State v. Michael Hughes ( 1998 )

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT NASHVILLE FILED
APRIL SESSION, 1998 June 10, 1998
Cecil W. Crowson
Appellate Court Clerk
STATE OF TE NNE SSE E, ) C.C.A. NO. 01C01-9701-CR-00021
)
Appellee, )
) DAVIDSON COUNTY
V. )
)
) HON. ANN LACY JOHNS, JUDGE
MICHAEL DOUGLAS HUGHES, )
)
Appe llant. ) (AGGR AVATED RAPE)
FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:
SAM E . WALL ACE, JR . JOHN KNOX WALKUP
227 Se cond A venue N orth Attorney General & Reporter
Nashville, TN 37201
TIMO THY F . BEHAN
Assistant Attorney General
2nd Floor, Cordell Hull Building
425 Fifth Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37243
VICTO R S. JO HNS ON, III
District Attorney General
LILA STATOM
Assistant District Attorney General
Washington Square
222 Second Avenue North, Suite 500
Nashville, TN 37201-1649
OPINION FILED ________________________
AFFIRMED
THOMAS T. WOODALL, JUDGE
OPINION
The Defendant, Michael Douglas Hughes, appeals as of right from the
sentencing order o f the D avidso n Cou nty Crim inal Court. The Defendant was
indicted on eleven (11) counts of aggravated rape by the unlawful sexual penetration
of a child less than thirteen (13) years of age. Defendant pled no contest to one (1)
count of aggravated rape and guilty to ten (10) counts of aggravated rape. The trial
court sentenced Defendant to twenty (20) years for each count, with the sentences
for four (4) of these counts to run consecutively to each other and the remaining
counts to be served concurre ntly to ea ch oth er. Th e total e ffective s enten ce is
eighty ( 80) ye ars. T he De fenda nt argu es the followin g on a ppea l:
1) Wh ether the trial court erre d in sente ncing him to twenty (2 0) year
sentences for each count when the minimum sentence for each count
is fifteen (15) years;
2) Whether the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentences;
3) Whether the trial court erred in considering uncharged sexual acts;
4) Whether the trial court erred in properly explaining the use of
enhancement and mitigating factors; and
5) Whether the indictments in this case failed to set forth the mens rea
elements of aggravated rape.
We affirm the ju dgme nt of the trial co urt.
When an accused challenges the length, range or the manner of service of a
sentence, this court has a duty to conduct a de novo review of the sentence with a
presumption that the determinations made by the trial court are correct. Tenn. Code
Ann. § 40-35-401(d). This presumption is “conditioned upon the affirmative showing
in the record that the trial cou rt cons idered the se ntenc ing prin ciples and a ll relevant
facts and circum stances.” State v. Ashby, 823 S.W .2d 166, 169 (Tenn. 199 1).
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There are, however, exceptions to the presum ption of co rrectnes s. First, the record
must dem onstra te that th e trial co urt con sidere d the s enten cing p rinciples and a ll
relevant facts and circu mstan ces. Id. Secon d, the pre sump tion does not app ly to
the legal conclusions reached by the trial court in sentencing. Third, the
presumption does not apply when the determinations made by the trial court are
predicated upon u ncontro verted fac ts. State v. S mith, 898 S.W.2d 742, 745 (Tenn.
1994), perm. to appeal denied, id. (Tenn. 199 5).
At the sentencing hearing, the victim, S.E., (we will refer to the victim of child
sexual abus e by initia ls) testifie d that she and her mother formerly lived with the
Defendant and she ca lled him “Dad.” T he first time S.E. was touched by the
Defendant in a sexual way was when s he was four (4) yea rs old and living in North
Carolina. On that first occasion, her mother was away from home and th e
Defendant was sitting in his recliner when he asked S.E. to come and sit in his lap.
She complied, then Defendant aske d her to “kiss his private part, and then he kissed
my private part.” Defendant told the victim not to tell her mother, that “it would be our
secret.” The abuse continued at different times until S.E. was nine (9) years of age.
The victim described occasions when the Defend ant would “pu t his private part
inside of [her], inside [her] bottom, his finger inside of [her] private part and inside of
[her] bottom.” The Defendant used cold cream in her bottom when he abuse d her.
S.E. recalled that something “dark and slimy” came out of the Defendant’s body
during th ese eve nts.
When asked why she did not te ll, S.E. stated that she was afraid and that
Defendant said “it was our secre t . . . and I c onsid ered h im m y dad, s o I said this is
what dad said, and I had better listen.” The victim told her best friend about these
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events, and that led to her mother finding out about the sexual abuse. S.E. went
through therapy because of these events, but reported that she was doing fine at the
time of her testim ony.
Marc ia Hughes, S.E.’s mother and the Defendant’s ex-wife, first learned of the
abuse when a police de tective cam e to her pla ce of e mplo ymen t and to ld her. She
took the victim and le ft their re siden ce with the Defendant that day. Ms. Hughes
stated that she did not have any money and that when she returned to her home
several days later, the Defendant had removed all her money and charge cards from
her wallet. Defendant also emptied out her bank account. She and S.E . stayed w ith
family members until she got assistance from the Department of Human Services.
Ms. Hughes recalled that the victim wa s in cou nselin g at the Guid ance Cent er in
Murfreesbo ro for five (5) or six (6) months. At first, S.E. appeared relieved that the
abuse stopped, but then she was very sorry that she told because everything had
been taken away from her. Then, the victim became angry, and Ms. Hughes feared
that when S.E. gets older the anger will return. Durin g this time period, Ms. Hughes
stated that the Defendant ne ver offered to help the m and the only way they we re
able to retu rn to live in their h ome w as bec ause o f a court ord er.
Jam ie Langley is a counselor at the Guidance Center in Murfreesboro,
Tennessee. She was involved in S.E.’s treatment which bega n in November 1991
and continued through March 31, 1992. The victim was placed in a girls’ sex abuse
treatment group where she expressed feelings of anger, shame and embarrassment
about the abuse that occurred. During the sessions, S.E. described nightmares and
anxiety, but ove rall was doing well. La ngley b elieved that S.E . had b enefite d grea tly
from the support of her mother and family such that she was better equipped to deal
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with the traum a. The v ictim ask ed to disc ontinue therapy in March , and L angle y
stated that this is a common practice as children want to forget the events which
cause them pain. In May, S.E.’s mother called to place her back into therapy, but
they subsequently had to move and Langley had not seen the victim since March.
Langley thought that S.E. would continue to have problems regarding the abuse and
possibly suffer from a mental health disorder later in life.
Dr. John Holloran testified for the defense. He is the Director at New Life
Lodge, a treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction. The Defendant was one
of his pa tients, a nd wh en he bega n treatm ent D efend ant wa s in the “crucial stage”
of alcoholism. Defendant abused alcohol for twenty-five (25) years, daily consuming
between twelve (12) to twenty-four (24) beers and half a liter of scotch. Dr. Holloran
reported that Defe ndant made every effort to deal with his disease and was an
excellent p atient.
Don Roy served as Defendant’s sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous. Roy
stated that Defendant had terrible remorse and guilt regarding his abuse of S.E.
Defendant never denied the charges against him.
Ron Hutcheson was Defendant’s co-sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous and
stated that Defendant expressed remorse for his actions. Defendant never denied
that the events occu rred an d was willing to face tria l.
Robert Vero , the Ex ecutive Direc tor of Lu ton M ental H ealth S ervices in
Nashville, evalua ted D efend ant as an ad ult sexu al offender. He evaluated
Defendant on two occasion s to determine his sexual predisp osition toward violence,
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age and gender. Vero wanted to make a determination as to his overall risk to the
comm unity as a know n sex o ffende r. Defe ndan t’s physiological exam was broken
into two parts during which he was exposed to nudity slides of individuals of both
genders ranging from two (2) years of age through adulthood then exposure to a
tape of pedo philia to de termine whethe r or not De fendan t has a pro clivity toward
violence or non-vio lence. D efenda nt showed sexual arousal during audio stimulation
of an ad ult with a c onse nting o r initiating child, b ut did n ot sho w any a rousa l to
forced sexual ac tivity or violence with children. In determining whether Defendant
is a violent threat to the community, Vero determined that Defen dant us ed mo derate
coercion practices to com mit acts o f sexual ab use.
Defendant perceives the world through very distorted thinking, making
“meaning of the w orld in the way that he needs the world to be.” Defendant “tends
to make m eaning of relations hips in the way tha t he needs to s ee relationships.”
When asked why Defendant sought gratification through S.E., Defendant stated that
he “felt [she] did n ot love m e as m uch as her own dad. I love her so much . I don’t
want to make this sound like an excuse, but . . . it’s going to ma ke this child love
me.” Ve ro desc ribed this s tateme nt as a cla ssic exam ple of disto rtion.
The role alc ohol p layed in the Defendant’s sexually abusive behavior was as
a disinhibitor, therefore it would no t be sufficient to remo ve alcoh ol from Defe ndan t’s
life in order to prevent further episodes of sexual abuse. The alcohol allowed
Defendant to dull his inhibitions, allowing him to penetrate the victim. As a result of
his evaluation , Vero rec omm ended treatme nt for Defe ndant’s sexually offensive
behavior and some term of incarceration. Defendant has a “good chance at learning
how to con trol his s exually abno rmal beha vior . . . but n o cha nce o f curing his
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sexua lly abnormal behavior.” Defendant would need lifelong treatm ent, an d wou ld
still require good s urveillance mech anism s for mo nitoring his behavio r in order to be
a minim al risk to the c omm unity.
Defendant adm itted to d igital fing er pen etration of the vic tim’s va gina, o ral sex,
both cunnilingus and fellatio, and penile penetration of her labia. Defendant had no
recollection of anal intercourse. Defendant adamantly denied ejaculating in the
presence of or inside of the victim.
The Defendant testified that he was a recovering alcoholic. He knew that he
had done something terribly wrong, but could not recollect exactly what it was that
he had done. Defendant thought that he had blacked out through most of the sexual
abuse. When he found out from Detective Ronald Carter that he was ch arged w ith
eleven (11) counts of rape, he was scared and did not know that he had penetrated
S.E. Over a p eriod of tim e, he rec alled all that w ent on, bu t it is still “very cloudy.”
Defendant admitted that the victim is a very truthful person and is a good,
respe ctable little girl who would not lie. Defendant believed that most of his crimes
were alcohol related and that he would never drink again.
Defendant felt that he was c apab le of rehabilitation and co uld be a prod uctive
member of society, but needed continued alcohol and sexual treatment. He was
willing to do w hatever h e could p ersona lly do to help the victim.
On cross-examination, Defendant recalled that the first instance of abuse
occurred when the victim was four (4) years old. Defendant claimed that S.E.
crawled up in his lap where he was sitting with his pan ts unzipped. S .E. was very
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curious about what a male looked like, and he eventually molested her after the
victim initiated the touching and wanted to “find out what it was all about.” On a later
occasion, S.E. came into the Defendant’s bedroom while the Defendant was lying
in bed and asked him to do all the things to her that he and her mother did.
Defendant did admit to doing sexual things to the victim without her asking for those
things to occur, but he could not recall any of these occasions. He recalled that S.E.
often came into his roo m witho ut wearin g any cloth es. When aske d if the vic tim
initiated the contact, Defendant stated that “she was in our bed a lot.” Defen dant d id
not admit guilt initially due to his fear and concern for the victim; he knew he had
done something but did not know exactly what it was.
The trial court sentenced Defendant on each of these eleven (11) cou nts to
serve a term of twenty (20) years in the Department of Correction. Four (4) of these
sentences were to be served consecutively to each other, with the rest to run
concurrently. The total sentence was eighty (80) years. The trial court stated that
it would reduc e to writin g the c heck list of en hanc ing fac tors tha t it relied upon. The
fact that Defendant had acknowle dged misconduct and started the process of
correcting his misconduct wa s taken into acc ount. Cons equently, the trial court
found that there were significant limitations regarding the mitigation. Regarding his
credibility, Defenda nt’s mem ory was re mark ably vivid when putting the blame on the
victim as he could remember in minute details her “vario us sed uctive activities .”
When asked to recall his own con duct, he conve niently blacked ou t. The trial court
found this lack of credibility as impacting on the success of treatment, the need for
punish ment a nd the n eed to p rotect soc iety.
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W hile the trial cou rt recog nized the De fenda nt’s pro blem with alc ohol, it could
not overlook the fact that if the victim had not reported the abuse then the abuse
would have continued. Only when Defendant was forced to protect himself from
these accusations did he determine that he needed treatment. The trial court further
noted that there is an enorm ous ne ed for de terrence of this type o f criminal a ctivity
in the cou rt’s jurisdiction a nd wou ld take jud icial notice o f that fact.
Our review of this sentence is de novo, without a presumption of correctness,
because the trial court failed to explicitly set forth the enhancement factors. Tenn.
Code Ann. § 40-35-210(f). By failing to state the relevant findings of fact, the trial
court did not justify the application of enhancement factors and how it determined
the weig ht to which it applied ea ch of the fa ctors.
In conducting a de novo review of a sentence, this court must consider: (a) the
evidence, if any, received at trial and the sentencing hearing; (b) the presentence
report; (c) the principles of senten cing and argum ents as to sentencing alternatives;
(d) the nature and characteristics of the c riminal condu ct involved; (e) any statutory
mitigating or enhancement factors; (f) any statement that the defendant mad e on h is
own behalf; an d (g) the p otential or lac k of poten tial for rehab ilitation or treatm ent.
Tenn. Code An n. §§ 40 -35-102 , -103, an d -210; see State v. S mith, 735 S.W .2d
859, 863 (T enn. Crim. A pp. 1987).
Aggravated rape is a Class A felony. Tenn . Code An n. § 39-13-50 2(b).
Having no prior criminal record, Defendant was sentenced as a Range I, Sta ndard
Offender, subject to a sen tence of not less th an fifteen (15) nor m ore than twen ty-
five (25) years . Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-112(a)(1). This offense and D efend ant’s
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subsequent sentencing occurred prior to the amendment of Tennessee Code
Annotated section 40-35-210(c) which sets the presumptive sentence for a Class A
felony at the midp oint of the range. T enn. Cod e Ann. § 40 -35-210(c)(19 97 Repl.).
At the time of Defendant’s offense and sentencing, the presumptive sentence was
the minim um with in the rang e if there we re no m itigating or en hance ment factors.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-210(c)(1990 Repl)(repealed 19 95). If there are
enhancement and mitigating factors, then the court must start at the minimum
sentence, enhance the sentence as appropriate for the enhancement factors, and
then reduce the sentence within the range as appropriate for the mitigating factors.
Id. at (e).
Defendant argues that his se ntence of twenty (20) years for each offens e is
exces sive. W hile the trial court stated that it would set forth written findings of fact
as to the applicable enhancement factors, these findings were not established within
the record as required under Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-2 10(f).
Under our de novo review, we find the followin g factors a pplicable . First, the victim
of the offenses was particularly vulnerable because of age. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-
35-114(4). Even though age was an essential element of the crimes for which
Defendant was c onvicte d, the vic tim was particularly vulnerable because of her
extrem ely young a ge of four (4) yea rs and her vuln erability due to her rela tionsh ip
with her step father. See State v. McK night, 900 S.W.2d 36, 54 (Tenn. Crim. App.
1994). Also, the offen ses involve d a victim a nd were comm itted to gratify th e
Defe ndan t’s desire for pleasu re or exciteme nt. Tenn. Co de Ann. § 4 0-35-114(7).
Testimony was given describing Defendant’s ejaculation during these episodes of
abuse and that Defendant was evaluated and determined to have sexual arousal
and pleasure from consensual sexual ac tivities with young fema le children. Pleasu re
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or excitement is not an essential element of the offense of rape and, therefore, may
be considered as an ap propriate enhan ceme nt factor. State v. Adams, 864 S.W.2d
31, 35 (Te nn. 199 3) (citations omitted) . Finally, the Defendant abused a position of
private trust when committing these offense s. Tenn. C ode Ann . § 40-35-114 (15).
The victim testified that the Defendant told her this was “our secret” and that she
considere d him her dad, so she “had better listen.” The Defendant’s status as
stepfather while living with the victim’s mother is a sufficient basis for sentence
enhan ceme nt unde r factor (15 ). Adams, 864 S.W.2d at 34.
The only applicable mitigating factor, one which the trial c ourt did mention at
the conclusion of the hearing, is the Defendant’s remorse for his actions. Tenn.
Code Ann. § 40-35-113(13). As the trial court correctly stated, this mitigating factor
shou ld not be given much weight as Defendant would still probably be committing
these offens es if the victim had n ot told of the abuse. Furthermore, the Defendant
insisted at the sentencing hearing that the victim initiated thes e sexua l offenses . It
is evident that Defendant has not yet taken the responsibility for his heinous actions.
Under our de novo review, the sentence of twenty (20) years is approp riate
given the application of three (3) enha ncem ent fac tors. T he evid ence of Def enda nt’s
repeated course of sexual abuse of the victim over a five (5) year period and the
resulting emotiona l injuries fully support this senten ce. Defend ant urges this co urt
to consider his potential for rehabilitation, but the evaluation of Defendant proved
that he mig ht com mit sexu al offense s at a later date. Defendant’s continued blame
of the victim for the occurrence of these sexual episodes is evidence of his lack of
respon sibility for his actions, and this directly bears upon his potential for
rehabilitation. Defendant argues that the trial court considered uncharged sexual
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acts when sentencing the Defendant. We can find no evidence of this in the record.
The Defendant’s sentence of twenty (20) years for each sentence was appropriate,
and the se issue s have n o merit.
Defendant also contests the conse cutive natu re of these senten ces. Four (4)
of the eleven (11) sentences were ordered to be served consecutively, with the
remaining seven (7) to be served concurrently with each other and the other
sentences. If a defendant is convicted of more than one (1) criminal offense, the trial
court may order his sentences to run consecutively when the offenses involve sexual
abuse of a mino r with consideration to the aggravating circumstances arising from
the relation ship between the defendant and the victim, the time span of defen dant’s
undetected sexual activity, the nature and scope of the sexual acts and the extent
of the residual, physical and mental damage to the victim or victims. Tenn. Code
Ann. § 40-35 -115(b)( 5). In the case sub judice, the D efend ant se xually a buse d his
stepdaughter from the time she was four (4) years of age until she was nine (9). The
abuse only ceased at that time because S.E. told her best friend of these offenses.
The Defendant employed coercive tactics to keep the victim silent for a period of five
(5) years, and during that time committed every type of rape imaginable, including
oral, vaginal an d anal. S.E. testified that she had to receive counseling, and her
counselor suggested that she would continue to need counseling. While S.E. was
not currently undergoing therapy, there was sufficient evidence o f the victim’s anger,
shame and embarrassment regarding the abuse to constitute her emotional and
mental damage as a result of the Defendant’s repeated abuse. In addition, an
extended sentence is necessary for the Defendant to protect the public against
further criminal conduct and the sentences reasonably relate to the severity of the
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offenses Defendant comm itted. State v. Wilkerson, 905 S.W.2d 933 (Tenn. 1995).
This issu e is withou t merit.
In his final issue, Defendant argues that the indictme nts are inva lid as th ey fail
to charge the Defendant with the requisite mens rea element of “intentionally,
know ingly or recklessly” raping the victim in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated
section 39-13-502. The substance of each count of the indictment which charges
aggravated rape is as follows:
That Michael Douglas Hughes on a day in 1990 or 1991, in Davidson
County, Ten ness ee an d befo re the fin ding o f this ind ictme nt, did
engage in unlawfu l sexual pe netration of [S.H.], a child less than
thirteen (13) years of age, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated §
39-13-502, and against the peace and dignity of the State of
Tennessee.
Defendant relies upon a decision of this court in State v. Roge r Dale Hill, No.
01C01-9508-CC-00267, Wa yne C ounty (Ten n. Crim . App., Nashville, June 20,
1996). The Ten ness ee Su prem e Cou rt recen tly revers ed this court’s decisio n in
State v. Hill, 954 S.W.2d 725 (Tenn.1997). The indictment in Hill charged the
defendant in all counts with the following:
[The defend ant] did unlawfully sexually penetrate [the victim], a person
less than thirteen (13) years of age, in violation of Tennessee Code
Annotated § 39-13-5 02, all of wh ich is aga inst the pe ace an d dignity of
the State of Tennessee.
The supre me c ourt in Hill held that the required mental state may be inferred from
the nature of the c rimina l cond uct alle ged in the indictment under review in that case.
As the statuto ry elem ents o f the offe nses are ide ntical to that in th e indic tmen t in Hill,
our supreme court’s decision is controlling. The required mental state of
intentionally, knowingly or reck lessly may be infe rred from the n ature of the criminal
condu ct alleged in this indictm ent. Id. at 729. T his issue is without m erit.
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We affirm the ju dgme nt of the trial co urt.
____________________________________
THOMAS T. W OODALL, Judge
CONCUR:
___________________________________
GARY R. WA DE, Presiding Judge
___________________________________
L. T. LAFFERTY, Special Judge
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