State v. Perry

• Decision Date: 26 July 2017
• Docket Number: Opinion No. 5503.
• Citation: 420 S.C. 643,803 S.E.2d 899
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: The STATE, Respondent, v. Wallace Steve PERRY, Appellant.

420 S.C. 643

803 S.E.2d 899

The STATE, Respondent,

v.Wallace Steve PERRY, Appellant.

Opinion No. 5503.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard April 11, 2017

Filed July 26, 2017

Rehearing Denied August 24, 2017

Kerri Brown Rupert, of Murphy & Grantland, PA, and Chief Appellate Defender Robert Michael Dudek, both of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Alan McCrory Wilson and Assistant Attorney General Vann Henry Gunter, Jr., both of Columbia; and Solicitor William Walter Wilkins, III, of Greenville, for Respondent.

GEATHERS, J.:

Wallace Steve Perry appeals his convictions for two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) and two counts of second-degree CSC. He argues the trial court erred in (1) finding his former stepdaughter's testimony was admissible as evidence of a common scheme or plan and (2) allowing a doctor to improperly comment on the veracity of his daughter's testimony. We affirm.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 1993, Perry met and began dating Laura Jones (Mother). Perry and Mother had two sets of twins: Daughter One and Daughter Two born in 1994 and Daughter Three and Son born in 1996. After Mother and Perry separated in August 2000, they agreed Perry would have visitation with the children on weekends and holidays. In March 2012, Daughter Three revealed to Mother that Perry had sexually abused her during visitation. After Daughter Three's disclosure, Daughter Two informed Mother that she had also been sexually abused by Perry.¹ Mother later contacted the Department of Social Services (DSS) to report the abuse, and DSS reported the incident to the Greenville Police Department. Perry was subsequently indicted for two counts of first-degree CSC and two counts of second-degree CSC. His trial was held in December 2014.

Before the trial began, the State proffered the testimony of Brandy Newcomer, Perry's stepdaughter from a prior marriage, regarding abuse Perry allegedly inflicted on her. The State proffered this testimony under Rule 404(b), SCRE, as evidence of a common scheme or plan. During a discussion with the trial court before the proffer, the solicitor noted that unlike with Daughter Two and Daughter Three, Perry's abuse of Newcomer "progress[ed] on into actual vaginal/penile penetration." However, the solicitor acknowledged that portion of Newcomer's account of the abuse would "not be admissible because it [went] beyond the scope of similar" and could be excluded by the court pursuant to State v. Wallace .²

During the proffer, Newcomer³ testified her mother married Perry when Newcomer was five years old. She stated that when she was nine years old, Perry entered her room one night and digitally penetrated her vagina. According to Newcomer, Perry continued to abuse her periodically over the next four years, and she estimated he digitally penetrated her about twenty times. Newcomer testified the abuse progressed when she was thirteen or fourteen. She stated, "One incident, I had two friends over. He snuck into my bedroom. The penetration and everything started. Then he got up and left." Newcomer testified that around that time, Perry also came into the bathroom while she was taking a bath and "had to bathe [her] before [she] could go." She stated the abuse ended when she was fourteen.

Newcomer stated she did not disclose the abuse right away because Perry had told her no one would believe her and her accusations would hurt the family. Newcomer told her mother about the abuse when she was fourteen years old, and her mother divorced Perry shortly thereafter. When asked why the case did not go to trial, Newcomer stated she had told her mother she did not want to go to court because she was afraid Perry would kill her family.

According to the State, Newcomer's testimony was proper under the common scheme or plan exception of Rule 404(b) because of the similarities between Perry's abuse of Newcomer and his abuse of Daughter Two and Daughter Three. In response, Perry contended Newcomer's testimony was inadmissible propensity evidence. When the court inquired whether DSS had any records of Perry's abuse of Newcomer, the State said it had some records that indicated the allegations were investigated. However, the State noted Perry was not tried for the charges of abuse against Newcomer because, at the time, Newcomer was pregnant, she suffered from some mental health issues, and there were concerns that the defense would characterize her as sexually promiscuous. As a result, Perry completed a pretrial intervention program and did not admit any guilt. After hearing the proffer and the parties' arguments, the trial court decided to reserve its ruling on whether Newcomer would be permitted to testify.

During the trial, Daughter Three⁴ testified that after Mother and Perry separated, Perry moved into a three-bedroom apartment and she shared a room and an air mattress with Daughter One and Daughter Two. According to Daughter Three, around five or six o'clock in the morning, Perry would come into the bedroom Daughter Three shared with her sisters and would get in bed with them. When asked to describe the abuse, Daughter Three recalled Perry digitally penetrating her vagina about five times but stated the abuse did not progress beyond that. According to Daughter Three, the abuse occurred when she was around ten or eleven years old.

After the abuse ended, Daughter Three continued visiting Perry on the weekends until she disclosed the abuse when she was around sixteen years old. Daughter Three explained that she waited to tell Mother what was going on because Perry had told her "that if we told anybody, we would be the ones who got in trouble and [would] get taken away from my mom." Daughter Three stated she initially disclosed the abuse to her youth group leader, who encouraged her to tell Mother.

Daughter Two⁵ subsequently testified. She stated Perry first molested her when she was between five and seven years old.⁶ When asked about the first time Perry abused her, Daughter Two stated she was lying on Perry's bed watching television when he entered the room, lay down next to her, and digitally penetrated her vagina. According to Daughter Two, Perry stated that if she told anyone about what had happened, she "would get in just as much trouble as he would" and would be taken away from Mother. Daughter Two testified that after the first incident, Perry began molesting her almost every weekend during visitation. She stated that around five or six a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings, Perry would get in the bed Daughter Two shared with her sisters or lie on the floor next to the bed and digitally penetrate her. Daughter Two testified she never tried to wake up her sisters because she was scared they would tell Mother.

Daughter Two recalled Perry moved into a two-bedroom apartment in 2007, where she shared a room and a bed with Daughter Three, Perry shared a room with Son, and Daughter One slept on the couch. Daughter Two testified Perry continued digitally penetrating her in the early morning hours at the new apartment; however, the abuse also progressed to oral sex on two occasions. According to Daughter Two, Perry orally penetrated her vagina late one night while she was sitting in a chair and early one morning while she was in bed with Daughter Three. Daughter Two stated the abuse ended when she was fifteen years old, and she disclosed the abuse to Mother after Daughter Three's disclosure.

Before beginning the second day of trial, the trial court informed the parties that after considering Newcomer's proffer, it was inclined to allow her to testify. Perry again objected, arguing Newcomer's testimony was prejudicial and would confuse the jury. He further argued Newcomer's testimony was inadmissible to show a common scheme or plan because it was not similar enough to Daughter Two's and Daughter Three's testimony. Additionally, Perry argued he could not determine whether Newcomer had changed her story about the abuse because the records from the solicitor's office relating to the previous charges against him had been destroyed. The trial court subsequently found there was clear and convincing evidence that the prior bad act had occurred and Newcomer's testimony was probative and admissible under the 404(b) exception.

Newcomer's testimony before the jury was substantially similar to her proffered testimony, including that (1) the abuse began when she was nine years old and ended when she was fourteen; (2) Perry was her stepfather at the time of the abuse; (3) the abuse typically occurred in her bedroom, except for one incident when she was fourteen when Perry bathed her; (4) Perry told her that if she disclosed the abuse, no one would believe her and her accusations would hurt the family; and (5) the abuse typically consisted of digital penetration. However, Newcomer added that the abuse had progressed to oral sex one time, which she failed to specifically discuss in her proffer. She also estimated Perry had digitally penetrated her five times, rather than the estimate of twenty she made during the proffer.

The State also called Dr. Nancy Henderson, a pediatrician for Greenville Health System, to testify. After being qualified as an expert in the field of pediatric medicine and child sexual assault examinations, Dr. Henderson testified about examining Daughter Two and Daughter Three after they disclosed the sexual abuse. Dr. Henderson stated that before the examinations, she spoke to Daughter Two and Daughter Three about what had occurred.

During her discussion of her examination of Daughter Three, Dr. Henderson testified the results were normal and noted "[i]t would have been very unlikely ... to find anything on the exam" because of the delayed disclosure. Dr. Henderson was subsequently asked whether her findings were consistent with Daughter Three having experienced sexual abuse. She responded, "Yes." Perry objected, arguing Dr. Henderson was improperly vouching for Daughter Three. The trial court noted the issue...