State Of Washington v. Michael Shannon Derouen

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided July 29, 2013·No. 70349-8·Unpublished

Opinion

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

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 70349-8-

Respondent,

v.

MICHAEL SHANNON DEROUEN, UNPUBLISHED OPINION Appellant. FILED: July 29, 2013

Verellen, J. — Michael Derouen appeals his convictions for four counts of rape of a child in the third degree. The State presented evidence that Derouen had engaged in sexual intercourse with victim B.D. when she was between 14 and 15 years old. Derouen contends the trial court erred in admitting evidence of prior sexual misconduct under RCW 10.58.090 and ER 404(b). The State concedes our Supreme Court has since declared RCW 10.58.090 unconstitutional. Only some of the evidence was admissible under ER 404(b), and the trial court failed to give a proper limiting instruction to accompany it. However, both the inadmissible ER 404(b) testimony and the instructional error were harmless, given the strength of the State's evidence.

Finally, Derouen contends, and the State concedes, that the court erred in imposing a sentence that exceeded the statutory maximum. We affirm Derouen's convictions, but remand for resentencing in accordance with RCW 9.94A.701(9). At resentencing, we direct the trial court to reconsider the scope and duration of the no- contact orders prohibiting Derouen from interacting with his sons and male minors.

FACTS

In early 2004, Michael Derouen hired 14-year-old neighbor B.D. to babysit his

three sons.1 She started babysitting the children about once a week. B.D. testified that Derouen was friendly to her, asking about her life. He constantly asked who B.D. was

dating and steered the conversation toward sex and romance, and, eventually, directly flirted with her. He then started having B.D. over more regularly, including Fridays and

weekends, and began to kiss her and touch her. B.D. testified that Derouen "made me feel really good about it [sexual contact]. Ithought somebody cared about me and was

interested in me."2 Shefurther testified Derouen told her he loved her and that they would get married "as soon as Iturned 18."3 He would give her "little trinkets" all the time, and would give her gifts for Valentine's Day, Christmas, and her birthday.4 B.D. testified that they first had sexual intercourse on June 27, 2004, after having

oral sex a few times. By the summer of 2004, B.D. and Derouen were engaging in frequent oral sex and intercourse. B.D. ended the relationship in December 2005 or January 2006 and told her parents about it. B.D.'s father reported Derouen to Child Protective Services.

1At the time, Derouen was married to Catherine Merritt, who went by the name "Cassie." Cassie moved out of the Derouen house in the spring of 2006.

2 Report of Proceedings (RP) (July 25, 2011) at 346.

3id, at 365.

4 Id. at 366.

ER 404(b) Evidence Regarding J.S. and D.L.

Before trial, the court heard argument on the admissibility under ER 404(b) and RCW 10.58.090 of the testimony of J.S. and D.L., two other young women with whom Derouen allegedly had sexual relationships. The court concluded the testimony of J.S. was admissible under ER 404(b) and the testimony of D.L. was admissible under both RCW 10.58.090 and ER 404(b).

a. J.S. Testimony J.S. met Derouen at a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) convention in the summer of 2002. She was 15 years old at the time. The two saw each other again at another VFW convention in January of 2003. During these conventions, they became friendly and talked to each other somewhat frequently. In January of 2004, at another VFW convention, J.S. got into a fight with her stepmother and went to Derouen's hotel room to talk. They began talking, which eventually led to kissing and sexual intercourse. J.S. testified that she had sex with Derouen voluntarily.

After their one sexual encounter at the VFW convention, J.S. and Derouen ceased to have a sexual relationship. When J.S. turned 18, she moved out of her parents' house, and shortly thereafter moved in with the Derouens. She began taking care of his children and cleaning the house in exchange for rent, and soon developed a close relationship with Cassie.

b. D.L. Testimony

Derouen and D.L. met in September of 2004, when D.L. was 13 years old.5 She was walking past the Derouen home and noticed they were giving away a glass

D.L.'s date of birth is October 24, 1990.

terrarium. She knocked on their door to ask whether she could take it, and then Derouen offered to show D.L. his reptile collection. D.L. returned to visit because she liked Derouen's kids and thought it was a fun environment. Over the next few months, D.L. began spending more and more time at the Derouen house, about two to three times a week, and would occasionally spend the night in the room where J.S. also stayed. She went on vacations with the family. At some point between the fall of 2004 and the spring of 2005, Derouen kissed D.L. while she was pretending to sleep. D.L. continued to spend time with the Derouens through 2006, when Cassie moved out. D.L. spent Christmas with the family and received gifts.

Soon after Cassie moved out in spring of 2006, Derouen told D.L. that he was in love with her. D.L. was stunned, and said that she loved Derouen too. She was 15

years old at this point. Over the next few months, Derouen began touching her on her breasts and vagina, and they eventually had sexual intercourse. Derouen told D.L. that

he was sacrificing his freedom to be with her, which made D.L. feel that "[i]t was a

burden, but at the same time it made me feel that Iwas important."6 Derouen told D.L. that she was really sexy, and that she "needed to show that [she] loved him; otherwise, he would not be okay, and he could kill himself or something."7 Derouen told D.L. that they would get married when she turned 18. Derouen testified that D.L. eventually moved into the Derouen home and lived there from August 2007 until April 2008.

Eventually, D.L. began feeling bad about the relationship and ceased spending time at the Derouen home.

6 RP (July 21, 2011) at 154.

7 Id.

D.L. then reported the relationship to the police. Police worked with D.L. to record a phone conversation between her and Derouen, in which he admitted having sex with her:

D.L: So, urn having sex with me did bother you-l mean having a wife and having sex [with] me didn't bother you?

DEROUEN: Yeah it did.183 Derouen testified at trial and admitted that he had sex with J.S. during the VFW convention, but said it was consensual and happened when J.S. was 17. He denied having any sexual contact with B.D. or D.L. Other witnesses testified they had not observed any alarming behavior between B.D. and Derouen, or any other young women.

The State charged Derouen with four counts of rape of a child in the third degree,

pursuant to RCW 9A.44.0799 for incidents with B.D. between June 2004 and March 2005. The jury convicted Derouen of all four counts. The court sentenced him to 60

months of confinement, equal to the statutory maximum. The court also imposed 36 months of community custody, noting "[t]otal confinement, to include incarceration and

community custody combined[,] shall not exceed 60 month statutory maximum."10 Finally, the court entered a no-contact order, preventing Derouen from having contact

8Clerk's Papers at 95.

9"A person is guilty of rape of a child in the third degree when the person has sexual intercourse with another who is at least fourteen years old but less than sixteen years old and not married to the perpetrator and the perpetrator is at least forty-eight months older than the victim." RCW 9A.44.079(1).

10 Clerk's Papers at 216.

"with minors except for defendant's sons, so long as the sons request the contact."11 Derouen timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

ER 404(b) Opinion Testimony Derouen asserts the trial court erred in admitting J.S. and D.L.'s testimony. The State sought admission of the testimony under the common scheme or plan exception to ER 404(b)'s prohibition of propensity evidence. ER 404(b) provides:

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