Wilde v. State
| Decision Date | 13 August 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-180.,01-180. |
| Citation | 2003 WY 93,74 P.3d 699 |
| Parties | Dannie L. WILDE, Jr., Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Kenneth M. Koski, Public Defender; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel; and Tina N. Kerin, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel, Representing Appellant. Argument presented by Ms. Kerin.
Hoke MacMillan, Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; and Georgia L. Tibbetts, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Representing Appellee. Argument presented by Ms. Tibbetts.
Before HILL, C.J., and GOLDEN, LEHMAN, KITE and VOIGT, JJ.
[¶ 1] Appellant, Dannie L. Wilde, Jr. (Wilde), contends that the State and the district court committed a series of errors during his trial, which are so serious that his conviction for first-degree sexual assault1 must be reversed. Wilde contends: The trial court erred in determining that the child witnesses were competent and that their testimony was not "tainted;" the district court allowed the admission of multiple, hearsay repetitions of the victim's story; witnesses were allowed to vouch for the credibility of the victim; the district court allowed the admission of irrelevant and prejudicial "lifestyle" evidence; the prosecutor engaged in misconduct by violating the district court's liminal order; the district court committed reversible error by commenting to the jury about the effect testifying had on the victim; and, finally, that in combination those errors amount to cumulative error requiring reversal.
[¶ 2] We conclude that there were errors in the proceedings below of such significance that reversal of Wilde's conviction is required. Thus, the judgment and sentence of the district court will be reversed and the case remanded to the district court for a new trial.
[¶ 4] The nature of the issues raised requires us to set out the details of the evidence pertinent to those issues as we address them individually. For purposes of background and context, we will set out the two competing theories presented to the jury for resolution. The victim, AM, testified that Wilde lured her into his bedroom to watch him perform a body piercing. AM assumed at the time that Wilde was going to pierce his tongue. Once in the bedroom, Wilde actually exposed himself to AM and pierced his genitals by inserting a "barbell" type piece of jewelry into his scrotum, just below the penis. Wilde admitted to doing this piercing in front of AM, but testified that the events of that day then ended.
[¶ 5] AM's testimony continued, averring that Wilde showed her a pistol he kept in his dresser drawer (and that eventually he threatened her with the pistol, telling AM she had better not tell what was happening), sat on top of her, pulled her pants down and attempted, unsuccessfully, to pierce her labium, and then proceeded to forcibly rape her. AM testified that during the course of the sexual assault, her genitalia were injured by pieces of jewelry that were attached to Wilde's genitalia. These events were alleged to have occurred on or about March 15, 2000.
[¶ 6] Wilde called into question the competency of AM, as well as her sister AN. Both of these child witnesses (ages 12 and 7 at the time of trial, and 11 and 6 at the time of the alleged assault) admitted to telling false stories of sexual misconduct by their mother's husband and boyfriend. The victim did not report the incident to her mother until two months after it allegedly occurred. Thereafter, the victim talked with a number of investigators, health care professionals, and a social work professional, relating the same story that she told to her mother. Wilde contended that the victim and her sister were not reliable witnesses because of the false accusations they had made in the past, and because their mother was motivated to influence their testimony about Wilde. It could be inferred that a note she left for him was an attempt to use this situation to extort a pickup truck from Wilde. This occurred before she took her daughter to report to the authorities. According to mother, AM delivered her revelations in installments, with each installment including ever more serious allegations, in response to mother's ever more insistent demands that AM tell the whole truth. In addition, Wilde contended that the victim's testimony may have been "tainted" by the many interviews to which she was subjected prior to trial.
[¶ 7] The standard of review applicable to a competency hearing is clearly established:
We have held that when a child is called into the courtroom to testify, and the child's competency is called into question by either party, it is the duty of the trial court to make an independent examination of the child to determine competency, and that determination will not be disturbed unless shown to be clearly erroneous. English v. State, 982 P.2d 139, 145 (Wyo. 1999). In English, we also held that an assertion that a child's testimony was tainted could best be comprehended as a part of the competency hearing and that a separate taint hearing is not required. 982 P.2d at 146. In English, we established that the requirement that a competency hearing on the issue of "taint," based on an assertion that the child's statements were the product of suggestive or coercive interview techniques, or some other potentially improper influence, is triggered whenever a party presents the court with "some evidence" that a child witness is incompetent. 982 P.2d at 146-47; Ryan v. State, 988 P.2d 46, 58 (Wyo.1999).
Alicea v. State, 13 P.3d 693, 697 (Wyo.2000) (footnote omitted); also see Billingsley v. State, 2003 WY 61, ¶¶ 9-10, 69 P.3d 390, ¶¶ 9-10 (Wyo.2003).
[¶ 8] In this case, a competency hearing was conducted by the district court in accordance with the decisions cited above. At the conclusion of that hearing, the district court determined that both the victim and her sister were competent to testify. As noted above, we will not overturn a trial court's determination that a witness is competent to testify unless that determination is clearly erroneous. Our review of the record does not suggest that the trial court's rulings were clearly erroneous.
[¶ 9] We do not question in any way the trial court's decision that the victim was competent to testify. However, we do have some reservations as to whether the victim's sister was competent to testify to the very limited relevant information she was able to relate. AN testified that she looked into Wilde's bedroom during the time that AM claimed to have been being raped. AN said she was not able to see much, but perceived that AM and Wilde were "wrestling." This testimony, of course, served a very important role in corroborating the victim's testimony. The prosecutor's questioning of AN was largely leading and AN answered those questions fairly well. However, when it came to the gravamen of the competency decision the district court had to make, AN faltered seriously. After relating that she was only able to open the bedroom door a crack, her testimony continued:
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