Vigna v. State

JOHN VIGNA v. STATE OF MARYLAND

No. 55

COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND

Argued: March 9, 2020

September Term, 2019

August 18, 2020

CRIMINAL LAW - CHARACTER EVIDENCE - CHARACTER OF THE ACCUSED FOR APPROPRIATENESS WITH CHILDREN - The Court of Appeals held that, in a prosecution of a defendant for a sex crime against a minor, the defendant's character for appropriateness with children in his custody or care may be a pertinent trait of character for purposes of admissibility of character evidence under Maryland Rule 5-404(a)(2)(A). When the State objects to a defendant's proffer of opinion or reputation evidence under Rule 5-404(a)(2)(A) to establish his or her character for a particular trait, the trial court must determine whether: (1) the particular quality identified by the defendant is a "trait of character" within the meaning of Rule 5-404(a)(2)(A); and (2) evidence of such a trait of character is "pertinent," i.e., relevant to the trier of fact's consideration of the charged offenses. If the trial court answers both of these questions in the affirmative, then the court (if requested by the State) should (3) analyze the proffered evidence under Maryland Rule 5-403 to determine whether its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice or another circumstance listed in that Rule.

CRIMINAL LAW - CHARACTER EVIDENCE - HARMLESS ERROR - The Court of Appeals held that any error in excluding evidence of Petitioner's character for appropriateness with children in his custody or care was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Testimony from parents who stated that, based on their experiences in seeing Petitioner interact with children in his custody or care, they would entrust the lives of their children and other children to him, was functionally the equivalent of an opinion that Petitioner was the type of person who was appropriate with children in his custody or care. In addition, opinion testimony of multiple defense witnesses that Petitioner was law-abiding, although broader than the excluded opinion evidence Petitioner sought to elicit, ultimately served the same purpose.

APPELLATE PRACTICE - ABANDONMENT AND PRESERVATION OF ARGUMENTS - The Court of Appeals held that, where Petitioner included no substantive argument in his briefs on the constitutional question for which the Court granted review, Petitioner abandoned the argument. In addition, Petitioner failed to preserve his new constitutional argument for appellate review, where he raised it for the first time in his briefs to the Court.

CRIMINAL LAW - SIXTH AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FAIR TRIAL - DUE PROCESS - The Court of Appeals held that, because any evidentiary error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, Petitioner received a fair trial under the Sixth Amendment. In addition, the trial court's adverse evidentiary ruling did not prevent Petitioner from presenting a meaningful defense. Thus, the exclusion of the proffered character evidence did not deprive Petitioner of due process.

Circuit Court for Montgomery County

Case Nos. 130781C & 129932C

Barbera, C.J. McDonald Watts Hotten Getty Booth Biran, JJ.

Opinion by Biran, J.

Watts and Hotten, JJ., concur.

For many years, John Vigna was a popular elementary school teacher in Silver Spring, Maryland. But, as our nation has learned all too well, it is possible for a person to be a popular teacher (or coach or trainer or member of the clergy, etc.) and, at the same time, to sexually abuse children entrusted to his care. According to the evidence the jury heard in this case, Vigna sexually abused several female students while he was their teacher. The evidence showed that Vigna would have these young girls sit in his lap, and then would rub their buttocks and touch their genital areas over their clothes, or otherwise touch the girls for his sexual gratification.

At his trial, Vigna sought to elicit evidence from parents of students and from professional colleagues that, in their opinion, Vigna is the type of person who behaves appropriately with children in his custody or care. The trial judge ruled this evidence inadmissible, reasoning that appropriateness with children in one's custody or care is not a "trait of character" within the meaning of the applicable rule of evidence. However, the trial judge allowed Vigna's character witnesses to testify that Vigna is law-abiding and truthful.

The jury convicted Vigna on nine counts, and the trial judge sentenced Vigna to 80 years of imprisonment, suspending all but 48 years. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the trial court's evidentiary rulings and upheld Vigna's convictions.

We have not previously considered whether the type of character evidence Vigna sought to introduce at his trial is proper under the Maryland Rules. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that character evidence of appropriateness with children in one's custody or care (or of similar character traits, such as trustworthiness with childrenor sexual morality with respect to children) may be admissible in a criminal case where a defendant is accused of sexually abusing a child. However, we hold that any error by the trial court in excluding such character evidence in Vigna's case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We also reject Vigna's constitutional arguments based on the trial court's evidentiary rulings. Accordingly, we affirm Vigna's convictions.

IBackground

A. Vigna's Career as a Teacher

Vigna was a teacher in the Montgomery County Public Schools ("MCPS") system from 1992 until his dismissal in 2016 following the emergence of the allegations that led to this criminal case. During his tenure with MCPS, Vigna taught grades three through five at Cloverly Elementary School ("Cloverly") in Silver Spring. He also coached baseball and unified bocce at nearby Paint Branch High School, handling the three roles simultaneously before the end of his employment with MCPS.

Vigna was very popular with students and other teachers. Vigna's students adored his affectionate teaching style, and many of them maintained close relationships with Vigna after they left his classroom. Vigna's fellow teachers respected his abilities as a teacher, and several entrusted him with their students when they had to attend to other matters.

According to Vigna, he treated his students like family, which for Vigna included physical displays of affection. He often hugged, kissed, and consoled students during the school day. These interactions with students did not go unnoticed by colleagues and others. Occasionally, other teachers and staff saw Vigna with students on his lap as he sat behindhis desk. On several occasions, these physical contacts prompted concerned observers either to speak with Vigna directly or to alert school officials about his conduct.

Jennifer Grey, a fifth-grade teacher at Cloverly, took the former approach. More than once, Ms. Grey cautioned Vigna that, "especially as a male teacher," he should not "be alone with female students one-on-one," and that he should "keep [his] distance." Another teacher at Cloverly and a close friend of Vigna, David Cline, also cautioned Vigna about engaging students too closely. Ms. Grey and Mr. Cline were not concerned about the possibility of any sexual contact with students; rather, Vigna's colleagues were "looking out for his well-being" by reminding him of professional guidelines and what they "felt was appropriate." In response to Ms. Grey, Vigna on at least one occasion asserted that he was "not doing anything wrong."

On two occasions in 2008, while Vigna was a fifth-grade teacher, Cloverly principal Melissa Brunson¹ became aware of students sitting in Vigna's lap. First, on February 28, 2008, a fire marshal reported to Dr. Brunson that, during a routine inspection, he saw a student sitting on Vigna's lap. Dr. Brunson gave Vigna a verbal warning and counseled him not to have students sit in his lap. Vigna indicated to Dr. Brunson that he understood the problem.

Second, on or about May 29, 2008, a building service worker became upset after he saw a student sitting in Vigna's lap. Vigna pursued the staff member down the hall. According to Vigna, he tried to "explain that the child was upset and that [he] was trying to meet the child's needs at that moment." The loud exchange between Vigna and the building service worker received the attention of nearby staff, including Mr. Cline, who helped to deescalate the situation and took Vigna to Dr. Brunson's office. On June 2, 2008, having received two reports of lap-sitting over a three-month span, Dr. Brunson issued a letter of reprimand to Vigna (the "2008 reprimand"), stating that his "handling of this situation was improper, unprofessional, and must not be repeated." The letter informed Vigna that further incidents could lead to his termination. Vigna signed the 2008 reprimand on June 2, 2008.

To monitor Vigna more easily, Dr. Brunson moved him from a classroom located outside the building to one next to her office. Thereafter, Vigna taught the third grade instead of the fifth grade, although fourth- and fifth-grade students often visited his classroom after dismissal, while they were waiting for their buses to be called. According to Vigna, he remained committed to his "family" style of teaching despite Dr. Brunson's warnings.

During the 2012-13 school year, prompted by a parent complaint, Dr. Brunson requested that MCPS's Office of Human Resources and Development investigate allegations that Vigna "had invited female students to sit on [his] lap, lift[ed] them in the air, and danc[ed] with them during class." During the investigation, Vigna was placed on administrative leave for approximately three weeks. In a statement that Vigna provided inrelation to that investigation, Vigna wrote: "I am going to restrict my activities in the classroom to strictly teaching, counseling and advising students and will make every effort to not have any physical contact at all with my students." The result of the 2...