Stephens v. State, A92A1310

• Decision Date: 08 September 1992
• Docket Number: No. A92A1310,A92A1310
• Citation: 205 Ga.App. 403,422 S.E.2d 275
• Parties: STEPHENS v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 275

422 S.E.2d 275

205 Ga.App. 403

STEPHENS v. The STATE.

No. A92A1310.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Decided Sept. 8, 1992.

Cook & Palmour, Bobby Lee Cook, Hurley & Hurley, Lynn Q. Hurley, Summerville, for appellant.

Ralph L. Van Pelt, Jr., Dist. Atty., Mary J. Palumbo, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.

POPE, Judge.

Appellant/defendant Michael Stephens appeals his conviction for three counts of child molestation, two counts of aggravated child molestation, and two counts of aggravated sodomy. The jury was authorized to find from the evidence presented at trial that defendant's nine-year-old nephew spent the night with defendant in September 1990. Defendant first showed his nephew magazines containing nude or partially nude women. Defendant then coaxed his nephew into engaging in acts of oral sex and anal sex with him.

Each enumeration of error concerns the State's introduction of evidence of a similar transaction. The State was allowed to present the testimony of Jimmy Jackson who testified that when he was approximately eight years old and defendant was either thirteen or fourteen years old, defendant attempted to coax Jackson into engaging in an act of oral sex by offering to give Jackson the keys to his motorcycle if he would give him a "blow job." Jackson refused. That incident occurred approximately ten years before the incident giving rise to defendant's conviction.

1. Defendant argues there was insufficient similarity between the prior incident and the crime charged. Defendant contends that the span of ten years and his youth at the time of the previous transaction renders the incident with Jackson dissimilar to the crimes charged. As our Supreme Court recently stated in Gilstrap v. State, 261 Ga. 798, 799, 410 S.E.2d 423 (1991), "Where 'similar transaction' evidence has been admissible otherwise, lapses of time of 11 years (Rich v. State, 254 Ga. 11, 14(1) (325 SE2d 761) (1985)) and of 19 years (Cooper v. State, 173 Ga.App. 254, 255 (325 SE2d 877) (1985)) have not demanded that the evidence was inadmissible." Accordingly, a lapse of ten years in this case does not render the evidence inadmissible.

We agree, however, that defendant's youth at the time of the similar transaction should be considered when deciding if the testimony should be admitted to show lustful disposition and inclination, i.e., bent of mind. Defendant was at least thirteen years old at the time he requested Jackson to give him a "blow job." Defendant obviously realized he was not making a common request of his friend, because he offered Jackson his motorcycle in exchange for a "blow job." Given defendant's age and his obvious understanding of the request he made of Jackson, his request was not the faultless act of an innocent child. Accordingly, we hold that neither the defendant's age at the time of the similar transaction nor the time span between the incidents renders the testimony inadmissible.

2. Defendant posits that the trial court's findings of sufficient similarity were not supported by the evidence proffered or presented. After careful review of the record, we find...