State v. Clinkenbeard

123 P.3d 872
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedNovember 29, 2005
Docket23189-5-III
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 123 P.3d 872 (State v. Clinkenbeard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Clinkenbeard, 123 P.3d 872 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

123 P.3d 872 (2005)
130 Wash.App. 552

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Dennis A. CLINKENBEARD, Appellant.

No. 23189-5-III.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3.

November 29, 2005.

*875 Robert C. Van Siclen, Michael J. Kelly, Van Siclen, Stocks & Firkins, Auburn, WA, for Appellant.

Karl F. Sloan, Okanogan County Prosecuting Attorney, Okanogan, WA, for Respondent.

THOMPSON, J. Pro Tem.[*]

¶ 1 Dennis Clinkenbeard appeals his conviction for sexual misconduct with a minor in the first degree. He contends that the pertinent statute, RCW 9A.44.093(1)(b), is unconstitutional on its face and as applied in his case. He argues that it violates substantive due process and equal protection guarantees because it criminalizes consensual, private, adult sexual conduct. He also asserts that the trial court erred when it allowed impeachment testimony to be used in the State's closing argument as substantive evidence of guilt. We reverse.

FACTS

¶ 2 This case arises out of a sexual relationship between an 18-year-old high school student, M.Q., and Dennis Clinkenbeard, a 62-year-old bus driver. While the evidence at trial indicated the sexual component to their relationship did not begin until after M.Q. turned 18, it also showed the romantic relationship began when M.Q. was only 12.

¶ 3 Mr. Clinkenbeard was employed as a bus driver for the Grand Coulee School District from 1997 until 2003. M.Q. was in the *876 fifth grade and was approximately 12 years old at the time that Mr. Clinkenbeard first began to drive her school bus. Mr. Clinkenbeard is 44 years older than M.Q.

¶ 4 Mr. Clinkenbeard paid special attention to M.Q. as her bus driver. He would give M.Q. personal notes and testimony at trial indicated that he placed his hands on her buttocks on more than one occasion. Once M.Q. became older and no longer rode on Mr. Clinkenbeard's bus route, the two passed notes through M.Q.'s younger brother. There were several occasions, however, when Mr. Clinkenbeard drove the bus for school events that M.Q. attended. During one of these trips, a friend of M.Q.'s witnessed the two kissing on the bus. When M.Q. was in ninth grade, she began taking music lessons from Mr. Clinkenbeard. The two talked frequently over the phone.

¶ 5 Mr. Clinkenbeard divorced his wife during M.Q.'s senior year of high school, shortly after M.Q. turned 18. He then moved his trailer next to M.Q.'s house. M.Q. told a friend that she and Mr. Clinkenbeard had had sex on more than one occasion. However, she said that they did not have sex until May 2003, which was after M.Q. had turned 18 but before she had graduated from high school. Neither M.Q. nor Mr. Clinkenbeard ever made any statements or otherwise indicated that they had sex prior to M.Q. turning 18.

¶ 6 Based on reports from several sources of an improper relationship between Mr. Clinkenbeard and M.Q., Sergeant Larry Hall and Officer Joseph Lauseng served a search warrant on M.Q.'s residence on June 4, 2003. In their search of her room, the officers uncovered several items relating to M.Q.'s relationship with Mr. Clinkenbeard, including gifts, photos, and personal letters.

¶ 7 Officer Lauseng also questioned M.Q. about her relationship with Mr. Clinkenbeard. Specifically, the officers tried to find out if the two had ever been intimate or had sex. Sergeant Hall asked if M.Q. wanted him to tell her mom that M.Q. and Mr. Clinkenbeard were sexually involved. M.Q. responded that, "[n]ews like this, a mother should hear from her daughter." Report of Proceedings (RP) I at 125.

¶ 8 At trial, M.Q. explained that her statement was not an admission that she and Mr. Clinkenbeard had sex, but was merely an attempt to end the line of questioning from Sergeant Hall. When asked directly if she and Mr. Clinkenbeard had sex, M.Q. stated, "No." RP II at 77.

¶ 9 Mr. Clinkenbeard was charged on June 9, 2003, with two counts of child molestation in the second degree, one count of sexual misconduct in the first degree, and one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes. He was ultimately tried on the molestation and sexual misconduct charges only. A jury found Mr. Clinkenbeard not guilty of the two counts of molestation, but convicted him of sexual misconduct with a minor in the first degree.

ANALYSIS

I. DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION CHALLENGES TO RCW 9A.44.093(1)(b)

¶ 10 Mr. Clinkenbeard contends that the United States Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas has established that the right of consenting adults to engage in private sexual behavior is protected under the fundamental rights of privacy and intimate association. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558, 123 S.Ct. 2472, 156 L.Ed.2d 508 (2003). He further asserts that RCW 9A.44.093(1)(b) is unconstitutional on its face and as applied in his case because this statute intrudes on the fundamental rights of privacy and intimate association and is not necessary to serve a compelling state interest.

¶ 11 RCW 9A.44.093(1)(b) makes it a class C felony for any school employee to have sexual intercourse with a registered student of that school who is at least 16 years old if there is an age difference of five years or more between the employee and the student. By its terms, this statute can be applied to criminally prosecute a public school employee who has sexual intercourse with a student who is legally an adult (over the age of 18) and does not require the school employee to be in a position of authority or supervision over the students.

*877 ¶ 12 "The interpretation of a statute and the determination of whether a statute violates the United States Constitution are issues of law that are reviewed de novo." In re Parentage of C.A.M.A., 154 Wash.2d 52, 57, 109 P.3d 405 (2005). Where the constitutionality of a statute is challenged, the statute is presumed constitutional and the burden is on the party challenging the statute to prove its unconstitutionality beyond a reasonable doubt. Tunstall v. Bergeson, 141 Wash.2d 201, 220, 5 P.3d 691 (2000). Courts are generally hesitant to strike a duly enacted statute unless fully convinced that the statute violated the constitution. Id. If possible, a statute should be construed as constitutional. State v. Farmer, 116 Wash.2d 414, 419-20, 805 P.2d 200, 812 P.2d 858 (1991).

A. Facial constitutionality of RCW 9A.44.093(1)(b)

¶ 13 Mr. Clinkenbeard asserts that RCW 9A.44.093(1)(b) is unconstitutional on its face. However, in order to make a facial challenge to this statute, he must show that there is no set of circumstances in which the statute, as currently written, can be constitutionally applied. City of Redmond v. Moore, 151 Wash.2d 664, 669, 91 P.3d 875 (2004).

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Bluebook (online)
123 P.3d 872, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-clinkenbeard-washctapp-2005.