Morita v. State

Wayne Morita appeals after a jury convicted him of kidnapping with bodily injury, rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation, aggravated assault, and cruelty to children in the first degree. Morita contends the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict, the trial court erred in admitting similar transaction evidence, erred in refusing to give a requested jury charge on DNA, and erred in refusing to grant a mistrial after a witness stated that Morita was seeing a psychiatrist. For the following reasons, we conclude there was no reversible error and affirm. The evidence at trial, taken in the light most favorable to the verdict, was as follows. On the day of the attack, Morita enticed the victim, K. M., who was five years of age at the time, into his SUV and drove her to some woods approximately two miles away. Morita raped and sodomized the victim, then strangled her and left her for dead under a pile of leaves and twigs. The victim regained consciousness and walked out of the woods. A man whose truck had gotten stuck on a gravel road saw her and radioed for help. K. M. was bleeding from the mouth and vagina and was naked. The doctor who treated K. M. testified that she had a long, deep vaginal tear, several anal tears, and injuries consistent with strangulation.

K. M. was able to describe the man who attacked her and police circulated a composite sketch from her description. After seeing the sketch, Morita’s former boss called police and gave them Morita’s name.