LEACH, J.
Vincent Melendrez appeals his convictions for child rape, incest, and witness tampering. Primarily, he raises constitutional and foundational challenges to the trial court's evidentiary rulings. The trial court's decisions about evidence did not violate Melendrez's right to present a defense or his privilege against self-incrimination. Because Melendrez's numerous other arguments also lack merit, we affirm.
After Vincent Melendrez and his wife divorced in 2007, he raised their seven children in western Washington. R.M. is his oldest child, followed by two boys, W.M. and D.M. The family changed residences every year or so. For two long periods, they lived in Bremerton with Melendrez's brother Charlie and mother, Guadalupe. Melendrez began working nights at Microsoft in 2008. In November 2010, the family moved into the Windsor Apartments in Renton.
Melendrez was a strict father. He set three rules for his family: never lie to or betray him, love each other, and defend the family. He posted a schedule on the refrigerator that governed his children's days. If they wanted to have friends over, Melendrez insisted he meet the friends first. When his children misbehaved by talking back, sneaking out, or having friends over without permission, Melendrez punished them physically, sometimes hitting them with a belt.
R.M. testified her father began having sex with her in 2008, when she was 12 or 13 and the family lived at Charlie's house in Bremerton. She described the first incident, during which she said Melendrez showed her pornography, put his mouth on her vagina, and had vaginal intercourse with her. She testified that Melendrez had sex with her regularly between 2008 and 2011. She said that her brothers, W.M. and D.M., found her naked in bed with Melendrez in January 2009, then told her grandmother, Guadalupe, what they saw. R.M. said Guadalupe told her, "You need to push him away" and "Don't say anything because you don't want to get the family in trouble." W.M., D.M., and Guadalupe contradicted R.M.'s testimony, saying these events never happened.
R.M. testified that Melendrez became more controlling after he began having sex with her, rarely letting her leave the house. She said sex became more frequent after the family moved to Renton and that her father virtually moved her into his bedroom.
R.M. told D.M. in early 2009 that she and her father "did it." When D.M. confronted Melendrez about it, he denied it. Afterward, Melendrez forced R.M. to retract her claim in front of the family. After this incident, R.M. told W.M. two more times that her father was raping her. She also told a friend. On Thanksgiving 2010, R.M. left her house and stayed at the friend's house for three days. She refused to return home. During that time, she told the friend that her father had been having sex with her. Melendrez persuaded R.M. by phone to return home to collect her things. When she arrived, he pulled her inside and slammed the door. As punishment for running away, Melendrez removed R.M. from public high school and enrolled her in online classes. She remained in online school until the next school year began in September 2011, when he allowed her to return.
R.M. continued living at home. That August, Melendrez found pictures of naked people on her phone. He grounded her and threatened to prevent her from returning to high school. Then on October 3, 2011, the manager of the family's apartment complex found R.M. and a 16-year-old boy engaging in oral sex in a common restroom. When the manager notified Melendrez, he appeared to take the news calmly. But R.M. testified that Melendrez then beat her, made her face bleed, shoved soap in her mouth, and called her a whore. She said Melendrez imprisoned her in his room for all of October 4, blocking the door with an ironing board, a mattress, and a shoe. R.M. testified that she had nothing to eat until her brothers arrived home from school and let her out. Her brothers again contradicted her testimony. They testified that R.M. was not barricaded in her father's bedroom that day but that she and D.M. had a fight in which D.M. hit R.M. in the face repeatedly, breaking her lip. D.M. said the fight began because R.M. told D.M. she was planning to lie about their father sexually abusing her.
The next day, October 5, R.M. spoke to a counselor at her high school. During that interview, she told the counselor that her father had been having sex with her since 2008. The police arrested Melendrez later that day. Susan Dippery, a sexual assault nurse examiner, examined R.M. the same day.
At trial, the State presented DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evidence taken from the underwear R.M. wore to school on October 5 and from the boxers Melendrez was wearing when arrested, along with DNA evidence gathered during the sexual assault examination of R.M. The DNA analysis showed Melendrez's sperm and semen on the exterior of R.M.'s genitals. It also found R.M.'s DNA on the fly of Melendrez's boxers.
The trial court let the State amend the information three times during trial. The second amendment came a month into trial when the State dismissed count II and enlarged the charging period of count I to include the period charged in count II.
Nurse Dippery noted in her examination that part of R.M.'s hymen remained intact. The State asked her if she would be surprised, based on her experience, to observe with this remnant a 16-year-old girl who had had sex 100 times. Melendrez objected that the question exceeded the scope of Dippery's expertise. The court overruled the objection, and Dippery answered, "No."
Melendrez's defense focused on R.M.'s motive to lie. He tried to introduce evidence that R.M. constantly misbehaved by sneaking out of the house, "sexting," having boys over without permission, and engaging in sexual activity; that Melendrez disciplined her in response to her behavior; and that, in retaliation and to break free, R.M. fabricated a story of sex abuse. The State objected to the introduction of misbehavior evidence as irrelevant, prohibited by the rape shield statute, RCW 9A.44.020, and improper evidence of past specific acts under ER 404(b). The trial court ruled Melendrez could introduce this evidence if he first presented evidence that he knew of the misbehavior and disciplined R.M. in response to it. Ultimately, Melendrez introduced numerous instances of misbehavior. Melendrez testified after three other defense witnesses. His testimony was then interrupted several times by that of several other defense witnesses to accommodate their schedules.
Late in the trial and in the jury's presence, the judge asked, "Is the jail able to staff until 4:30 tomorrow afternoon?" Melendrez moved for a mistrial outside the jury's presence, arguing this comment informed the jury he was in custody. The court denied his motion.
The trial court instructed the jury that to convict Melendrez of count IV, incest committed between April 29, 2011, and October 4, 2011, the jury had to find "one particular act of Incest in the First Degree ... proved beyond a reasonable doubt" and that it "must unanimously agree as to which act has been proved." During deliberations, the jury asked the court, "Do we need to point to a specific incident or just agree an act occurred during this time frame[?]" The court reasoned that it would be hard "to explain it any more plainly than it exists in the jury instruction" and that changing instructions in such situations "can sometimes create more problems than ... solutions." Accordingly, it referred the jury back to the relevant parts of the instructions.
We review questions of law de novo, including alleged violations of the Sixth Amendment right to present a complete defense and Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination,
We review evidentiary rulings, denials of motions for bills of particulars, and denials of motions for a new trial for abuse of discretion.
The trial court ruled that evidence of R.M. sneaking out, "sexting," having boys over, and having sex was relevant and thus admissible only if Melendrez presented evidence he knew of that behavior. Melendrez contends that this ruling violated his Sixth Amendment right to present a complete defense.
The State responds first that we should decline to consider this issue because Melendrez raised it for the first time on appeal. A failure to object to a trial court error generally waives a party's right to raise the challenge on appeal unless a "manifest error affecting a constitutional right" occurred.
Under the Sixth Amendment, defendants have a right to "`a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense.'"
In
In contrast, the evidence Melendrez sought to introduce was not his "entire defense." Excluding evidence of R.M.'s perceived misbehavior did not deprive Melendrez of the ability to testify to his version of any incident, as in
In addition, defendants seeking appellate review of a trial court's decision to exclude evidence generally must have made an offer of proof at trial.
Further, Melendrez
Melendrez claimed that he had reason to punish R.M. and this gave R.M. a motive to lie about Melendrez raping her. The facts introduced at trial to support this defense gave the jury ample opportunity not to believe R.M. That it believed her does not give Melendrez grounds for appeal.
Melendrez further contends that repeated interruptions "fragment[ed]" his testimony and violated his "right to a complete and meaningful defense." But Melendrez cites no case in which a court found constitutional error in an evidentiary ruling because it interrupted a defendant's testimony. Melendrez's counsel made no objection to the interruptions at trial. And an objection would have made no sense, as the schedules of Melendrez's own witnesses made the interruptions necessary.
Because our preview of the merits shows that Melendrez likely will not succeed on his Sixth Amendment claim, Melendrez does not show a manifest constitutional error on appeal. We therefore decline to review his Sixth Amendment claim under RAP 2.5(a).
Melendrez also contends that the trial court's evidentiary rulings violated his privilege against self-incrimination by compelling him to testify in order to introduce evidence about R.M.'s behavior.
A state law requiring a defendant to testify before any other defense witnesses violates that defendant's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
In
Here, unlike in
Melendrez next contends that because the information covered long periods, giving him little information about when the alleged crimes occurred, he could not effectively defend against the charges with an alibi. Melendrez did present evidence that he worked the night shift at Microsoft and was dependable in showing up for work to counter R.M.'s testimony that Melendrez frequently raped her at night and eventually moved her into his bedroom.
An information that accurately states the elements of the crime charged is not constitutionally defective.
Melendrez makes no claim that the information omits any element of any crimes charged. Instead he argues that the information was not specific enough about the time period in count I to provide him with adequate notice. But in child sex abuse cases, "whether single or multiple incidents of sexual contact are charged, a defendant has no due process right to a reasonable opportunity to raise an alibi defense."
Melendrez relies on a South Carolina case,
Melendrez also contends that even if the information was not deficient, the trial court abused its discretion in denying Melendrez a bill of particulars because without it he could not adequately prepare a defense.
An information may be constitutionally sufficient but still so vague as to make it subject to a motion for a more definite statement.
In
Here, as in
Next, Melendrez contends that Nurse Dippery's testimony that she would not be surprised to see part of the hymen intact on a 16-year-old girl who had had sex over 100 times "was highly speculative and lacked foundation."
ER 702 permits "a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education" to testify where her "specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue."
Melendrez again fails to cite the facts of any case that would support a reversal. He also fails to explain how Dippery's statement lacked a foundation. Dippery testified to her extensive qualifications: seven years examining patients at Harborview Medical Center for signs of sexual assaults and around 900 sexual assault examinations performed, roughly half of them on teenagers. She testified without objection that it is "possible for someone to have a relatively intact hymen, even after sexual activity" and that R.M.'s was partially intact. The trial court could reasonably conclude Dippery was qualified to make the challenged statement and that the statement would "assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence" gained in R.M.'s sexual assault exam.
Melendrez next asserts that the trial court violated his right to a presumption of innocence by asking the bailiff in the jury's presence, "Is the jail able to staff until 4:30 tomorrow afternoon?"
"The right to a fair trial includes the right to the presumption of innocence."
In
Melendrez again fails to cite any case in his favor. He bore no physical indicia of being in custody. And unlike the trial court in
Melendrez contends that the trial court failed to make the relevant legal standard "manifestly apparent" in answering the jury's question of whether it needed to "point to a specific incident or just agree an act occurred during" the charging period for count IV. This, Melendrez argues, warrants reversal of his conviction on that count, as the trial court should have told the jury it needed to agree on a specific incident in order to find Melendrez guilty.
"Jury instructions must make the relevant legal standard manifestly apparent to the average juror."
Moreover, the trial court's instructions did "make the relevant legal standard manifestly apparent to the average juror." This court held in
Melendrez raises several more issues in his statement of additional grounds for review. Each of these lacks merit. First, Melendrez contends the trial court failed to properly address evidence discovered during trial, violating his rights to due process and a fair trial. An error by a trial court resulting in a failure to disclose relevant evidence does not warrant reversal unless the exculpatory evidence was constitutionally material.
Second, Melendrez claims that because R.M.'s testimony at trial was inconsistent with her previous formal statements, the State made "knowing use of perjured testimony," warranting reversal, quoting
Third, Melendrez contends that the trial court abused its discretion in ruling irrelevant the identity of the boy R.M. was caught in a restroom with. Melendrez argues that the trial court's ruling denied him the ability to question the boy and that the boy's testimony would have helped establish R.M.'s bias against her father.
"[A] defendant has a constitutional right to impeach a prosecution witness with bias evidence" using an independent witness.
Melendrez offers only one theory about the relevance of the boy's identity, that the boy could have information about R.M.'s "behavior-based issues." As noted above, the trial court properly limited evidence of R.M.'s behavior to events known to Melendrez. Melendrez does not explain how the boy could be unknown to him, yet know about behavior that Melendrez was aware of. But we need not decide whether the trial court erred in denying Melendrez the ability to introduce testimony from the boy because any error in doing so was harmless. "[N]o rational jury could have a reasonable doubt" that Melendrez would have been convicted even if the trial court had not excluded evidence of the boy's identity. Melendrez presented ample evidence of R.M.'s potential bias without the boy. And R.M.'s testimony, along with the DNA evidence, would have been unchanged.
Next, Melendrez contends that the trial court erred in allowing the State to ask D.M. questions that suggested D.M. was being untruthful. D.M. testified that R.M. told him before their father's arrest that she was planning to lie about their father abusing her. The trial court allowed the State to ask D.M. whether he had been formally interviewed about his knowledge of the alleged crimes. D.M. replied he had not. The State then asked, without objection by Melendrez, whether D.M. ever told anyone, "`My sister told me she's going to make this up.'" D.M. again replied he had not.
"`[A] prosecutor who asks the accused a question that implies the existence of a prejudicial fact must be prepared to prove that fact.'"
Finally, in its closing argument, the State said D.M. "didn't tell anybody" that R.M. told him she was going to lie "because it didn't happen." Melendrez contends that the trial court erred in allowing the State to directly state in closing that D.M. testified untruthfully.
A "defendant's right to a fair trial is denied when the prosecutor makes improper comments and there is a substantial likelihood that the comments affected the jury's verdict."
Because Melendrez did not raise his Sixth Amendment challenge below and he does not show a manifest error, we decline to review it. Because the trial court did not force Melendrez to testify first and properly exercised its discretion to exclude irrelevant evidence and control the order of testimony, we reject Melendrez's Fifth Amendment claim. Because Melendrez had ample notice of the charges against him and there was no chance of "prejudicial surprise," the charging information was constitutionally adequate and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Melendrez a bill of particulars. Because Melendrez makes no argument about Nurse Dippery's qualifications to present her expert opinions, he fails to show that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing her testimony. Because the trial court's question in the jury's custody was fleeting, inadvertent, and ambiguous, it did not abridge Melendrez's presumption of innocence. Because this court has already upheld a substantively identical
STEPHEN J. DWYER and J. ROBERT LEACH, JJ., concur.