Testimony continues in assault trial
Officer talks about responding to 911 call; judge issues orders about what lawyers can ask a certain witness
NEW BOSTON, Texas—The fourth day of trial of a Texarkana man accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a young girl included testimony from the officer who responded to a 911 call from the alleged victim’s mother.
“The father was the main one I was trying to get calmed down,” said Gerald Tate, a former reserve deputy for Bowie County who now works for Wake Village Police Department.
Tate told the jury of nine women and three men he met the girl’s mother, her father and other family members at a convenience store on Richmond Road in Texarkana, Texas, on July 4, 2010. Tate said he was dispatched following a 911 call from the girl’s mother.
Jon David Stover, 38, who married the girl’s mother June 11, 2010, after a sporadic relationship, is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting the girl from the age of 6 until 8 years old.
Stover’s legal team wants the jury to believe the girl’s mother coached her daughter into making the allegations with an eye on Stover’s money. The state wants the jury to believe Stover is attempting to use his considerable financial resources to avoid paying for his alleged crimes.
The jury was sent home about noon Friday with instructions not to discuss the case with anyone and avoid media coverage after hearing from Tate and a few other witnesses.
Tate testified he told the girl’s parents to take her to CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System in Texarkana. Tate said while there he heard the girl’s father speaking to Stover on the phone.
“He was calm at first, then he got loud and angry,” Tate said.
The doctor who treated the girl in the emergency room testified he did not complete a rape kit because the alleged victim reported it had been two days since she was last assaulted.
Pesek read the jury a stipulation by both sides concerning audio recordings of Stover talking with a friend, Tiffany Spangler, who formerly worked at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Texarkana. CAC is where the alleged victim was interviewed about the sexual assault allegations. Witnesses testified this week Spangler was fired partly because she improperly involved herself in Stover’s investigation.
Bowie County Sheriff ’s Investigator Todd Altman testified he asked Spangler three times for audio recordings she allegedly possessed of herself conversing separately with Stover and the girl’s mother, but she never provided them.
The state issued a subpoena in May of this year requiring Spangler to hand over the recordings. Spangler turned over one recording of a conversation with the girl’s mother but denied she still possessed recordings of Stover. Tuesday, the state was provided a copy of a recording of a discussion with Spangler, her husband, Stover and Stover’s father, Pesek told the jury. Spangler is expected to testify for the defense later in the trial.
After releasing the jury, Pesek discussed with the lawyers decisions he has made concerning the next witness scheduled to take the stand.
The state plans to call the alleged victim’s mother first to the stand Monday.
Thursday afternoon, outside the jury’s presence, the girl’s mother answered questions from Assistant Attorney General Ralph Guerrero and Toby Shook, a Dallas lawyer who is among three representing Stover. Friday, after the jury left the courtroom, Pesek announced rulings about what ground the lawyers can and cannot cover with the alleged victim’s mother.
Pesek said the state can ask the girl’s mother about pornography Stover kept in his home, but questions about the ages of the women depicted in the adult films he owned or the behaviors they engaged in are off limits. Pesek said such testimony would be repetitive considering the jury heard the titles of some of the movies Stover purchased and viewed pornographic DVD covers Thursday.
Other questions concerning Stover’s personal habits and preferences can be asked, Pesek ruled.
Stover is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child involving alleged oral sex and a single count of indecency with a child. Indecency is punishable by two to 20 years in prison. Aggravated sexual assault of a child is punishable by five to 99 years or life in a Texas prison.