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Pointer v. State

Defense counsel was deficient in not objecting to expert witness testimony that improperly bolstered the victim's credibility.

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Clinton Nathan Pointer was charged with committing aggravated child molestation, child molestation, and incest upon his daughter C. P., and committing two counts of child molestation upon his daughter A. P. A jury found him guilty of one count of child molestation against A. P. and one count of sexual battery as a lesser included offense of child molestation against A. P.1 The jury found Pointer not guilty of the remaining charges. Pointer appeals from the convictions contending, among other things, that the trial court erred in finding that he received effective assistance of trial counsel. Because we conclude that trial counsel erred in not objecting to certain expert witness testimony and that the error was not harmless, we reverse. Construed to support the verdict, evidence was presented that Pointer was the children’s natural father. Thirteen-year-old A. P. told a friend that Pointer molested her. The friend reported the allegations to a counselor, who reported them to another counselor, who reported the claims to the sheriff’s office.

An investigator with the sheriff’s office testified that she met with A. P. in the school counselor’s office, where A. P. told her that Pointer had fondled her and penetrated her vagina with his finger, the most recent incident occurring a few weeks earlier.

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