Eggleston v. State

Defendant's prior conviction for public indecency was admissible in his trial for aggravated sexual battery and child molestation to show his bent of mind and lustful disposition.

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Rashad Eggleston was convicted of aggravated sexual battery and five separate counts of child molestation involving an eleven-year-old girl and was acquitted of raping her. In this appeal, Eggleston contends that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of his prior conviction for public indecency and by refusing to merge the five counts of child molestation. He also asserts that the trial court erred in finding that his trial counsel did not render ineffective assistance. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.

On appeal, the evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict. Pollard v. State.1 When so construed, the evidence established that Eggleston, then age 20, met the victim at a movie theater and inquired as to whether she was sexually active, which she denied. On the day of the crimes, the victim mistakenly believed that Eggleston and his friend, Khalif Thompson, were giving her and her friend, Alice, a ride to a party. Instead, the girls were taken to an apartment. While there, when the victim refused to accompany Eggleston to the back of the apartment, he picked her up, carried her to a bedroom, and shut the door. When Eggleston suggested that they “do something,” the victim declined and told him she wanted to go home. Eggleston then pushed her down onto a bed and tried to get on top of her. She testified that she tried “with all my might” to push him off of her, but could not. Eggleston pulled her panties down and her shirt up and removed his own clothes. He fondled her breasts, forced his penis into her vagina, and told her to rub his chest. After withdrawing his penis, he “played with himself” for awhile in her presence. He also inserted his finger inside her vagina and forced her to rub his penis repeatedly. Afterwards, he warned her not to tell anyone because he “could get in serious trouble.”

Eggleston v. State

Defendant's prior conviction for public indecency was admissible in his trial for aggravated sexual battery and child molestation to show his bent of mind and lustful disposition.

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