Appeals court tosses sex abuse conviction back to Bowie County
TEXARKANA, Texas — A Texas appellate court has tossed out a life sentence and child sex abuse conviction in a case tried last year before a Bowie County jury.
Cornell Ladell Witcher, 37, was found guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 by the jury, sentenced to life in prison and assessed a maximum $10,000 fine. Under Texas law, a person commits the offense of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 if they engage in sexual misconduct with their victim two or more times during a period of 30 days or more. There is no parole for any sentence imposed for continuous sexual abuse of a child in the range of 25 to 99 years or life in prison.
The 6th District Court of Appeals in Texarkana issued an opinion Dec. 21 that found the state did not present enough evidence to support the conviction.
“Witcher argues that, although the day that the sexual abuse ended was established, there was no direct or indirect evidence of when the abuse began and that the evidence at trial did not support an inference that the abuse began 30 or more days before it ended. We agree,” the opinion states.
While the state presented evidence at trial that Witcher began abusing the victim after the victim’s older brother went to jail, the higher court found that the evidence was “sparse and ambiguous.”
“In the absence of any evidence regarding the frequency of the abuse, or whether one or more manners of assault occurred on separate days, there is nothing by which the jury could infer rather than speculate that the first of the 12 assaults occurred on or before June 26,” the opinion states.
In order to find Witcher guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child, the jury had to determine that Witcher committed acts of sexual abuse on the victim.
“The evidence in this case established that Witcher committed at least two acts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and the same evidence would also support a jury’s finding that Witcher committed at least two acts of indecency with a child,” the opinion states.
The higher court has remanded the case back to the trial court for a new trial to determine which of the lesser crimes — one or more counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and/or one or more counts of indecency with a child — Witcher committed.
If prosecutors disagree with the ruling by the 6th Court of Appeals, it can ask the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to review the case. If the case is tried again, Witcher faces five to 99 years or life with parole possible if found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Indecency with a child by contact is punishable by two to 20 years.
Witcher remains in custody.