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NOTICE: This opinion is subject to motions for rehearing under Rule 22 as well as formal revision before publication in the New Hampshire Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter, Supreme Court of New Hampshire, One Charles Doe Drive, Concord, New Hampshire 03301, of any editorial errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion goes to press. Errors may be reported by E-mail at the following address: reporter@courts.state.nh.us. Opinions are available on the Internet by 9:00 a.m. on the morning of their release. The direct address of the court's home page is: http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme. THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE ___________________________

Hillsborough-southern judicial district No. 2007-863

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE v. SEVERINE WAMALA Argued: January 22, 2009 Opinion Issued: April 17, 2009 Kelly A. Ayotte, attorney general (Nicholas Cort, assistant attorney general, on the brief and orally), for the State. Christopher M. Johnson, chief appellate defender, of Concord, on the brief and orally, for the defendant.

Severine Wamala, by brief, pro se. DALIANIS, J. The defendant, Severine Wamala, appeals his conviction of eleven counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault (AFSA). See RSA 632-A:2 (2007) (amended 2008). On appeal, he argues that the Superior Court (Lynn, C.J.) erroneously: (1) allowed the State to introduce evidence of the victim's "time capsule," a school project in which she had written that she and the defendant had had sex; (2) denied his counsel's request to voir dire prospective

jurors individually pursuant to RSA 500-A:12-a (Supp. 2008); and (3) permitted the State to impeach the victim's sisters with their prior inconsistent statements. We affirm. I. Victim's "Time Capsule" Statements

The defendant first argues that the trial court erred when it admitted evidence of the victim's so-called "time capsule." We review challenges to a trial court's evidentiary rulings under our unsustainable exercise of discretion standard and reverse only if the rulings are clearly untenable or unreasonable to the prejudice of a party's case. State v. Forbes, 157 N.H. 570, 572 (2008). A. Relevant Facts

The "time capsule" was a sixth grade school project that required the victim to write information about herself on a piece of paper, seal the paper in an envelope, and open the envelope two years later. On the paper, the victim wrote: "[S]omething about me that would surprise most people is . . . I have sex with my father." When the victim was in eighth grade, she opened the envelope and wrote: "I'm not a virgin or have a virgin mouth." She then resealed the envelope. Although the trial court had initially excluded evidence of the time capsule, after hearing the defendant's theory of the case and his testimony, the court allowed the State to: (1) call the victim as a rebuttal witness to testify about the time capsule as well as about the prior uncharged assaults themselves; and (2) introduce the time capsule into evidence as a full exhibit. The defendant's theory of the case, as explained by defense counsel in his opening statement, was that he was innocent, "caught in a nightmare of unfounded allegations, a nightmare caused by a willful, rebellious, yet brilliant daughter and police who were overeager to believe her." Defense counsel told the jury that the victim's rebelliousness escalated when the defendant forbade her from obtaining her driver's license although she was old enough to have one. Her rebellion against the defendant allegedly came to a head on September 11, 2006, as a result of a heated argument among the victim, her sister, L.W., her brother, J.W., and the defendant. As defense counsel told the jury, that night, L.W. was at the stove with a "giant pot full of water that [was] boiling hot." When she walked over to the sink to dump the water from the pot, the victim was in her way. Despite being told repeatedly to get out of the way, the victim refused to move. Eventually, the defendant pushed her out of the way, and "[the victim] went crazy" and began yelling at him. According to defense counsel, "[t]hings escalated," and, soon, everyone was yelling at everyone else. Eventually, J.W. called the police,

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who came to the apartment, and, after being assured that everyone was safe, left without arresting anyone. After the police left, the victim and J.W. slowly got ready for bed and could be heard talking to each other in the bathroom and then in their bedroom. J.W. decided to confront the defendant about the incident. J.W. emerged from the bedroom and began to yell at the defendant. The defendant, feeling exasperated, eventually yelled: "[D]o you want to raise my children? Do you want to discipline my children? Then go someplace else." J.W. "called his bluff, so to speak, and . . . left." Upon seeing this, the victim "threw another teenage temper tantrum" and began yelling at the defendant "just like she had done earlier in the night over the pot of water." The defendant asked another daughter to call the police and, when the officers arrived, the victim was "behaving hysterically," telling them that "she just want[ed] to get out of the house and that she[] [was] going to do it any way she [could], including jumping off the third floor balcony." According to defense counsel, at this point, the victim, seeing "an opportunity to get out of the house" and "have more freedom," told the police that her father sexually assaulted her. As defense counsel explained to the jury, by so doing, this "willful and rebellious teenage girl" engaged the police, who began to "look[] for evidence of a crime that didn't happen, that never occurred." The defendant testified consistently with this theory of the case. He denied ever having sexual contact with his children. He testified that he could not "do something . . . traumatizing to [his] children" and that he found it "disturbing" to think of committing incest. He testified that it was "just horrifying" to think of having sex with his children and that it made him "throw up." He testified: "[T]here's no way I could ever do that to my children, I mean not even [to] an enemy." He testified that having sex with them was "something I can never do . . . I can never do that to my children, never, ever." When asked why he thought that the victim would say that he had sexually assaulted her, the defendant testified: [J.W.] and [the victim] are very tight, and

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