Ex parte Mayhugh

512 S.W.3d 285

EX PARTE Kristie MAYHUGH, Applicant

Ex parte Elizabeth Ramirez, Applicant

Ex parte Cassandra Rivera, Applicant

Ex parte Anna Vasquez, Applicant

NOS. WR–84

700–01 & WR–84

700–02

NO. WR–84,701–01

NOS. WR–84

698–01 & WR–84

698–02

NOS. WR–84

697–01 & WR–84

697–02

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.

Filed: November 23, 2016

Walter M. Reaves Jr., Gary A. Udashen, Keith S. Hampton, Casie Gotro, Michael Logan Ware, for Kristie Mayhugh, Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Anna Vasquez.

OPINION

Newell, J., delivered the opinion of the Court in which Johnson, and Richardson, JJ., joined.

According to Applicants' expert, Dr. Alexandria Doyle, the sexual-assault allegations in this case do not pass "the smell test." This emotional response certainly captures the sense of outrage that so many harbor about these cases. Whether it is in articles or a documentary, these cases involving "The San Antonio Four" have been well dissected in popular media. See e.g. Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four (Deborah S. Esquenazi Productions 2016); Bridgette Dunlap, Inside Case Behind Wrongful Conviction Doc 'Southwest of Salem ', ROLLING STONE , Oct. 13, 2016; Maurice Chammah, Case of "San Antonio Four" Set to Enter its Final Act , THE TEXAS TRIBUNE , March 29, 2015; Maurice Chammah, A Growing Battle for Exoneration , N.Y. TIMES , Nov. 18, 2012.

But we are not asked to apply a "smell test." Rather, we are asked to decide whether the newly available evidence of innocence undermines the legally sufficient, but hard-to-believe version of events that led to the convictions of these four women. We hold that it does and that these four women have unquestionably established that they are innocent of these charges.

I. Introduction

In the summer of 1994, two young girls alleged that four young lesbian women, including the girls' aunt, had spontaneously and violently gang-raped them on two occasions within a single week. The who-what-when-and-where changed from the outcries, to the statements made to the police, to the statements made to the examining doctor, to the testimony at two trials. But those inconsistencies were easy to set aside given the physical findings associated with child sexual abuse found by Dr. Nancy Kellogg, who asserted that the older child showed physical, objective signs of sexual abuse: In light of Dr. Kellogg's testimony, the girls' stories had the ring of truth.

These inconsistencies can no longer be set aside in light of what we know now. Dr. Kellogg has retracted her testimony about the physical indicators of past trauma. She now agrees with the defense that there are no definitive signs of sexual abuse, and she has acknowledged that her testimony at trial was wrong. All parties and courts, including this one, agree that all four Applicants are entitled to have their convictions and sentences vacated because of the introduction of what is now known to be scientifically invalid or inaccurate evidence.

But there is a great deal more that casts doubt upon the reliability of the convictions in these cases than just the unreliable scientific evidence. One of the complainants, the younger sister, now an adult, has recanted her testimony and explained how and why she and her sister made up a story about her aunt and her aunt's three friends. Expert testimony regarding false allegations of sexual assault now establishes that this complainant's recantation was genuine, voluntary, and sincere, and her story fits the profile of other false claims of sexual abuse. Though the other complainant has not recanted her trial testimony, her sister's recantation, credited by the trial court, cannot be logically reconciled with the remaining testimony establishing guilt.

Furthermore, the Applicants have also presented evidence that the complainants' father, Javier Limon, has engaged in a pattern of threatening behavior towards the complainants and false allegations of sexual assault to gain leverage in disputes over custody of his children. The Applicants have presented credible testimony that the complainants' father threatened and assaulted the two complainants to ensure that they accused these women of sexual abuse. Moreover, the Applicants have presented credible expert testimony explaining how the techniques used during the investigation of the alleged crimes could have reinforced the complainants' childhood belief in a crime that never occurred.

Finally, the Applicants have presented new expert testimony that they are not sex offenders. None of the four Applicants fit the profile for sex offenders, and psychological evaluations have confirmed this. From the moment these allegations were made, all four Applicants have consistently maintained their innocence and each other's innocence despite multiple, separate interviews.

We conclude that now, with this clear and convincing evidence establishing innocence combined with the lack of reliable forensic opinion testimony corroborating the fantastical allegations in this case, no rational juror could find any of the four Applicants guilty of any of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. We agree with the habeas court that relief is required based on new scientific evidence, but we also hold that the Applicants have carried their burden to establish a claim of actual innocence. Although the habeas court did not recommend granting relief on actual-innocence grounds, it did so strictly because only one of the two complainants recanted. It relied upon a "legal sufficiency" analysis without considering the overwhelming evidence of innocence and its impact upon the State's already weak cases. We disagree with the habeas court's apparent assessment that the lack of a recantation from one of the two complainants is fatal to Applicants' actual-innocence case. We exercise our authority to reach the contrary conclusion, and, accordingly, grant relief under a more comprehensive and robust actual-innocence analysis. See Ex parte Reed , 271 S.W.3d 698, 727–28 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008).

II. The Facts as Presented in the Two Trials

In the summer of 1994, nine-year-old V.L. and her seven-year-old sister, S.L., stayed with their nineteen-year-old aunt, Elizabeth Ramirez, for several days while their mother, Rosemary Camarillo, was in Colorado.¹ During the course of their stay with Elizabeth, who shared the apartment with her one-time girlfriend, Kristie Mayhugh, another couple, Anna Vasquez and Cassandra Rivera, visited the apartment frequently. Cassandra and her children even spent the night a few times during the week of the girls' visit.

The girls' grandmother, Serafina Limon,² said that, when the girls came home, they were not acting "normal;" they were subdued, scared, and refused to make eye contact. In mid-September, Serafina noticed the girls playing with their dolls in a sexual manner. When she asked the girls why they were doing this, V.L. told Serafina that she and her sister had been sexually assaulted at their aunt's apartment by the four women.

The girls' basic accounts were this: the four women stripped them, held them down, fondled them, and stuck objects and liquids into their vaginas. The girls stated they were assaulted on two different occasions. The assaults were back-to-back the first time, V.L. first and then S.L., and then simultaneously the next time. According to both girls, these assaults were completely spontaneous without any suspicious behavior leading up to them.

By V.L.'s account, the assaults occurred a couple of days into the visit to their aunt's apartment. V.L. and her sister were playing outside when both girls were called inside. According to V.L., the women began yelling things at her like "why did you do this? Why did you do that?" V.L. was inconsistent when explaining where S.L. was during the first assault; S.L. was either locked outside, or in the living room. V.L. was brought into Elizabeth's bedroom, where, according to V.L., Elizabeth held her down while the other women started touching her; the four women did not touch each other, only her. V.L. said she kicked and screamed as the women put stuff inside her vagina—liquid stuff, a powder, and "a tampon or something." She said that it hurt. And after they finished, they told her to go take a shower. According to V.L., she heard S.L. screaming and crying in the bedroom as she came out of the shower. Then, S.L. came out of the bedroom with no pants on, and the women told S.L. to take a shower. V.L. then went back outside to play.

V.L. said that the next time she was assaulted, it was again in the bedroom by Anna and Liz (and maybe Cassie), while S.L. was assaulted in the living room by Cassie. Or, they were assaulted together. She made a statement that "they started putting some kind of stuff in us. Then they put liquid in us. Cassie was the one that put the liquid in me. They did this to S.L., too."

S.L.'s account was similar with regard to the fundamentals of being held down and having things inserted into her vagina. But S.L. said that, during the first assault, when she came inside, she heard V.L. screaming in the bedroom. She tried to peek in. Then everyone came out of the bedroom, and she asked V.L. if she was okay. According to S.L., V.L. went outside to play, and the four women took her pants and underwear off and laid her down on the floor of the living room. Then, Cassie "put something in my private" while the other women were "holding me down." S.L. indicated that the second assault happened the next day in the living room, when "they put the same thing in my private." Both girls said that they were threatened by the women though they were unclear about whether it was with a knife, a gun, or two guns, and whether it was by Liz, Anna, Liz and Anna, or Cassie and told to keep quiet about the assaults.

Discerning a coherent picture of the alleged assaults from the different versions provided by each complainant takes considerable intellectual effort. There are multiple different versions of events, each one...