State v. McLaughlin

246 N.C.App. 306

786 S.E.2d 269

STATE of North Carolina

v.Reid Wilburn McLAUGHLIN.

No. COA15–333.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

March 15, 2016.

Attorney General, Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General, Anne M. Middleton and Assistant Attorney General, Mary Carla Babb, for the State.

Marilyn G. Ozer, Chapel Hill, for defendant-appellant.

BRYANT, Judge.

Where decedent's statements were admitted at trial for the primary purpose of obtaining a medical diagnosis, and not for the primary purpose of creating an out-of-court substitute for trial testimony, the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment is satisfied, and the trial court committed no error. Additionally, the trial court did not err in admitting out-of-court statements under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule. Finally, we find no plain error where the trial court admitted relevant testimony, and where there was otherwise overwhelming evidence to support the jury verdict.

Defendant sexually molested the victim, Preston,¹ over a period of approximately five to six years, starting when the victim was about nine or ten years old and ending when he was fifteen. Defendant did so at Preston's home, at defendant's home, and when taking Preston on outings and vacations to various places.

Preston was born on 22 August 1994 and was one of seven children. Preston's mother, Rebekah, described Preston at trial as a smart, funny, and caring child, who changed when he was approximately nine years old, in that he became sadder and anxious and began to isolate himself.

Rebekah met defendant while he was serving time in the same prison as her brother at the Quincy Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida. Upon his release, defendant developed a close relationship with Preston's family and became known as "Uncle Doug." Beginning in 2003 or 2004, defendant took Preston several places, including trips to baseball games in Florida; to Massachusetts, Vermont, and Pennsylvania; to places in the North Carolina mountains for snowboarding; and to Daytona, Florida during Preston's spring breaks.

Defendant first sexually molested Preston after taking him to a baseball game in 2003 or 2004, when Preston was approximately nine years old. At that time, defendant gave Preston alcohol and touched him on his private parts. Starting when Preston was ten, defendant engaged Preston in oral sex, and starting when Preston was twelve, defendant began having anal sex with Preston. Defendant bought Preston anything he wanted, including video game consoles, a television, snowboarding gear, and clothing, as bribes for performing sex acts with defendant.

In July 2008, when Preston was thirteen, he and his family moved to Concord, North Carolina. That same year, defendant lost his job and his home. Beginning in March 2009, Rebekah allowed defendant to live with her family, helped him look for jobs, and assisted him financially. While living with Preston and his family, defendant helped care for Preston and continued to take him on trips. During some period of the time defendant lived with Preston's family, he shared a room with Preston. According to Rebekah, in October 2009, Preston indicated that he did not want defendant living in the house. In the fall or winter of 2009, defendant moved out but continued to take Preston on trips.

On 5 March 2010, defendant took Preston on a trip to Florida during his spring break. The night before, on 4 March 2010, defendant engaged Preston in performing fellatio. On their way to Florida, defendant and Preston spent the night in Brunswick, Georgia, where defendant attempted anal intercourse with Preston, but was unable to do so. From Brunswick, defendant and Preston traveled to Tampa, Florida. Thereafter, Preston spent the remainder of his spring break with his father in southern Georgia.

While staying with his father, Preston emailed his father and told him about the abuse, but his father did not check his email before Preston returned to North Carolina with defendant. On 14 March 2010, while Preston was riding home with defendant, he texted his mother: "As soon as I get home, we need to go for a drive." Rebekah explained that this was code that an important issue needed to be discussed privately. According to Rebekah, when Preston arrived home, he rushed into her room and told her, "We got to go now." At trial, Rebekah testified that when she and Preston went for their drive, he was very shaken and upset, and he seemed very nervous and scared. Upon being prompted by Rebekah, Preston told her that defendant had been "touching [him] inappropriately on [his] private parts and—more." Rebekah and Preston were both crying. When Rebekah asked what "more" meant, Preston told her that it meant he and defendant had oral sex. Preston also told Rebekah that defendant told Preston he would kill him and his entire family if he disclosed any of the abuse.

Worried about Preston as well as about her other children who were at home with defendant at the time, Rebekah drove to the Concord Police Department, where she and Preston spoke with Detective Carlos Landers, who was assigned to investigate the case. Detective Landers then went to Preston's home and told defendant that the family wanted him to leave. Defendant complied and voluntarily went to the police department where he spoke with Detective Landers.

On 26 March 2010, Preston had an appointment at the Children's Advocacy Center ("CAC"), a department of the Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital in Carrabus County. CAC staff met with Preston to conduct a medical interview and give him a complete medical evaluation. Registered nurse Martha Puga conducted the interview portion of Preston's evaluation, which she videotaped. The recording became part of Preston's medical file. A DVD copy and transcript of Preston's interview were entered into evidence at trial over defendant's objection. During his interview with Nurse Puga, Preston recounted, among other things, details of the sexual abuse inflicted upon him by defendant, places where defendant molested him, and things defendant bought him in exchange for performing sex acts. Preston also told Nurse Puga that he was afraid of defendant, noting that when defendant got mad, he would become extremely violent and throw things across the room, and that on a few occasions, defendant picked Preston up by the hair and threw him on the bed.

The doctor who performed Preston's medical examination, Rosolena Conroy, M.D., testified at trial that an abused child's biggest fear is of the perpetrator and that, more specifically, the child fears the perpetrator will hurt him. Dr. Conroy noted that delayed disclosure of abuse was very common as, in order to make disclosures of sexual abuse, victims must overcome fear, obligation, guilt, and shame. She also testified that a disproportionately high number of child victims of sexual abuse go on to commit suicide and that these children experience a greater risk of abusing drugs and alcohol.

Dr. Conroy testified that it was her practice to first speak to the nurse about the history the nurse obtains, then to do a complete physical examination of the child. Dr. Conroy's assessment of Preston showed that his history was "extremely clear, concise, and detailed." Dr. Conroy testified that Preston's physical exam was normal, which was not surprising and "very, very common." According to her, the lack of physical findings "did not negate his clear history of repeated sexual abuse."

On 19 April 2010, warrants were issued for defendant's arrest, charging him with five counts of statutory sexual offense and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor. However, they were not served on him until 30 March 2011 because defendant had left the State and gone to Florida. Defendant was indicted on 11 April 2011 for five counts of statutory sex offense and for two counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor.

After Preston made his disclosure of sexual abuse, he began having night terrors and punching holes in the walls. He kept knives under his bed and bats strategically placed around his room. Rebekah sought treatment for Preston at various facilities. Issues regarding Preston which Rebekah wanted addressed included (1) a suicide attempt by Preston; (2) physical violence at home (punching holes in the walls); (3) stealing from his parents; (4) loss of academic potential; (5) hanging around "drug people"; (6) sneaking out; (7) verbal abuse at home; (8) getting kicked out of school; (9) self-injurious behavior, such as cutting; and (10) criminal activity and legal problems, including a misdemeanor charge for possession of drug paraphernalia which was ultimately dismissed because of Preston's age.

In April 2010, Rebekah took Preston to see a licensed professional counselor, Susan Sikes, who saw him until April 2011. Sikes testified, among other things, that Preston indicated that he was sexually abused from age nine to fifteen, that it occurred for six years, and that it was the most significant trauma he had ever faced. Sikes also testified that Preston had checked "suicidal ideation" on his intake form and that he told her about one suicide attempt where he ingested white powder from a fluorescent light bulb.

In June 2012, when Preston was seventeen, Rebekah enrolled him in two in-patient facilities, the last of which was in California. There, the resident psychologists specialized in trauma and focused their treatment of Preston on his sexual abuse. After thirty days in the facility, on 6 July 2012, Preston committed suicide by hanging himself.

On 25 April 2014, a pretrial hearing was held regarding the State's motion to admit the victim's videotaped CAC interview and statements the victim made to his mother. Defendant objected based on hearsay and Confrontation Clause grounds. On 31 July 2014, the trial court entered a written order, ruling that the victim's videotaped statements and statements to his mother would be admitted as...