Santos Rosales-Martinez v. Nick Ludwick
Opinion
Santos Rosales-Martinez was convicted of second degree sexual abuse, in violation of
Rosales-Martinez was charged with sexual abuse in the second degree for inappropriately touching his step-daughter, A.C. Before trial, the State moved for a protective order for A.C.'s deposition, requiring that Rosales-Martinez be separated from her by a one-way mirror, and that she not be told he is on the other side. Rosales-Martinez consented to the one-way mirror, but requested A.C. be told he was present and could hear her. At a hearing on June 11, 2001, the child's therapist and her foster mother testified. According to the therapist, A.C. is concerned about seeing Rosales-Martinez, continually afraid of running into him, and would be very traumatized if she knew he was in the same building. The foster mother testified that A.C. encountered him at a parade and was in a state of panic for nearly 30 minutes.
On July 5, the court denied Rosales-Martinez's request, making these findings:
A.C. would suffer serious trauma caused by testifying in the physical presence of the defendant and that it would impair A.C.'s ability to communicate and that the protective measures stipulated to by the parties and endorsed by the Court are necessary to protect A.C. from trauma.... The Court finds and the parties stipulate that the defendant shall remain behind a one-way mirror where he can see and hear A.C. but that A.C. cannot hear nor see defendant.
Before the first trial, the State moved for a protective order for A.C.'s trial testimony. Rosales-Martinez agreed to A.C. testifying by closed-circuit television, but again requested she be told he was present and could hear her. Relying on the previous findings, the judge denied Rosales-Martinez's request. The jury deadlocked. The court declared a mistrial. Before the retrial began on January 8, 2002, the court again discussed A.C.'s trial testimony. A.C.'s guardian ad litem told the trial court that the previous procedure was still necessary based on conversations with A.C. The parties agreed to the procedure used in the first trial. The court reiterated its previous findings.
Rosales-Martinez was found guilty. He appealed. The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed.
See
State v. Rosales-Martinez
,
Review is limited to the issue in the certificate of appealability.
Scott v. United States
,
The issue here is whether the state courts' decisions are contrary to, or an unreasonable application of,
Maryland v. Craig
,
When "the State makes an adequate showing of necessity," its interest "is sufficiently important to justify the use of a special procedure that permits a child witness in such cases to testify at trial against a defendant in the absence of face-to-face confrontation."
In
Craig
, the child abuse victims testified by closed-circuit television after the trial court found that they would suffer severe emotional distress and be unable to communicate if face-to-face with the defendant. After a proper finding of necessity, a child witness may testify by use of a special procedure if under oath, subject to full cross-examination, and "observed by" the judge, jury, and defendant.
Rosales-Martinez argues that the trial court erred by not making new express findings of necessity in the retrial to support the special procedure for A.C.'s testimony. The trial court incorporated its previous findings made six months earlier, with no reason to doubt them. Rosales-Martinez asserts this violates
Craig
. But
Craig
does not require the trial court to conduct a new
Craig
hearing at every stage. Section 2254(d)(1)"does not require state courts to
extend
[Supreme Court] precedent or license federal courts to treat the failure to do so as error."
White v. Woodall
,
Rosales-Martinez is not entitled to habeas corpus relief.
* * * * * * *
The judgment is affirmed.
The Honorable Leonard T. Strand, Chief United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Santos ROSALES-MARTINEZ, Petitioner-Appellant v. Nick LUDWICK, Warden, Respondent-Appellee
- Status
- Published