State v. Cannon

120 Wash. App. 86
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided February 10, 2004·No. No. 29302-1-II·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

Houghton, J.

— Christian Michael Cannon appeals his conviction of seven counts of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He argues that the legislature amended the law to prohibit his conduct after the State charged him with his crimes and that the law cannot be retroactively applied to him. We affirm.

FACTS

On April 20, 2001, law enforcement officers of the Naval Investigative Service responded to a telephone call reporting domestic violence at Christian and Gloria Cannon’s home in Navy Submarine Base Bangor housing.

Gloria Cannon told the officers that she had found some pictures of children engaged in sexual conduct that Cannon had downloaded onto their computer. She said that she saved the pictures onto floppy disks. She voluntarily gave the disks to the officers, along with her written statement, and granted them permission to remove the computer from her home.

The officers obtained a search warrant to examine the computer. Based on the images found on the floppy disks [89] and in the computer, the State charged Cannon with 18 counts1 of possession of visual or printed material depicting a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, each with special allegation that Cannon committed the crime with sexual motivation;2 one count of fourth degree assault with a special allegation of domestic violence;3 and one count of harassment with a special allegation of domestic violence.4

On June 10, 2002, the trial court denied Cannon’s motion to suppress evidence found in the computer. He then moved to dismiss the charges based on State v. Knapstad, 107 Wn.2d 346, 729 P.2d 48 (1986). He argued that “visual or printed matter” as defined in the statute did not include digital images. The trial court denied the motion.5

A jury convicted Cannon of seven counts of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.6 He appeals.

ANALYSIS

Cannon contends that he did not violate RCW 9.68A.070, as defined in RCW 9.68A.01K1) in effect at the time he committed his crimes. He argues that the legislature amended RCW 9.68A.011 in 2002 to include digital images, indicating that the statute did not specify digital images as “visual or printed matter” when the State charged him in 2001. Appellant’s Br. at 5-11.

[90] Under Knapstad, a defendant who relies on undisputed facts can move to dismiss the charges against him, arguing that the State fails to establish a prima facie case of guilt as a matter of law. 107 Wn.2d at 356-57. But after proceeding to trial, a defendant cannot appeal the denial of a Knapstad motion, which is a pretrial challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. State v. Richards, 109 Wn. App. 648, 653, 36 P.3d 1119 (2001). He can, however, base an appeal on insufficiency of the evidence adduced at trial. Richards, 109 Wn. App. at 653.

Sufficient evidence supports a conviction when, viewing it in the light most favorable to the State, a rational fact finder could find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Salinas, 119 Wn.2d 192, 201, 829 P.2d 1068 (1992). “A claim of insufficiency admits the truth of the State’s evidence and all inferences that reasonably can be drawn therefrom.” Salinas, 119 Wn.2d at 201.

RCW 9.68A.070 provides that “[a] person who knowingly possesses visual or printed matter depicting a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct is guilty of a class C felony.” RCW 9.68A.011(2) defines “visual or printed matter” as “any photograph or other material that contains a reproduction of a photograph.” When Cannon committed his charged offenses, former RCW 9.68A.01K1) (2000) defined “photograph” as “any tangible item produced by photographing.”

Here, the court instructed the jury that in order to convict Cannon of the crime of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, it must find the following elements of the crime: (1) that between July 1, 2000 and April 20, 2001, Cannon (2) knowingly (3) possessed visual or printed matter, (4) that the printed matter depicted a minor, (5) that the minor depicted was engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and (6) the acts occurred in Washington.

In denying Cannon’s Knapstad motion, the trial court relied on Division One’s opinion in State v. Rosul, 95 Wn. App. 175, 974 P.2d 916, review denied, 139 Wn.2d 1006 [91] (1999). In Rosul, the defendant argued that the legislature did not prohibit possession of digitized information stored on a CR-ROM or computer hard drive. 95 Wn. App. at 185. He contended that the material he possessed was not tangible as required by the statute and that the computer disk alone did not prove that he possessed any depictions of a minor involved in sexually explicit conduct. Rosul, 95 Wn. App. at 185.

The Rosul court disagreed and stressed that the statute applies to “any photograph” or “ ‘other material that contains a reproduction of a photograph.’ ” Rosul, 95 Wn. App. at 186 (quoting RCW 9.68A.011(2)). Thus, the Rosul court held that the computerized pornographic images the defendant possessed originated as photographs and that the images fall within the proscriptions of RCW 9.68A.070. Rosul, 95 Wn. App. at 186. The Rosul court further noted that “the Legislature intended to draft the statute as broadly as possible to encompass any technology by which photographs containing child pornography could be reproduced and distributed.” 95 Wn. App. at 186.

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State v. Cannon, 120 Wash. App. 86 (Wash. Ct. App. 2004).

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