State Of Washington v. Samuel Lee Irwin

364 P.3d 830, 191 Wash. App. 644
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided December 14, 2015·No. 72338-3-I·Published·Cited by 196 cases

Opinion

Trickey, J.

¶1 — Samuel Irwin pleaded guilty to three counts of child molestation and one count of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. On appeal, Irwin argues that a community custody condition ordering him not to “frequent areas where minor children are known to congregate” is unconstitutionally vague and that a community custody condition prohibiting him from possessing access to certain technology was not crime related and was too broad. Finding that the condition prohibiting Irwin from frequenting areas where children congregate is unconstitutionally vague, we reverse that condition and remand for resentencing. Further, we affirm *648 the condition prohibiting Irwin from possessing any digital media storage device.

FACTS

¶2 Samuel Irwin had sexual contact with three underage females between June 1, 2013 and September 15, 2013. After reports of these incidents came to the attention of the Anacortes Police Department and Child Protective Services, the Anacortes Police Department and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office began interviewing the children and investigating Irwin.

¶3 On January 30, 2014, the police took custody of Irwin under an “investigative hold.” 1 A few days later, on February 3,2014, the police obtained a warrant for Irwin’s arrest.

¶4 Several of the parents and children questioned by the police mentioned that Irwin had photographs on his computer that appeared to be child pornography. Officers obtained search warrants to locate Irwin’s computer and digital camera and to analyze the contents of both. The searches revealed a history of Internet searches related to child pornography and 10 photographs on Irwin’s computer of nude or partially nude girls. 2 The photographs were all of girls from the waist down. The photographs were of girls’ vaginas and anuses. In some photographs, a man’s hand is pulling aside the girl’s underwear and touching her labia. Officers concluded that these contained depictions of minors based on the size of the girls and the lack of pubic hair or indication of any removal of pubic hair. Further, officers concluded that the subject of one of the photographs was one of Irwin’s victims, based on a distinctive T-shirt.

¶5 On July 11, 2014, Irwin pleaded guilty under a fourth amended information to three counts of child molestation in *649 the second degree and one count of possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexual conduct in the second degree. The trial court sentenced Irwin to 116 months on the child molestation charges and 60 months on the possession charge. Additionally, the court imposed 4 months of community custody based on the child molestation charges.

¶6 Two of the community custody conditions were:

5. Do not frequent areas where minor children are known to congregate, as defined by the supervising [community corrections officer (CCO)].[ 3 ]
11. You may not possess or maintain access to a computer unless specifically authorized by CCO. You may not possess any computer parts or peripherals, including but not limited to hard drives, storage devices, digital cameras, web cams, wireless video devices or receivers, CD/DVD [(compact disk/digital video disk)] burners, or any device to store or reproduce digital media or images.[ 4 ]

¶7 Irwin’s counsel objected to condition 5 because it was unconstitutionally vague and to condition 11 because it was not crime related and was too broad. Trial counsel requested that, rather than leave the definition of condition 5 to the discretion of the CCO, the court should list prohibited places as examples. The trial court explained that Irwin should not “frequent areas of high concentration of children, such as swimming pools and schools and things like that. Public restaurants would be all right.” 5 The court, considering Irwin’s arguments related to condition 11, struck the language about digital cameras and added permission for Irwin to reside somewhere that contained a prohibited device. Regarding condition 11, the court added:

I think we just let the language ride. If we tried to micromanage that language, we’d have a document a hundred pages long, *650 and if . . . [the Department of Corrections] officer believes there’s a violation, we’d just have to look at it circumstance by circumstance and see if it was.
We’ve got to hope that they have the common sense that they can determine the wheat from the chaff.[ 6 ]

After these comments and changes, the final version of condition 11 read:

11. You may not possess or maintain access to a computer unless specifically authorized by CCO. You may not possess any computer parts or peripherals, including but not limited to hard drives, storage devices, or any device to store or reproduce digital media or images. Defendant may reside in a residence where a computer or other device capable of storing images is located.[ 7 ]

¶8 Irwin timely appeals.

ANALYSIS

Vagueness Challenge to Community Custody Condition Prohibiting Irwin from Frequenting Areas Where Minor Children Congregate

Ripeness

¶9 The State argues that the community custody condition requiring Irwin not to “frequent areas where minor children are known to congregate, as defined by the supervising CCO,” is not ripe for review. Community custody conditions are ripe for review on direct appeal “ ‘if the issues raised are primarily legal, do not require further factual development, and the challenged action is final.’” State v. Bahl, 164 Wn.2d 739, 751, 193 P.3d 678 (2008) (quoting First United Methodist Church of Seattle v. Hr’g Exam’r for Seattle Landmarks Pres. Bd., 129 *651 Wn.2d 238, 255-56, 916 P.2d 374 (1996)). Courts should also consider the hardship to the parties if they are forced to wait. State v. Sanchez Valencia, 169 Wn.2d 782, 790, 239 P.3d 1059 (2010).

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State Of Washington v. Samuel Lee Irwin, 364 P.3d 830, 191 Wash. App. 644 (Wash. Ct. App. 2015).

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