" with her while her mother was not at home, both during the day and at night. He would tell her to remove her clothes, and he would take off his own. He touched her and penetrated her with his hand, his "male organ," and a banana. He also bought her a rubber penis and showed her how to use it in order to stretch her vagina. He made her read sexually explicit books and magazines. Amy testified that defendant had intercourse with her on a daily basis and sometimes more than once a day up until she was about twelve or thirteen years old. At this point she began to refuse to do as he wished, and he would often harass her in order sometimes to get his way.
For years Amy did not tell anyone about her father's sexual behavior because defendant convinced her that no one would believe her. Early in May of 1988, when Amy was sixteen years old, she told her best friend of the sexual abuse. She stated that she could not take it anymore. On May 18, 1988, Amy attempted suicide by swallowing antihistamine pills. She left a suicide note with her best friend, which stated: "I'm tired of HIM touching me, I'm tired of not being able to tell anyone * * * I know I'm running away from my problems but it hurts so much to think about what HE did to me."
The defendant denies Amy's allegations. He testified that he and Amy had a close father/daughter relationship. Every Sunday the family would attend church together, where he and his wife sang in the choir. He also submitted that he was involved with the church as a member of the parish council and as the collector and sexton for the children's mass. The defendant denied keeping sexually explicit materials in the house, let alone forcing Amy to read them. When the state, over objection, introduced a catalog of sexual devices with defendant's name on the label, defendant claimed that it had been sent to him unsolicited and had inadvertently fallen into his drawer.
At the close of testimony the trial justice informed the jury that it might convict defendant of sexual penetration as alleged in count 1 "by any object * * * which includes but not limited to, digital or any object into the genital opening." As far as the other counts were concerned, the trial justice again charged that the crime may be proven by penetration "either penile or any object, however slight, into the vaginal opening." On November 29, 1988, the jury returned verdicts of guilt on all nine counts, and defendant was sentenced on February 3, 1989.
Upon appeal, defendant first claims that the trial justice abused his discretion by allowing the state to use leading questions to question Amy. The defendant points to the fact that Amy was sixteen years old at the time of trial and a junior in high school. Moreover, defendant claims, Amy suffered from no apparent disability at the time of trial that would justify the asking of questions that "suggested the specific tenor of the desired replies." State v. Mancini, 108 R.I. 261, 267, 274 A.2d 742, 745 (1971).
Although leading questions on direct examination are not generally permitted, a trial justice may exercise his or her discretion in choosing whether to allow leading questions on direct examination. State v. Girouard, 561 A.2d 882, 888 (R.I.1989) (citing Urbani v. Razza, 103 R.I. 445, 447,...
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