Prosecutorial error; Vouching for credibility; Sufficiency of the evidence; CSC II; “Sexual contact”; Great weight of the evidence

The court concluded that defendant-Martinez’s claims of error involving the prosecutor’s arguments, the sufficiency of the evidence to support CSC II, and the great weight of the evidence, lacked merit. “The record demonstrated that the prosecutor did not vouch for the complainant, KFS’s, credibility or imply that she had special knowledge concerning KFS’s truthfulness. Rather, the prosecutor argued, on the basis of the evidence, that KFS was worthy of belief.” Such argument was proper. “Because the prosecutor’s arguments detailing why KFS was credible were not improper, no error occurred.” Also, the court concluded “that the prosecutor presented sufficient evidence to support Martinez’s convictions.” The court noted that “KFS testified that Martinez began touching her inner thighs and buttocks when she was nine years old and in the fourth grade. She maintained that the incidents began in the Fall and occurred more than five times until they stopped in the Spring of the following year. She testified that, while Martinez touched her buttocks with his hands, he moved his hands in a ‘up and down’ motion, and she could feel his erection against her pelvic area because she was lying on top of him and facing him.” Thus, her testimony was sufficient. Martinez contended “that the prosecutor failed to present evidence corroborating KFS’s testimony.” The court held that “KFS’s testimony alone was sufficient to support Martinez’s convictions, and corroborating evidence was not required.” Martinez also argued “that the verdict contravenes the great weight of the evidence because KFS testified that several instances of sexual abuse occurred under circumstances that defy logic.” He also maintained “that her testimony was uncorroborated, inherently implausible, and impeached by her inconsistencies and motivation to lie.” The record belied Martinez’s claims. “Although some inconsistencies existed between KFS’s and her mother’s testimonies and between KFS’s testimony and her statements to the police, the evidence was generally consistent that Martinez engaged in sexual contact with KFS on several occasions beginning in the Fall of 2016 when she was nine years old and ending in the Spring of 2017. KFS testified that Martinez engaged in the same general conduct with her on at least five occasions. While Martinez maintained that KFS and her mother fabricated the allegations and that KFS was not worthy of belief, ‘the resolution of credibility questions is within the exclusive province of the jury,’ and her ‘testimony was not inherently implausible.’” Affirmed.