State Of Washington v. Andrew F. Hieb

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided June 9, 2020·No. 51874-1·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed

Washington State

Court of Appeals

Division Two

June 9, 2020

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 51874-1-II

Respondent,

v.

ANDREW FLOYD HIEB, UNPUBLISHED OPINION Appellant.

SUTTON, J. — Andrew Floyd Hieb appeals his convictions for two counts of first degree child rape, one count of first degree child molestation, one count of first degree attempted rape of a child, and one count of second degree child molestation.

Hieb argues that the State’s arguments during closing were improper and prejudicial, and violated his right to a fair trial. The asserted improper arguments made by the prosecutor included: (1) describing the victim’s testimony by speaking in the first person; (2) arguing that Hieb told the victim that the abuse was her fault; (3) claiming that Hieb’s counsel asked the jury to blame the victim; (4) implying that the victim suffered from a torn hymen; (5) arguing the jury should consider what the victim endured; (6) misstating the burden of proof when she compared reasonable doubt to a jury having confidence in its decision; (7) vouching for the victim’s credibility; and (8) arguing that the justice due Hieb was also due to the victim. Hieb claims that the cumulative effect of these asserted improper arguments violated his right to a fair trial.

We agree that the first four arguments were improper. We assume without deciding that the next two arguments were improper but conclude that the trial court’s instruction cured any prejudice. We conclude that the last two arguments were not improper. Our ultimate holding is that none of the arguments standing alone are sufficiently prejudicial to warrant reversal and Hieb fails to show that the cumulative effect of the errors denied him a fair trial. Thus, we affirm the convictions.

FACTS

I. BACKGROUND

The State charged Hieb with one count of first degree rape of a child (count I) and three counts of first degree child molestation (counts II-IV). The State filed an amended information adding one count of second degree child molestation (count V), one count of first degree child molestation (count VI) and amending count III to include the alternative means of first degree attempted rape of a child.

At trial, the State’s case was based on the testimony of the victim. Defense counsel argued that there was reasonable doubt because there was evidence that impeached the victim’s testimony, there was no corroborating evidence, and the State failed to adequately investigate the allegations.

II. THE VICTIM’S TESTIMONY The victim testified at trial that she knew Hieb her entire life because he was her mother’s childhood friend and lived up the road from their house. The victim saw Hieb five days a week. She would often go to his house for dinner when she was younger. Hieb worked in landscaping and helped the victim’s mother with the house.

The victim testified that Hieb sexually abused her repeatedly when she was in elementary school. She gave extremely detailed accounts of each incident.

The victim testified that she never reported the abuse because Hieb told her not to and she thought it was her fault. On October 9, 2016, the victim’s mother was informed of an incident involving allegations of improper conduct by Hieb with the victim’s young niece. The victim’s mother asked her if Hieb had ever touched her after learning what had happened to her niece. The victim told her mother that Hieb had been sexually touching her for her entire life. Shortly thereafter, she and her mother called the police. An officer came to their house and the victim spoke with a child forensic interviewer.

III. JURY INSTRUCTIONS

During trial, the State proposed the standard Washington Pattern Jury Instruction, 4.01, regarding reasonable doubt which includes the “abiding belief” language. Hieb proposed a jury instruction explicitly omitting the “abiding belief” language.

The trial court accepted Hieb’s proposed instruction omitting the “abiding belief” to which the State took exception. The State argued, “My understanding is that the court is not allowing the State to use the words ‘abiding belief,’ which I would argue to the court that ‘abiding belief’ is an accurate statement of the law. The State should be allowed to argue that even if the court is going to give the defense[’s] proposed instruction of ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’” Report of Proceedings (RP) at 976. To which the court responded, “Well, if I was going to give ‘abiding belief,’ then it would be perfectly fine to argue that. Since I’m not, you can’t. You have to argue the law based on the instructions of the court.” RP at 976.

The court’s instruction on reasonable doubt stated,

A reasonable doubt is one for which a reason exists and may arise from the evidence or lack of evidence. It is such a doubt as would exist in the mind of a reasonable person after fully, fairly, and carefully considering all of the evidence or lack of evidence.

Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 46.

IV. CLOSING ARGUMENTS

A. SPEAKING IN THE FIRST PERSON TO DESCRIBE THE VICTIM’S TESTIMONY The prosecutor began closing arguments as follows:

[STATE]: Thank you, Your Honor. “When it happened, I didn’t understand what he was doing to me. I didn’t understand the gravity --”

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Objection, Your Honor. At this time, counsel is speaking in the first person. She is playing to the prejudice and passions of the jury. This is inappropriate.

THE COURT: Overruled. You may proceed.

[STATE]: Thank you. “I didn’t understand the gravity of what was happening to me. I trusted him. I didn’t want to make my mom mad. I thought it was my fault.”

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Objection.

THE COURT: Objection is overruled.

[STATE]: “He stopped when I told him to stop. He never touched me again.” [The victim] testified and told you that she held on to what the defendant had done to her, kept it to herself for over eight years of sexual abuse.

RP at 995-96. B. ARGUMENT THAT HIEB TOLD THE VICTIM THE ABUSE WAS HER FAULT The prosecutor argued the following:

[STATE]: Defense counsel make[s] the comments about the shortcomings of the law enforcement investigation. I submit to you that those shortcomings don’t

change what happened to [the victim]. [The victim] has been blamed for the defendant’s actions by him telling her that it is her fault. She is the one in trouble.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Objection, Your Honor. There is no testimony to support that. Assumes facts not in evidence.

THE COURT: The jury will determine what the facts are. They have been advised previously that the lawyer’s remarks, statements, and arguments are not evidence.

They determine what the evidence was.

RP at 1086 (emphasis added). C. DEFENSE COUNSEL ASKED THE JURY TO BLAME THE VICTIM The prosecutor’s above quoted argument implied that defense counsel was advocating for the jury to blame the victim. D. IMPLYING THAT THE VICTIM SUFFERED FROM A TORN HYMEN In his closing argument, defense counsel argued that there was insufficient evidence because law enforcement failed to conduct additional investigation. The prosecutor argued on rebuttal that there could always be more evidence, but that here, there was enough evidence to convict.

The prosecutor argued the following:

[STATE]: We have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, and we can do that if our witness is credible and you find her credible and you find that she has testified to the elements in this packet and that we have proven it beyond a reasonable doubt.

That is how we do it. There is nothing that says we need to corroborate.

I would submit to you, as we’ve discussed earlier, these are crimes of secrecy. You are not going to have corroborating evidence. So what if she had a medical exam? That would have been great. It would have been one more box to check off. Who is to say that torn hymen is from the defendant? There is nothing to say that. There’s other ways for those things to happen. It’s not going to be –

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Objection, Your Honor. Assumes facts not in evidence.

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State Of Washington v. Andrew F. Hieb, (Wash. Ct. App. 2020).

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