In Re Detention of Boynton

216 P.3d 1089
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 21, 2009
Docket61891-1-I
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 216 P.3d 1089 (In Re Detention of Boynton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Detention of Boynton, 216 P.3d 1089 (Wash. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

216 P.3d 1089 (2009)

In re DETENTION OF Jeshuel BOYNTON, Petitioner.

No. 61891-1-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

September 21, 2009.

*1090 Kenneth P. Henrikson, The Defender Association, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

David J.W. Hackett, Alison Moore Bogar, King County Prosecutor's Office, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

SCHINDLER, C.J.

¶ 1 The State filed a petition to commit Jeshuel Amos Boynton as a sexually violent predator under chapter 71.09 RCW. The State alleged Boynton had been convicted of a sexually violent offense under former RCW 71.09.020(15) (2006), specifically, incest in the first degree of a victim under the age of fourteen, and that Boynton suffers from a mental abnormality that makes him likely to *1091 engage in predatory acts of sexual violence.[1] "The trial court certified the following question for discretionary review: Whether incest in the first degree is a predicate offense under RCW 71.09.020(15) when the court finds in the RCW 71.09 proceeding that the offense was against a victim under age fourteen (14)." Boynton does not dispute that he was convicted of incest in the first degree of his seven year-old brother in 1999. However, Boynton contends the court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the petition because the age of the victim is not an element of the crime of incest in the first degree. We hold that under the plain and unambiguous language of RCW 71.09.020(17), a conviction of incest in the first degree and proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the child was "under age fourteen," meets the definition of a sexually violent offense that qualifies as a predicate offense in a sexually violent predator civil commitment proceeding.

FACTS

¶ 2 On May 12, 2008, the State filed a petition to commit 22-year-old Jeshuel Amos Boynton as a sexually violent predator under chapter 71.09 RCW, the Sexually Violent Predators (SVP) statute. The petition alleged Boynton met the criteria for commitment based on his 1999 conviction for incest in the first degree of a victim under the age of fourteen, a recent overt act, and the evaluation of a psychologist stating that Boynton suffers from a mental abnormality that made him likely to engage in sexually violent behavior.

¶ 3 In 1999, 13-year-old Boynton pleaded guilty to incest in the first degree. Boynton admitted to putting his mouth on his 7-year-old brother's penis and attempting to put his penis in his brother's mouth. The court suspended imposition of a 52 week manifest injustice disposition and imposed a special sexual offender disposition alternative (SSODA) with a number of conditions, including counseling and satisfactory progress in a treatment program. In June 2000, the court revoked the SSODA and imposed the 52 week disposition. After his release from detention, Boynton lived at the Northwest Children's Home in Idaho until he turned 18. The Northwest Children's Home staff diagnosed Boynton with depressive disorder, attention deficient hyperactivity disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder.

¶ 4 In May 2004, Boynton was involuntarily admitted to Harborview. A psychiatrist diagnosed Boynton with a schizoaffective disorder and prescribed medication. Boynton was discharged from Harborview on July 7.

¶ 5 On July 29, Boynton was arrested for walking naked in downtown Portland, Oregon. On August 26, Boynton was arrested for lewd conduct at the Seattle Public Library. A patron reported that Boynton was masturbating while looking at pornography on a library computer. Boynton was not charged with a crime, but was barred from using the Seattle Public Libraries for one year.[2]

¶ 6 On March 4, 2006, Boynton was at the White Center Library when he introduced himself to S.G. and C.M. S.G. told Boynton she was 14 years old. Boynton asked S.G. if he could take her to dinner. When she refused, Boynton asked S.G. if she would have sex with him for money. S.G. and C.M. reported the incident to the library staff, who called the police. Boynton gave the police a false name. However, Boynton admitted that he had solicited S.G. for sex "`cause I like minors.'"

¶ 7 On May 1, Boynton pleaded guilty to communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. On June 5, the court sentenced Boynton to 9 months in jail and 12 months of community custody. The conditions of community custody included having no unsupervised contact with minors, obtaining a sexual *1092 deviancy evaluation, and following all treatment recommendations.

¶ 8 Boynton was released to community custody in 2007. While on community custody, Boynton admitted having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old female four times. Boynton said that he had sex with the girl because "he thought he was going to get away with it."

¶ 9 On November 5, Boynton told his Sound Mental Health case manager and the sex offender treatment provider that he planned to sexually assault an 18-year-old woman named Holly J. by luring her into the woods to rape her.

¶ 10 On January 24, 2008, a King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office Special Investigator interviewed Boynton while he was being held in jail for violating the conditions of community custody. Boynton told the investigator that if he was alone with Holly J., "`terrible things would happen.'" Boynton said that "if he was released tomorrow, he would go to the University of Washington to find Holly, cuss her out and try to hurt her." Boynton told the Investigator, "`I need to be locked up for good ... When I am not locked up, I put society in danger.'"

¶ 11 The State asked psychologist Dr. Brian Judd to determine whether Boynton met the criteria of a sexually violent predator under the SVP statute, chapter 71.09 RCW. Dr. Judd reviewed over 2000 pages of discovery and interviewed Boynton. On April 30, Dr. Judd issued a 20-page "Civil Commitment Clinical Evaluation." The Evaluation documents Boynton's history, the evidentiary basis for a recent overt act, and Dr. Judd's diagnosis and risk assessment of Boynton.

I believe that Mr. Boynton's diagnosis of Paraphilia, Not Otherwise Specified, Nonconsent preferentially predisposes disposes him to the commission of acts of sexual violence which endanger the health and safety of adolescent and young females.

Dr. Judd concluded that Boynton met the criteria as a sexually violent predator. Dr. Judd also concluded that Boynton is at high risk for sexually violent recidivism based on the Static-99 and the Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide. The factors Dr. Judd identified as associated with a high risk for imminent recidivism included: "non-compliance with supervision, deviant sexual interests, sexual preoccupation and general self-regulation deficits."

¶ 12 On May 12, the State filed a petition to commit Boynton as a sexually violent predator under chapter 71.09 RCW. The amended petition for commitment alleges that Boynton was convicted of a sexually violent offense in 1999, that the victim was under the age of fourteen, that he committed a recent overt act, and that he suffers from a mental abnormality.

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216 P.3d 1089, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-detention-of-boynton-washctapp-2009.