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Gurka v. State

As with all evidentiary determinations, the trial court's decision to admit testimony objected to on the basis of backdoor hearsay is subject to an abuse of discretion standard.

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Appellant Stephen Gurka was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. � 22.021 (West 2002). The trial court sentenced the appellant to twenty-eight years’ imprisonment. The appellant argues that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of three witnesses for the State. We will affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This case was brought following the delayed outcry by a victim of sexual abuse. C.B. alleged that while her mother was married to Stephen Gurka, between late 1992 and February 1995, Gurka sexually assaulted her. C.B., who was fifteen-years old at the time of trial, testified that starting when she was around five or six years old and continuing while he was married to her mother, Gurka molested her on four occasions. C.B. testified that Gurka threatened to kill anyone she told about the incidents. Her mother divorced Gurka in 1995. C.B. testified that about two years after the divorce, when she was twelve years old, she told her cousin Reanell and her sister that Gurka had molested her. Later, she also told her friend Brittany. According to her testimony, C.B. begged all three girls not to tell anyone her “secret” because she was still afraid that Gurka would kill anyone she told; she was especially fearful that Gurka would harm her mother. Her cousin Reanell eventually told their grandmother about a year later. By this time, C.B.’s mother had married Leslie Wuensche. The grandmother never discussed the matter with C.B. but reported the information to Wuensche, who ultimately confronted his stepdaughter about the abuse. After C.B. admitted to her new stepfather that Gurka had molested her, Wuensche contacted the police.

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