State v. Atchison

730 N.W.2d 115, 15 Neb. Ct. App. 422, 2007 Neb. App. LEXIS 39
CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 13, 2007
DocketA-06-703
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 730 N.W.2d 115 (State v. Atchison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Atchison, 730 N.W.2d 115, 15 Neb. Ct. App. 422, 2007 Neb. App. LEXIS 39 (Neb. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Sievers, Judge.

Brian J. Atchison, after a jury trial in the district court for Lancaster County, was convicted of enticement of a child for sexual purposes through the use of a computer and sentenced to a period of incarceration of 2 to 4 years. Atchison has appealed. We hold that (1) the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction, (2) evidence regarding an investigator’s background and training in computer crimes was admissible, (3) evidence concerning the *424 investigator’s explanations of certain phrases and abbreviations in the online typed conversations or “chats” was admissible, (4) the videotape of the events leading up to Atchison’s arrest was admissible and not unfairly prejudicial, and (5) the sentence was not excessive.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On June 28, 2005, Edward Sexton, an investigator with the Lincoln Police Department, went “undercover” as a 15-year-old girl named “Tami” in an Internet chat room under the assumed “ID” of “tami9005.” In order for Investigator Sexton to gain free access to the chat room, he had to create a “profile” with personal information. In the profile that Investigator Sexton created, he identified himself as a 15-year-old female student.

Investigator Sexton entered the chat room on June 28, 2005, and while he was in the chat room, Tami received an instant message from “Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies,” later identified as Atchison, who was approximately 26 years old at the time. The instant message could not be seen by others in the chat room. As further background, we note that the instant messages, as reproduced hereinafter, contain “emoticons,” which are symbols such as the well-known smiley faces. When the instant messages are saved and printed, the emoticons are translated as a word that is bracketed by exclamation marks, e.g., !Wink!, ¡Smug!, ¡Drooling!, ¡Blushing!

On June 28, 2005, Atchison sent Tami an instant message. The initial message from Atchison to Tami read as follows, which we quote because it sets the tone for the extremely graphic and sexually charged messages that he later sent (which we do not fully quote), even though Tami had told him she was “barely 15”:

“Tami, ’Sup sweetness? . . . You’ll have to be so kind as to please pardon my bluntness and for being so forward, but I twas just wondering if there might be any slight chance of me being able to persuade thee into becoming interested into CUMing” . . . “up to my place for one hell of a great lay today??”

The online chat continued, during which Atchison told Tami that his name was “Brian,” that his Web camera was on, and that he was 26 years old. Atchison showed a picture of his *425 penis to Tami at approximately 1:52 p.m. At approximately 2:04 p.m., Tami informed Atchison that she was “barely 15” and that she could not drive. Atchison asked whether she was from “www.pervertedjustice.com” and explained that such Web site involved a man who pretends to be a young girl to entrap “Perverts” and gets them arrested when they come over to the alleged young girl’s house. Tami responded that she was not from that Web site, and Atchison responded, “Kewlz” and “So you’re for real, then, ’eh??” Atchison continued to chat with Tami for over 20 minutes after he learned that she was 15 years old, and Atchison asked to come over to her home the next day when her mother would not be home.

On June 29 and July 1, 2, and 6, 2005, Atchison sent some instant messages and emoticons when Tami was online and offline, but Investigator Sexton did not respond. According to Investigator Sexton, whose testimony is detailed below, an offline message is a message that is received by the recipient’s computer at a time when the recipient is not signed onto the chat room.

On July 7, 2005, Atchison sent Tami an offline message at 10:04 a.m. that directly and graphically solicited oral and vaginal sex and asked her to get back to him. Tami responded at 10:49 a.m. by writing “oh u would huh,” and the online chat continued as follows:

[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: Oh Yeah '.Devil!
[Tami]: lol
[Tami]: u gonna pick me up?
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: Sure. Where at??
[Tami]: u kno I cant drive
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: I know.
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: I got the car today !Wink!
[Tami]: lol...
[Tami]: u musta been readin my mind
[Tami]: got up in the mood
[Tami]: lol
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: Aye !Smug! I try !Wink!
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: Sweet !Wink!
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: I aim to please !Wink!
*426 [Tami]: lol
[Tami]: ok...guess we’ll see
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: Yep.
[Tami]: i’m kinna in the area of 13 & van dom
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: Is your mother not home?? ¡Wink!
[Tami]: nope
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: Sweet
[Tami]: but u aint commin here
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: 13th & Van Dorn??
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: Well I gotta cum pick you up somewhere, right?? ¡Smug!
[Tami]: ya
[Tami]: sorry...but i dont want u to know where i live yet
[Tami]: u unnerstand
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: Totally ¡Batting Eyelashes!
[Tami]: k
[Fat Lincoln Cock 4 the Ladies]: But I’ll need a location to cum pick you up from....

The online chat continued until immediately before noon. While we do not repeat the entire chat here, we note that Atchison wrote that he was “ALWAYS Horny” and that he was “hoping that maybe you’d be feeling kinda frisky your own self.” Later in the same chat, Tami asked, “u gots protection?” and Atchison responded, “Nope ¡Smug!” and explained that he was sterile as well as free from sexually transmitted diseases.

During the chat, Atchison and Tami agreed to meet at 12:30 p.m. in the “park lot” of “Vandom Park” and then go to Atchison’s home. Atchison described his car as a “2004 Yellow Dodge Neon” and said that he would wear his “presciption glasses,” which Tami previously viewed by means of Atchison’s Web camera and referred to as his “fancy sunglasses.” Tami wrote that she would wear a black baseball hat.

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Related

State v. Petersen
744 N.W.2d 266 (Nebraska Court of Appeals, 2008)
People v. Johnson
875 N.E.2d 1256 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
730 N.W.2d 115, 15 Neb. Ct. App. 422, 2007 Neb. App. LEXIS 39, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-atchison-nebctapp-2007.