Providence
County Superior Court (P1/08-1159A), Associate Justice Daniel
A. Procaccini
For
State: Virginia M. McGinn Department of Attorney General
For
Defendant: Megan F. Jackson Office of the Public Defender
Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Flaherty, Robinson, and
Indeglia, JJ.
OPINION
William P. Robinson III Associate Justice
The
defendant, Joseph Ogoffa, filed a petition for issuance of a
writ of certiorari before this Court, seeking review of his
January 9, 2014 conviction in Providence County Superior
Court on five counts of first-degree child molestation, in
violation of G.L. 1956 §§ 11-37-8.1 and 11-37-8.2.
On November 16, 2016, this Court granted his petition. The
defendant contends that the trial justice erred in denying
his motion for a new trial. He further posits that his
"constitutional right to present a full and fair
defense" was denied because the trial justice
"unfairly limit[ed] his cross-examination of two
witnesses."
For the
reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of
the Superior Court.
I
Facts and Travel
On
April 11, 2008, defendant was charged by indictment with five
counts of first-degree child molestation. A trial took place
over four days in January of 2014.[1] We relate below the salient
aspects of what transpired at that trial.
A
The
Testimony of Sarah[2]
Sarah,
the complaining witness, testified that, at the time of
trial, she was eighteen years old. She stated that, when she
was six years old and in the first grade, her parents worked
afternoon shifts and Sarah and her younger brother, Nicholas,
would go to "Aunt [Pamela's]" house; Sarah
added that Pamela was her mother's best
friend.[3] Sarah testified that Pamela's mother,
whom she called "Gramme, " would babysit her at
Pamela's house. She stated that she loved Pamela and
Gramme.
It was
Sarah's further testimony that, at the time in question,
Pamela's son Joe (the defendant) was "old enough to
be in high school or college" and that he did not come
to Pamela's house "a lot." When asked to
identify Joe at trial, Sarah identified defendant. It was her
testimony that she remembered a time in September and October
of 2001 when Joe came over to Pamela's house and
"told [Sarah] to come with him to the bathroom."
She stated that Gramme and Nicholas were in the living room
at the time, but it was also her testimony that
"sometimes" Gramme "do[z]e[d] off." She
added that she told defendant "no" initially, but
that she then did accompany him to the bathroom. Sarah stated
that she was "[s]cared" because she
"didn't really know who [defendant] was." It
was further Sarah's testimony that, once inside the
bathroom, defendant told her to lie down on the floor and
that he proceeded to remove her pants and underwear. She
testified that, after telling him to stop, she did not say
anything further to him and did not scream because she was
"scared." Her testimony was to the effect that
defendant then put his penis into her vagina. Sarah added
that defendant then told her not to tell anyone. It was
further Sarah's testimony that she did not tell Gramme or
her own mother about what had happened in the bathroom
because she was afraid of "[g]etting in trouble."
Sarah
testified that, either the next day or a couple of days
later, she was in the bathroom with defendant again and
"the same thing happened." She added that she did
not know why she went into the bathroom with defendant that
second time. Sarah further testified that, on three further
occasions, she was alone with defendant and "something
happened." It was Sarah's testimony at trial that
the third incident took place in a bedroom closet in
Pamela's house because "[s]omebody was in the
bathroom." It was her testimony that, on that third
occasion, defendant "used his fingers." She also
testified that the final two incidents took place in the
bathroom and that defendant engaged in digital vaginal
penetration on both of those occasions as well. Sarah's
testimony reflected the fact that she did not reveal anything
to anyone after any of the five incidents; she stated that
she was afraid because "this was like a family, I
guess." It was her testimony that she viewed defendant
as a "family member;" and she answered in the
affirmative when asked by the prosecutor if she
"loved" defendant. Sarah testified that she
continued to go to Pamela's house to be babysat for about
a year after the assaults took place.
Sarah
proceeded to testify that there did come a time, while she
was twelve years old, when she told her cousin, Leslie, about
the assaults. She stated that she made that revelation to
Leslie because she had gotten "into an argument with
[her] parents about them not letting [her] go out and hang
with friends" and she "got frustrated." It was
her testimony that she asked her cousin "to keep [her]
secret;" she stated that her reason for so doing was
that "it happened six years before[, and she] didn't
want to still talk about it after [she] told her
[cousin]." Sarah testified that, at the time of her
disclosure to her cousin, Cathy (Sarah's mother) and
Pamela were no longer friends and had "drifted apart,
" although they still saw one another at church. She
added that Cathy and Pamela had "drifted apart"
because Sarah's father, Cathy's husband,
"didn't like their friendship." In Sarah's
words, "[h]e thought they were too close." It was
further Sarah's testimony that her cousin told
Sarah's "oldest brother" about the assaults and
that Sarah's parents eventually found out. Sarah
testified that she spoke to the police the day after her
parents "confront[ed]" her with respect to the
assaults. She added that, "[m]aybe like a day or two
after" she gave her statement to the police, she went to
see a doctor. She was then asked at trial if she was sure
that "[e]ach and every time of the five times that the
defendant took [her] into the bathroom or the closet * * * it
was Joseph Ogoffa and not one of his brothers?" and she
responded: "I'm positive."
On
cross-examination, Sarah was confronted with the fact that
she told the grand jury that the final assault was the one
assault that took place in the closet-rather than it being
the third assault which took place in the closet, as she
testified at trial. She replied as follows:
"When I was in front of the grand jury I was twelve
years old and it was very nerve wracking and I was very
nervous. * * * At twelve * * * I had never been in a
situation like this before. I never stood in front of people
that don't know who I am that don't know my story, so
I did say that at twelve but I'm saying this now and I
know what I'm saying."
She was
also asked on cross-examination if there had been any blood
in her underwear after the assaults, but she answered in the
negative. She was further asked whether she told the doctors
that the "fifth time was anally?" She responded:
"No. Not that I recall, no."[4]
B
The
Testimony of Cathy
On
cross-examination, Cathy, Sarah's mother, testified that
she "never noticed any blood in [Sarah's] underwear
when [she] did [Sarah's] laundry ...