Nichols v. State

Judge Harold R. Banke.

A jury convicted Gaines Frank Nichols of rape, aggravated sodomy, and incest. On appeal, he enumerates fifteen errors, most of which attack evidentiary rulings on similar transaction testimony by two of Nichols’ daughters.

The State’s evidence from Nichols’ trial showed that Nichols sexually assaulted his teenage stepdaughter from his third marriage on four occasions and once orally sodomized her. The incidents occurred intermittently over several months. Nichols always consumed alcohol before the assaults and often insisted that the victim accompany him on drives down…