In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of: Juan Luna Huezo

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJune 29, 2023
Docket38697-0
StatusUnpublished

This text of In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of: Juan Luna Huezo (In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of: Juan Luna Huezo) 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.

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In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of: Juan Luna Huezo, (Wash. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

FILED JUNE 29, 2023 In the Office of the Clerk of Court WA State Court of Appeals, Division III

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION THREE

In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of ) No. 38697-0-III ) ) ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION JUAN LUNA HUEZO, ) ) Petitioner. )

LAWRENCE-BERREY, A.C.J. — Juan Luna Huezo seeks relief from personal

restraint stemming from his 2018 convictions for one count of rape of a child in the first

degree and two counts of child molestation in the first degree. In this timely petition, Mr.

Luna Huezo argues his convictions should be reversed because improper witness opinions

denied him his right to a jury trial and because the trial court erred by admitting hearsay.

Also, he challenges eight community custody conditions. To the extent Mr. Luna Huezo

seeks a new trial, we deny his petition. But to the extent he seeks relief from some

community custody condition, we grant partial relief. No. 38697-0-III In re Pers. Restraint of Huezo

FACTS

Mr. Luna Huezo was the stepfather of two minor girls, T.O.,1 born in April 2005,

and B.O., born in July 2006. State v. Luna Huezo, No. 36001-6-III, slip op. at 1 (Wash.

Ct. App. Dec. 1, 2020) (unpublished), http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/

pdf/360016_unp.pdf. He is more than two decades older than the girls. He began

sexually abusing T.O. when she was nine years old and B.O. when she was eight years

old.

In 2017, T.O.’s friends saw her crying during class and, after speaking with her,

reported their concerns to their teacher. T.O. and B.O. spoke with a school counselor and

disclosed the sexual abuse. The counselor contacted the Kennewick Police Department

and, the same day, Mauri Murstig, a forensic child interviewer at the Sexual Advocacy

Response Center, interviewed both girls. T.O. described multiple instances of sexual

abuse by Mr. Luna Huezo and details about specific items he used during the abuse—

including duct tape, condoms, oil, and baby wipes, and the location of those items.

1 To protect the privacy interests of the child victims, we use their initials throughout this opinion. Gen. Order 2012-1 of Division III, In re the Use of Initials or Pseudonyms for Child Victims or Child Witnesses, (Wash. Ct. App. June 18, 2012), https://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts/?fa=atc.genorders_orddisp&ordnumber =2012_001&div=III.

2 No. 38697-0-III In re Pers. Restraint of Huezo

She also disclosed that Mr. Luna Huezo showed her pornographic videos using his cell

phone and asked her to smile like the women in those videos.

Later that evening, the police obtained and executed a search warrant at the girls’

home and their aunt’s residence where they found condoms, oil, duct tape, zip ties, baby

wipes, and a zebra blanket. Approximately two weeks later, Dr. Shannon Phipps, a

family practice physician, conducted a sexual assault examination of T.O.

Procedure

The State charged Mr. Luna Huezo with one count of rape of a child in the first

degree relating to T.O. and three counts of child molestation in the first degree, with one

count relating to T.O. and two counts relating to B.O. The one count of rape of a child in

the first degree and the first count of child molestation in the first degree alleged

aggravating circumstances of an ongoing pattern of sexual abuse and breach of a position

of trust. The second count of child molestation in the first degree alleged the aggravating

circumstance of violation of a position of trust.

B.O. testified at trial. Her answers were generally nonresponsive or vague

regarding Mr. Luna Huezo’s sexual acts with her, but she indicated he touched her

“private part” under her clothes, with his hand. Rep. of Proc. (No. 36001-6) (RP)

at 229-30. B.O. also testified she saw him touch T.O.’s “private part” underneath her

3 No. 38697-0-III In re Pers. Restraint of Huezo

clothes. RP at 236. B.O. stated she heard T.O. crying when Mr. Luna Huezo had T.O. in

the bedroom with him.

T.O. also testified at trial. She testified about several instances in which Mr. Luna

Huezo molested or penetrated her, including instances when he moved his fingers “in”

her vagina and it hurt a little and one instance where he had her kneel and put her mouth

“on” his penis while he was standing. RP at 254, 265.

T.O. testified Mr. Luna Huezo duct taped her hands together behind her back

during one incident. She testified he would remove a condom from a “gray and blue”

backpack he kept in the bathroom and put it on his “private part.” RP at 263, 262. She

said he would also “rub [oil] over his private part” and, after he finished, he always

cleaned himself with a baby wipe and would throw it in the garbage. RP at 265. T.O.

testified that when she asked him if he was doing the same thing to B.O., he replied yes.

Dr. Phipps testified about her examination of T.O. She is a family practice

physician with Kadlec Clinics. At that time, she had been performing sexual assault

examinations on young people for more than one year and had conducted approximately

10 to 12 examinations. She conducted the examinations at the request of law

enforcement or the prosecutor’s office. The State questioned Dr. Phipps about her

examination of T.O.:

4 No. 38697-0-III In re Pers. Restraint of Huezo

Q And did you ask [T.O.] why she—for her medical history? A I did. Q And what did she tell you? [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Your Honor, I’m going to object to any hearsay evidence. [PROSECUTOR]: Your Honor, this is pursuant to the medical hearsay exception. THE COURT: I’ll overrule. .... Q Okay. So how did you continue your—or the exam with her? A Well, I—after having asked the questions to make her comfortable, I asked her if she knew that she was to see me because law enforcement had asked her to come in. And she said she was. I then rephrased the question and I asked her if she knew why law enforcement had asked her to see me. And at that point she did start talking to me about her relationship with her stepfather and the behavior that her stepfather had done with her, which had led her to talk to her school counselor and inform law enforcement and then present to me. .... Q So what did she tell you? A She told me that her stepdad, when her mom is at work, will take her to his room. This apparently has been ongoing since she was nine, she told me. She was able to tell me the age at which it started. So, approximately two years. .... Q And what did she tell you happened in his room? A She stated to me that he would take off first her clothes and then his clothes. And then he would place his private parts—those were her exact words—on her private parts. I did ask her to explain this a little bit more, being 11, she wasn’t familiar with typical anatomy or names of anatomy. So I did explain to her the difference between a vagina and a rectum, because I was trying to ascertain, before I did the physical exam, what areas in which injury might have occurred.

5 No. 38697-0-III In re Pers. Restraint of Huezo

And so what she told me was that—what she described to me was that he would attempt to place his penis in both her vagina and rectum; but she said that she was too small. And what I understood from her was that there was more touching and not actual penetration, although perhaps some initially attempted penetration. Q Did she talk about after that what did she—did you ask her about her putting her mouth or his put [sic] his mouth anywhere? A I did ask her that.

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