Woods v. State

The trial court's admission of an investigator's statement that the victim was "believable" did not amount to plain error.

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A Newton County jury convicted Steven Hope Woods of four counts of sexual battery, OCGA § 16-6-22.1 b,1 as a lesser included offense of child molestation.2 In this appeal, he contends the trial court erred in finding that he had not demonstrated that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial.3 Finding no error, we affirm. Generally, a defendant claiming ineffectiveness of counsel bears the burden of proving that 1 his attorney’s representation in specified instances fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and 2 that a reasonable probability exists that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Citations and punctuation omitted. Hall v. State , 255 Ga. App. 631, 634 4 566 SE2d 374 2002. “A trial court’s determination that a defendant was not denied effective assistance of counsel will be affirmed on appeal unless that determination is clearly erroneous.” Citation and punctuation omitted. Id. The evidence at trial showed that the nine-year-old victim was Woods’ step-daughter. The victim testified that Woods rubbed her several times “in places she didn’t want him to,” including her breasts, legs, buttocks, and the “private areas” on the “inner part” of her legs. The victim also described the same acts during two interviews with a police investigator, one of which was videotaped. The 48-minute videotape was played for the jury. The investigator testified that the victim’s interviews were “pretty much parallel,” and the “core elements of the alleged acts were almost identical,” although she “remembered a little bit more” in one interview than in the other. He testified that such deviations are “expected,” especially with young victims, and he would have been concerned if the two interviews were “mirror images.”

In addition, four witnesses testified about outcry statements made by the victim about Woods’ acts. Further, the victim’s cousin testified that he saw Woods rubbing his hands “all over” the victim and kissing her neck “like boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Woods v. State

The trial court's admission of an investigator's statement that the victim was "believable" did not amount to plain error.

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