State of Iowa v. Robert Gerald Hoose

Court of Appeals of Iowa·Decided October 1, 2014·No. 13-0828·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 13-0828

Filed October 1, 2014

STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee,

vs.

ROBERT GERALD HOOSE, Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mills County, Timothy O’Grady, Judge.

Defendant appeals from his convictions and sentence for sexual abuse in the third degree and three counts of sexual abuse in the second degree. AFFIRMED.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Maria Ruhtenberg, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kevin Cmelik, Assistant Attorney General, Eric Hansen, County Attorney, and Kate Walling, Student Legal Intern, for appellee.

Heard by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Bower, JJ.

DANILSON, C.J.

Robert Hoose appeals from his convictions and sentence for sexual abuse in the third degree, in violation of Iowa Code sections 709.1 and 709.4(b)(2), and three counts of sexual abuse in the second degree, in violation of Iowa Code sections 709.1 and 709.3(2).1 He contends the district court erred in denying his request to dismiss new charges brought against him nearly two years after his initial arrest, in violation of the speedy indictment rule contained in Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.33(2)(a). He also contends trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to expert testimony presented by the State. Hoose maintains the court erred in two different evidentiary rulings: (1) in finding Hoose failed to demonstrate in good faith a reasonable probability that D.H.’s medical and mental health records contained exculpatory information and was not available from any other source, and (2) in holding statements relating to past sexual abuse allegations made by D.B. were not admissible because Hoose did not establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the statements were false.

It is undisputed Hoose was formally arrested on May 12, 2010, and he was aware of the charges he was being arrested for, so the reasonable-person test is not applicable here. Because the second trial information alleges offenses occurring on different dates than the original charges levied, they are not the same, and the speedy indictment rule was not violated. Additionally, we find Hoose failed to meet the threshold requirement of a “reasonable probability that

1 According to the sentencing order entered by the district court on May 15, 2013, the date of the offense for sexual abuse in the third degree was between October 3, 2008 and May 3, 2010. The date of each of the three offenses for sexual abuse in the second degree occurred between October 2006 and September 2008.

the information sought is likely to contain exculpatory information,” and there is no error in the trial court’s refusal to conduct a second in camera review of D.H.’s mental health and medical records. Also, because Hoose failed to show by a preponderance of the evidence that prior allegations made by D.H. were false, the claims are protected by the rape shield law, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding they were inadmissible at trial. Finally, we preserve Hoose’s claim of ineffective assistance for possible postconviction-relief proceedings, and we affirm. I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

Hoose is the father of D.H., born in October 1996. On May 4, 2010, Hoose and his wife, Crystal, were out with friends while D.H., her sister, and her two half-siblings were at the family home. After Hoose and Crystal got home, Crystal went to the bathroom to shower, and Hoose went to D.H.’s room. According to D.H., Hoose came into her room and ordered her to take her clothes off. He placed her on her hands and knees, pulled down his shorts, and got behind her. At that time, Crystal walked into the room and screamed at Hoose, asking him what he was doing. D.H. ran to the basement. After some time, Crystal and D.H. left the house to talk. D.H. told Crystal that Hoose had been sexually abusing her for the previous five years.

The next day, D.H. reported the sexual abuse to the police. D.H. was interviewed at Project Harmony, a child protection center, on May 11, 2010. During the interview, D.H. provided detailed statements alleging Hoose had sexually abused her for the previous five years. The allegations included oral, vaginal, and anal sex.

On May 12, 2010, the State filed three complaints under case number FECR0945719 charging Hoose with sex abuse in the third degree, lascivious acts with a child, and incest. The facts listed in support of the charges were identical on each complaint. They stated:

On 05-05-10, a juvenile female reported that she had been sexually assaulted by father Robert Hoose. The female reported that on 05-

04-10 her father came into her bedroom after Mr. Hoose and his wife Crystal had been out drinking. Mr. Hoose told the juvenile female to remove her pants. The juvenile female was made to arch her back with her butt in the air as Mr. Hoose performed anal sex on the juvenile female. Crystal Hoose came into the room and wanted to know what was happening. Juvenile female spent the night at the neighbor’s house. Juvenile female was interviewed at Project Harmony on 05-11-10. Juvenile female stated the sex abuse had been going on for five years and has included vaginal, anal, and oral sex. Juvenile female had also been forced to perform oral sex on Mr. Hoose.

The same day the complaints were filed, an arrest warrant was obtained, and Hoose was arrested pursuant to the arrest warrant.

On May 24, 2010, the State filed a trial information with minutes of testimony, charging the defendant with the same crimes. Four of the five witnesses2 listed in the minutes of testimony were prepared to testify in-depth about the allegations of abuse beginning when D.H. was eight years old.

Over two years later, on June 26, 2012, the State filed a motion to amend the trial information and charges against Hoose. Hoose resisted the motion to amend the trial information, alleging it violated Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.4(8).

2 The fifth witness would testify regarding the chain of evidence involving a video made of the interview of D.H. regarding her allegations of sexual abuse.

Apparently, the motion to amend was never pursued further as on July 9, 2012, the State filed a new trial information and arrest warrant for Hoose under case number FECR046498. Hoose was charged with three counts of sexual abuse in the second degree and one count of sexual abuse in the third degree. The minutes of testimony included four of the five witnesses from the previous minutes of testimony, as well as others.

On July 13, 2012, the State filed a motion to consolidate the two cases.

On July 26, 2012, Hoose filed a motion to dismiss the second case for violation of Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.33(2)(a), also known as the speedy indictment rule. The district court granted the State’s motion to consolidate and denied Hoose’s motion to dismiss, finding the second trial information charged different crimes relating to different occurrences of sex abuse that Hoose was not arrested for on May 12, 2010.

On October 31, 2012, the State again amended the trial information.

Under the consolidated case number FECR045719, the amended trial information listed the charges against Hoose as two counts of sexual abuse in the third degree and three counts of sexual abuse in the second degree.

The State filed a final amended trial information April 1, 2013, removing the count of sexual abuse in the third degree involving the May 4, 2010 incident. The remaining charges involved dates between October 2004 and September 2008.

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