APPEAL
FROM THE WASHINGTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 72CR-17-1639]
HONORABLE MARK LINDSAY, JUDGE
Peter
E. Giardino, for appellant.
Leslie
Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Jacob H. Jones, Ass't
Att'y Gen., for appellee.
RITA
W. GRUBER, CHIEF JUDGE
A jury
convicted appellant of rape and sexual indecency with a child
and sentenced him to a total of twenty-seven years in the
Arkansas Department of Correction. His sole point on appeal
is that the circuit court abused its discretion in excluding
evidence of a DVD recording of the victim's interview at
the Children's Safety Center. Because this argument is
not preserved for our review, we affirm.
Appellant
Sirome Jerrell Dorsey and the victim, twelve-year-old OS,
attended a pool party at the home of April Goodlander in
Fayetteville on May 28, 2017. Several days after the party,
while reviewing the footage from surveillance cameras located
in the kitchen and living room, Ms. Goodlander noticed that
OS and appellant were often alone together, saw OS drinking
alcohol with appellant, and observed what appeared to be
inappropriate sexual interactions between them. She alerted
OS's mother, who contacted the Fayetteville Police
Department. During the course of the investigation, OS was
interviewed at the Children's Safety Center. Special
investigative detective Scott O'Dell was present at the
interview. During the interview, OS disclosed that appellant
had digitally penetrated her vagina at the pool party.
Detective O'Dell also interviewed appellant and other
guests at the pool party. Appellant was convicted by a jury
of rape and sexual indecency.
On
appeal, appellant challenges the circuit court's ruling
denying his request to present a DVD recording of the
interview of OS at the Children's Safety Center. The
decision to admit or exclude evidence is within the sound
discretion of the circuit court, and we will not reverse a
circuit court's decision regarding the admission of
evidence absent a manifest abuse of discretion. Starling
v. State, 2016 Ark. 20, at 8, 480 S.W.3d 158, 163.
Moreover, we will not reverse absent a showing of prejudice.
Rodriguez v. State, 372 Ark. 335, 337, 276 S.W.3d
208, 211 (2008).
At
trial, the State introduced the testimony of Detective
O'Dell, Ms. Goodlander, the police officer who received
the initial report of the incident, the nurse who performed
the medical exam on OS, appellant's girlfriend who
attended the pool party with him, and OS. Appellant testified
in his own defense. During appellant's testimony, he made
the following attempt to introduce the DVD at issue:
Defense Counsel: Okay. Now, you had got to go over all this
evidence with me, hadn't you?
Appellant: Yes.
Defense Counsel: All right. Were you able to see the
interview that [OS] gave at the Child Safety Center?
Appellant: Yes, sir.
Defense Counsel: Okay. May I approach the ...