In Re Detention of Broten

122 P.3d 942
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedNovember 15, 2005
Docket32053-3-II
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 122 P.3d 942 (In Re Detention of Broten) 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 Broten, 122 P.3d 942 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

122 P.3d 942 (2005)

In re the DETENTION OF Richard A. BROTEN, Appellant.

No. 32053-3-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

November 15, 2005.

*943 Peter B. Tiller, The Tiller Law Firm, Centralia, WA, for Appellant.

Robert Timothy Crandell, Attorney Generals Office, Olympia, WA, for Respondent.

BRIDGEWATER, J.

¶ 1 Richard A. Broten appeals his civil commitment under chapter 71.09 RCW, the Sexually Violent Predators Act. We hold that Broten's act of being in a park at a children's playground without a chaperone was sufficient evidence that he committed a recent overt act supporting the jury's finding that he is a sexually violent predator. Broten's assertions that he was denied a fair trial due to juror misconduct and because prospective jurors were biased against sex offenders are meritless. We affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2 Broten was born on February 17, 1965, and has been convicted of two sexually violent crimes.[1] He was convicted of indecent liberties in December 1986 for molesting his eight-year-old female cousin. In 1989, while still on parole supervision, Broten raped his infant daughter by inserting his finger into her vagina while changing her diaper. In December 1990, Broten pleaded guilty to first degree rape of a child.

¶ 3 On May 8, 1997, Broten was released to community custody status. Three days later, he violated his conditions of release by contacting a child at a lake without a chaperone. According to Broten's rules of supervision, he was not permitted to contact minors without a chaperone or to frequent parks, recreational areas, shopping malls, and other areas where "minors [are] known to congregate." 2 Report of Proceedings (RP) (Jun. 23, 2004) at 236. Broten also was cited for possessing pornography. He was ordered to attend sex offender treatment.

*944 ¶ 4 In August 1997, Broten's community corrections officer, Barbara Tyler, learned that Broten was involved in a romantic relationship with another convicted sex offender, 18-year-old Bethany Dunn. Broten's rules of treatment prohibited him from contacting other sex offenders. Additionally, Broten admitted during a polygraph examination that he had had contact with Dunn's 15-month-old child. He was subsequently sentenced to 120 days of confinement and re-released in March 1998. At trial, Tyler testified that Broten was considered "high risk" and that he had been incarcerated twice during the time that she supervised him. 2 RP at 245.

¶ 5 Broten's supervision was transferred to community corrections officer Scott Lee in April 1998. While under Lee's supervision, Broten violated his conditions of release by possessing photographs of his daughter. Additionally, on June 6, 1998, at around 8:00 p.m., Broten was ticketed for driving the wrong way on a one-way road in Seward Park, located in Seattle, Washington.

¶ 6 Officer Ralph Wilson of the Seattle Police Department testified that on that evening he observed Broten's vehicle parked in a lot near a playground at Seward Park. He stated that it was a hot, summer night and children were still outside playing. As Officer Wilson drove by, Broten pulled out of the parking lot and drove the wrong way out of the park. When stopped, Broten told Officer Wilson that he was not permitted to be in parks or around children without a chaperone and, when Wilson asked why he was in the park, Broten did not respond. 2 RP at 367-68. Officer Wilson contacted the Department of Corrections because "[he] was concerned about [Broten] being so close to the children playing ... [without] a legitimate reason for being there." 2 RP at 370. Based on this incident, Lee arrested Broten.

¶ 7 Broten took a polygraph examination on June 19, 1998. During the exam, Broten admitted to masturbating while thinking about "possible new victims" and young girls, aged five years to adult. 2 RP at 326-27. He stated that he masturbated to fantasies about undressing the girls and inserting his tongue into their vaginas, having sexual intercourse with them, and thinking "how tight" their vaginas would be. Broten also admitted that since his release, he had masturbated in his car and had gone to shopping malls and parks. He went to Seward Park approximately once per week.

¶ 8 Broten was returned to custody and, on November 9, 1998, the State filed a petition to commit Broten as a sexually violent predator (SVP) under chapter 71.09 RCW.

¶ 9 The statute under which the State sought to commit Broten provides in relevant part:

When it appears that ... a person who at any time previously has been convicted of a sexually violent offense and has since been released from total confinement and has committed a recent overt act[ ] and it appears that the person may be a sexually violent predator, ... the attorney general if requested by the prosecuting attorney may file a petition alleging that the person is a `sexually violent predator' and stating sufficient facts to support such allegation.[2]

RCW 71.09.030(5).

¶ 10 Prior to the SVP trial, the State amended its petition, omitting its allegation that Broten had committed a "recent overt act" because he had been incarcerated for community placement violations when the petition was filed. Clerk's Papers (CP) at 19. Broten was tried and committed as a SVP. We reversed the order of commitment in In re Detention of Broten, 115 Wash.App. 252, 62 P.3d 514, review denied, 150 Wash.2d 1010, 79 P.3d 445 (2003), finding that on remand, the State was required to prove that Broten had committed a recent overt act, not merely that he had violated his conditions of release. In re Broten, 115 Wash.App. at 257, 62 P.3d 514.

¶ 11 Broten was re-tried before a jury, beginning June 22, 2004, pursuant to RCW *945 71.09.060(1).[3] The State relied upon the incident at Seward Park as the "recent overt act." The violations of his release were relied upon to show Broten's "history and mental condition," as set forth in the definition of "recent overt act." Br. of Resp't at 5. Dr. Brian Judd, a licensed psychologist and certified sex offender treatment provider, testified regarding his evaluation of Broten.

¶ 12 Dr. Judd testified that he had diagnosed Broten with pedophilia (sexually attracted to both males and females) and paraphilia (not otherwise specified) and with antisocial personality disorder. He opined that Broten's mental abnormalities and personality disorder caused Broten to have serious difficulty in controlling his sexually violent behavior and that he was likely to continue committing predatory acts of sexual violence if not confined to a secure facility. He also stated that Broten was at a "very high risk" for re-offending. 3 RP (Jun. 24, 2005) at 488.

¶ 13 Dr. Judd further testified that Broten had committed a "recent overt act" between May 8, 1997 and June 30, 1998, while he was released to the community. 3 RP at 499. He stated that the Seward Park incident, taken together with Broten's mental history, numerous release violations, and pattern of deceptiveness, constituted a recent overt act because Broten was actively engaging in "deviant arousal that he [was] not intervening on" and he was "now placing himself in high risk situations where minors would reasonably be expected to congregate." 3 RP at 502. Dr. Judd testified that Broten's behavior in going to locations where minors could reasonably be expected to congregate was part of Broten's "offense cycle," or a "buildup...

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Lupastean
Washington Supreme Court, 2022

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
122 P.3d 942, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-detention-of-broten-washctapp-2005.