Child Hearsay

F-2017-952

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In OCCA case No. F-2017-952, Jerry Don Battenfield appealed his conviction for sexual abuse of a child under age twelve. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm his convictions. One judge dissented. Mr. Battenfield was found guilty without a jury and received a sentence of thirty years in prison and a fine for each of the two counts, which means he must serve over twenty-five years before he can be considered for parole. He raised several arguments on appeal. First, he argued that he did not understand that he was giving up his right to a jury trial. He believed he might face the death penalty, but the court found he was not misled about the possible punishment. Therefore, his claim was denied. Second, he claimed that the judge improperly relied on evidence that was not admitted during the trial. However, the court found that the judge could only use the evidence that was presented and determined there was no error. Third, he argued that there should have been a hearing to check if child hearsay was reliable before it was allowed in court. The court noted that his attorney had actually agreed to let the hearsay in, which meant that there was no error to review. In the fourth point, he contended that some of the child’s statements were allowed into the trial in a way that violated his right to confront witnesses. The court agreed that there was a mistake concerning some statements but concluded the mistake was harmless, as there was enough other evidence to show he was guilty. Fifth, he stated that his lawyer did a poor job for not fighting harder to protect his rights during the trial. However, the court believed that the lawyer did not make any major mistakes that would have changed the outcome of the trial. Finally, he asked for a review based on multiple mistakes during the trial. The court found that the previous issues did not add up to deny him a fair trial. The court affirmed the judgment and said that the decisions made during the trial were generally correct, despite acknowledging a small error regarding the child’s statements. Overall, his appeal was denied, and he will continue to serve his sentence.

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F-2009-1002

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In OCCA case No. F-2009-1002, Rickey Dewayne Prince appealed his conviction for multiple serious crimes, including possession of child pornography, lewd molestation, and first-degree rape. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to modify some of his sentences but upheld his convictions. One judge dissented. Rickey Dewayne Prince faced a jury trial where he was found guilty on multiple counts related to child exploitation and abuse. His punishment included lengthy prison sentences, with certain counts requiring him to serve them consecutively, leading to a total of many years behind bars. After the trial, Prince raised several arguments in his appeal. He claimed that he did not receive a fair trial due to various reasons. These included improper support for the victims' testimonies by a nurse, errors in how the charges were brought, issues regarding the admission of his own statements to police, and claims about his lawyer not doing a good enough job defending him. The court reviewed these points carefully. They found that while some mistakes occurred, like using the wrong statute for charging possession of child pornography, the overall outcome of the trial was justified. The judges believed that the evidence presented during the trial strongly supported Prince's convictions, even without additional corroborating details from other sources. In some points of his appeal, Prince's arguments were dismissed because he did not raise them in time during the trial, which limited how much the court could consider his issues. They also decided that any errors that did happen were not serious enough to change the trial's verdict or give him the right to a new trial. As a result, while some of Prince's sentences were adjusted to be less severe, the court affirmed many of his convictions for serious crimes against children, keeping him under a long prison sentence for his actions. The court made changes to the official records to properly reflect the legal basis for his convictions while confirming that he did not face unfair treatment during his trial.

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F-2006-991

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In OCCA case No. F-2006-991, Causey appealed his conviction for Lewd Molestation. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse and remand for a new trial. One judge dissented. Causey was found guilty after a jury trial and given a 15-year prison sentence. He claimed there were several mistakes made during his trial. 1. He argued that the jury was not told he would have to serve 85% of his sentence. 2. He also said that the court let hearsay from the child victim be used against him without checking if it was trustworthy. 3. Causey felt he was not allowed to present his side of the story properly. 4. He criticized the decision to give instructions about flight, suggesting it was unfair. 5. He pointed out issues with witnesses who supported the victim’s truths, saying it affected the fairness of his trial. 6. He was concerned that the victim testified holding a doll, which he believed was inappropriate. 7. Causey said his lawyer did not do a good job because they did not try to stop the search of his home. 8. He claimed that all these mistakes combined made the trial unfair. The court agreed that the trial had serious errors, particularly with how hearsay was handled and the statements about the victim's truthfulness. These mistakes meant that Causey did not receive a fair trial. The court ordered that he should get a new trial and said that future juries should be informed about the 85% requirement of the sentence. They did not need to provide further solutions for other issues since the main decision was enough to overturn the case.

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F-2005-97

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In OCCA case No. F-2005-97, Dodson appealed his conviction for two counts of First Degree Rape. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse the convictions and remand for a new trial. One judge dissented. Wesley Dodson was found guilty by a jury in the district court of a serious crime against two victims. The judge sentenced him to serve a long time in prison, with each count requiring him to stay for fifty years. After Dodson's conviction, he appealed the decision, which means he asked a higher court to review the case to see if there were any mistakes. Dodson raised several important points about why he thought the trial was unfair. First, he believed he did not get a fair jury because one juror was biased and should have been removed. Second, he argued that the court allowed hearsay evidence about children that was not presented correctly and could make the jury think the victims were more credible than they were. Third, he claimed that there wasn’t enough solid evidence to prove he committed the crimes. Lastly, Dodson said that all these errors together made the trial unfair. After looking closely at all the details of the case, the court agreed with Dodson on some key points. They found that there was indeed a biased juror who should have been excused, which took away Dodson's right to have a fair trial. They also agreed that the trial court should have been more careful about the hearsay evidence related to the victims, and that a police officer made comments that suggested the victims were telling the truth when that should have been left for the jury to decide. However, the court thought that there was enough evidence to support the victims' claims, meaning the jury could have reasonably found Dodson guilty based on their testimonies. Since the court found serious issues with how the trial was handled, they decided that Dodson's convictions should be reversed, meaning he would not have to serve the prison sentences handed down from the first trial, and they ordered that a new trial should happen. In summary, the higher court said that Dodson did not receive a fair trial due to certain errors, so they cancelled the previous decision and said there should be another trial.

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