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In re Commitment of Eeds

In the civil commitment hearing, James Eeds did not deny molesting the girls. The psychiatrist's opinion testimony related to how her observations of Eeds' responses during their interview affected her medical diagnosis of a behavioral abnormality. Thus, her response concerned a matter within her expertise rather than one within the province of the jury. Beaumont Court of Appeals, No. 09-07-439 CV

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OPINION

A jury determined that James Eeds suffers from a behavioral abnormality that makes him likely to engage in a predatory act of sexual violence. Eeds appeals the judgment and order of civil commitment as a sexually violent predator. In three issues, Eeds contends the trial court (1) erred in denying the motion for directed verdict; (2) abused its discretion in allowing an expert witness to express an opinion on Eeds’s truthfulness; and (3) abused its discretion in allowing improper jury argument by State’s counsel. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

In his first issue, Eeds contends the State failed to prove that he had two predicate offenses. At trial the State produced two judgments of conviction for indecency with a child by contact.*fn1 See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 21.11(a)(1) (Vernon 2003). The State also offered deposition testimony in which Eeds admitted that he fondled the breasts of an eight-year-old girl in the toy department of a Wal-Mart on December 6, 1996. The date of that offense matches the date of the offense listed in the judgment in Cause No. 44,156. The State alleged Cause No. 44,156 as one of the predicate offenses. Eeds also testified that on December 8, 1996, he approached a ten-year-old girl in the backpack sales area of a Kmart and offered her money to feel her breasts. The date of this offense matches the date of the offense for the judgment of conviction for indecency with a child by contact in Cause No. 44,157, a conviction not alleged by the State as a predicate offense.

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