Washington v. State

A certified copy of a prior conviction for a child sex crime may be sufficient, without more, to prove the similarity of the prior crime.

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A jury found Cardell Washington guilty of rape, aggravated sodomy, and aggravated assault with attempt to commit rape. On appeal, Washington contends that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of an earlier guilty plea to child molestation. We find no error and affirm. 1. We first address Washington’s failure to file his brief in a timely manner. Washington was initially granted an extension of time for the filing of his brief, which resulted in the brief being due by January 12, 2007. On January 10, 2007, he filed a second motion for extension of time to file his brief, which was denied on January 18, 2007. Washington then filed his brief on January 23, 2007, and a motion for reconsideration of the motion for extension on January 24, 2007. We hereby deny Washington’s motion for reconsideration of his motion for extension of time in which to file his brief. Nonetheless, because the failure to timely file the brief appears to lie with counsel rather than Washington, we will consider Washington’s appeal.1 Because “we expect all counsel practicing in this Court to know and follow its rules,. . . we thus require by separate order that Washington’s counsel show cause why he should not be cited for contempt for failure to comply with this Court’s rules.”2

2. Viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict3, the evidence shows that Washington and the 16-year-old victim and her family were living at the apartment of a mutual friend. Washington entered the victim’s bedroom while she was sleeping; when the victim refused to have sex with him, he choked her and held a fork to her throat. He forced her to perform oral sex and to have intercourse with him. As soon as she was able, the victim called the police, who took her to the hospital for a rape kit examination. The jury saw photographs taken at the hospital of abrasions on the victim’s neck. DNA evidence obtained from the victim matched Washington’s DNA.

Washington v. State

A certified copy of a prior conviction for a child sex crime may be sufficient, without more, to prove the similarity of the prior crime.

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