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Gaston v. State

The trial court reversibly erred in allowing a child victim's father to give testimony that improperly bolstered the child's credibility.

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After a jury trial, Melvin Gaston was convicted of child molestation, aggravated child molestation, and aggravated sexual battery against R. C., who was his girlfriend’s minor daughter. The trial court allowed R. C.’s father to give testimony that improperly bolstered her credibility, over the defense’s objection and without a curative instruction or other corrective action. This was reversible error. There is no merit, however, in Gaston’s arguments that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions or that certain of his convictions must be merged for sentencing purposes. Finally, in light of our reversal of the convictions in this case, we do not address Gaston’s argument that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, see Al-Amin v. State, 278 Ga. 74 1 597 SE2d 332 2004, the evidence showed that R. C. lived with her father in Texas and visited her mother in Georgia several times a year. R. C. visited her mother during the summer of 2006, when she was seven years old. One evening during that visit, Gaston, who was babysitting R. C., followed the girl into the bedroom of her mother’s apartment, pushed her onto the bed, pulled down her pajama pants, and licked her genitals. R. C. told her mother what had happened as soon as the mother returned to the apartment, but the mother did nothing other than to talk to Gaston.

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