State Of Washington, V. Timothy Michael Foley

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided March 21, 2023·No. 56498-0·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed

Washington State

Court of Appeals

Division Two

March 21, 2023

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II

STATE OF WASHINGTON No. 56498-0-II

Respondent,

v.

TIMOTHY MICHAEL FOLEY, UNPUBLISHED OPINION Appellant.

GLASGOW, C.J.—KR told police that her ex-fiancé, Timothy Michael Foley, was harassing her by phone and social media, and police obtained a warrant to search Foley’s cell phone for certain evidence. When executing the search warrant, two officers saw material that appeared to be depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.1 Police obtained a second search warrant and seized evidence that Foley possessed such depictions.

The State charged Foley with multiple counts of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. At trial, Foley unsuccessfully moved to suppress the evidence recovered from his cell phone.

A jury found Foley guilty of seven counts of first degree possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and four counts of second degree possession of such depictions. When the trial court sentenced Foley, it dismissed without prejudice three counts of

1 We recognize that many organizations advocating for survivors of sexual abuse use the term “child sexual abuse material.” We use the term “minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct” to mirror the language in RCW 9.68A.070, the statute that criminalizes possessing such depictions.

second degree possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct to prevent double jeopardy violations. The court imposed a total of 102 months of confinement.

Foley argues that the trial court improperly denied his suppression motion. He also contends that one conviction violated double jeopardy because the court entered eight convictions when Foley committed seven units of prosecution. He assigns error to the trial court’s entry of several community custody conditions.

We affirm the trial court’s denial of Foley’s suppression motion and hold that no double jeopardy violation occurred. We also hold that the community custody conditions prohibiting Foley from accessing sexually exploitative materials and information pertaining to minors are unconstitutionally vague or overbroad. We remand for the trial court to revise or strike them, direct the trial court to strike the condition requiring breath tests and the imposition of community supervision fees, and otherwise affirm the judgment and sentence.

FACTS

I. BACKGROUND

On May 20, 2019, KR called the police. She told an officer that Foley, her ex-fiancé, had been harassing her by phone and social media. She had received an e-mail from Foley dated May 19, 2019. In the e-mail, Foley wrote, “I’m sorry you chose for it to be this way[.] Maybe none of this material will impact custody, employment, Watson Furniture or social standing.” Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 22. KR had a young son and KR’s boyfriend, KJ, worked at Watson Furniture when she received the e-mail.

KR said that the day after Foley sent the e-mail, she got a phone call from SW, her son’s father. SW informed her about a “strange” Facebook message from an anonymous user. CP at 21.

The message said SW “might want to search the name [KR] on [Xvideos.com] and similar sites.” Id. Foley later admitted to sending the Facebook message.

KR told the officer that she searched her name on Xvideos.com and found a pornographic video of herself and her current boyfriend, KJ. When KR and Foley were in a relationship, Foley “enjoyed watching videos of her having sexual encounters with other people.” Id. KR said the video on Xvideos.com was taken on her phone more than a year ago and that only Foley and KJ “would have had access to it with her permission.” CP at 21-22. She did not give anyone permission to post the video and she was confident Foley had posted it.

Later that day, KR contacted the officer again. She said that when she typed her name into Xvideos.com, she found a profile—created that day—with sexually explicit pictures of herself, recordings of herself engaging in sexual acts, and private information about her, including her relationship with KJ. She also saw pictures taken from her Facebook profile. KR said Foley appeared to be actively uploading pictures to the Xvideos.com profile.

In May 2019, with SW’s approval, law enforcement got a search warrant for SW’s Facebook account. They found the conversation with the anonymous user who pointed SW to Xvideos.com. After identifying the anonymous user’s Facebook account, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the account the following month. Facebook responded that same month with records for the account, which showed that it was created using an email address referencing KR’s name and birth date and a phone number similar to the one law enforcement had on file for Foley. Using these records, law enforcement also determined that the person who sent the anonymous message to SW did so from a location close to Foley’s apartment.

II. SEARCH WARRANTS INVOLVING FOLEY’S CELL PHONE A. First Search Warrant On December 26, 2019, a superior court judge issued a warrant to seize the cell phone associated with Foley’s number. The warrant authorized a search of the cell phone for evidence of cyberstalking and disclosing intimate images. The warrant authorized officers to search and seize the following:

1. Cellular telephone assigned phone number [ending in 4877];

2. A forensic search of the cellular phone referenced above for: internet history, Facebook, and Facebook Messenger account activity associated with [the email address with KR’s name and birth date] between 5/18/2019 04:54:48 UTC and 5/20/2019 05:21:19 UTC, videos and images of [KR and/or KJ], images and any data related to [Xvideos.com] profile [KR], internet history regarding Xvideos.com, any data indicating dominion and control of the cellular phone, all related to RCW 9.61.260 Cyberstalking & RCW 9A.86.010 Disclosing intimate images;

3. Authorize examination of any application being used for location sharing, and/or geofencing used to notify when arriving or leaving a location;

4. Authorize technical assistance by agents and/or employees of any outside experts deemed necessary to assist in obtaining the above described information.

CP at 17 (emphasis added).

The next day, Detectives Gerald Swayze and Chad Birkenfeld went to Foley’s home and asked to speak with him. The officers spoke with Foley in an unmarked police car. Swayze asked if the phone number ending in 4877 was Foley’s phone number and Foley said it was. Swayze then said he had a search warrant for Foley’s cell phone. Foley gave Swayze the cell phone and said he had no password. Birkenfeld asked Foley “if there was anything on the phone that shouldn’t be on there,” including depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. CP at 92. Foley said he did not think so.

Once they finished speaking with Foley, Swayze and Birkenfeld drove away. While Birkenfeld was in the front passenger seat, he asked Swayze what the warrant encompassed and what items needed to be searched. Swayze told him to search for photos and videos of KR, describing KR’s appearance. Birkenfeld began a search of the cell phone that lasted roughly five minutes. At that point, Birkenfeld had not read the warrant himself. In a file titled “downloads,” Birkenfeld saw a sexually explicit image of a girl who appeared to be between the ages of 8 and 10. Id. Birkenfeld immediately stopped his review of images on the phone.

After Swayze and Birkenfeld returned to the sheriff’s office, Swayze searched Foley’s cell phone. Swayze was in his office alone when he did so. In an interview with defense counsel, Swayze described the search:

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State Of Washington, V. Timothy Michael Foley, (Wash. Ct. App. 2023).

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