JEFFERY MICHAEL WINEBERG v. THE STATE OF TEXAS

Summary

The Fifth District Court of Appeals at Dallas affirmed as modified a judgment convicting Jeffery Michael Wineberg of continuous sexual abuse of a child and sentencing him to life imprisonment. The court rejected challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence, exclusion of extrinsic impeachment evidence, and admission of an audio recording, among other issues, and sustained the State’s cross-issue concerning modification of the judgment.

Holdings

1. The evidence was legally sufficient to support Wineberg's conviction for continuous sexual abuse of a child because a rational factfinder could find beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed at least two acts of sexual abuse against a child younger than fourteen during a period of at least thirty days.
2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding the chat messages because Wineberg failed to authenticate them as statements made by the victim.
3. Wineberg failed to preserve his challenge to the exclusion of the Google-search exhibit because he never obtained a ruling on the record concerning its admission.
4. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the audio recording, including the enhanced version.
5. Even assuming the trial court erred by admitting evidence from Wineberg's illegally seized phone, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
6. Wineberg was not entitled to relief under the cumulative-error doctrine because the court found only one assumed error, and that error was harmless.
7. The trial court properly determined that forensic interviewer Rachel McConnell was the first proper outcry witness and properly admitted her testimony.
8. The appellate court had authority to modify the judgment to accurately reflect that the victim was thirteen at the time of the offense and to add the omitted prosecutor's name.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the evidence was legally sufficient to support the conviction for continuous sexual abuse of a child under fourteen.
2. Whether the trial court erred by excluding chat messages from the victim's Movie Star Planet account as extrinsic evidence of prior inconsistent statements.
3. Whether the trial court erred by excluding or failing to admit internet-search evidence associated with the victim's Google account.
4. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting a digitally enhanced audio recording of the sexual abuse.
5. Whether admission of evidence recovered from Wineberg's cell phone was constitutional error and, if so, harmful beyond a reasonable doubt.
6. Whether alleged trial errors cumulatively denied Wineberg a fair trial.
7. Whether the trial court erred in determining that the forensic interviewer was the proper outcry witness and admitting her testimony under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 38.072.
8. Whether the judgment should be modified to accurately state the victim's age and identify all counsel for the State.

Disposition

affirmed