State v. Guzman

79 P.3d 990, 119 Wash. App. 176, 2003 Wash. App. LEXIS 2730
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedNovember 20, 2003
DocketNo. 21419-2-III
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 79 P.3d 990 (State v. Guzman) 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. Guzman, 79 P.3d 990, 119 Wash. App. 176, 2003 Wash. App. LEXIS 2730 (Wash. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

Kurtz, J.

Henry Guzman, Jr. was convicted of third degree rape. The victim was his wife’s 16-year-old sister, M.J. On appeal, Mr. Guzman contends that the amended information omitted an essential element of third degree rape and that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of a 1995 incident of sexual contact between Mr. Guzman and M.J. Mr. Guzman’s conviction is reversed because the charging document did not state the essential elements of third degree rape. The charge is dismissed without prejudice.

FACTS

Mr. Guzman was charged by an amended information with first degree sexual misconduct with a minor or, alternatively, third degree rape. Mr. Guzman is married to Sheila Johnson Guzman. The alleged victim, M.J., is Ms. Guzman’s younger sister. At the time of the incident, M.J. was 16 years old.

Pretrial Evidentiary Ruling. Before trial, the court held a hearing to determine whether to allow the State to present evidence of a sexual contact between Mr. Guzman and M.J. that occurred in 1995, some six years prior to the charged crime. At the time of this earlier incident, M.J. was 10 years old. Testimony revealed that during the 1995 incident, Mr. Guzman touched M.J.’s breasts.

The trial court determined that the evidence related to this earlier incident was admissible. The trial court concluded that the evidence was probative of whether Mr. Guzman had a “lustful disposition” toward M.J. and that [180]*180the potential prejudice did not outweigh the probative value. Report of Proceedings (RP) at 50.

Testimony. At trial, M.J. testified about the two incidents of sexual contact with Mr. Guzman. The first incident took place in 1995 and the second incident took place in 2001.

M.J. testified that on July 17, 1995, when she was 10 years old, she visited Mr. Guzman and her sister, Ms. Johnson, who were living together but not yet married. When M.J. visited her sister, M.J. would sleep on the floor and Mr. Guzman and Ms. Johnson would sleep in the bed.

On this particular evening, Mr. Guzman came home after everyone was in bed and smelled like alcohol. Soon, Mr. Guzman and Ms. Johnson started arguing. When Mr. Guzman would not stop arguing, Ms. Johnson eventually got out of bed and went to sleep on the floor next to M.J. At one point, Ms. Johnson woke up because she heard Mr. Guzman talking to M.J.; Ms. Johnson told him to leave M.J. alone. Then, Ms. Johnson went back to sleep.

Later, M.J. awoke because she felt someone touch her shoulder; she felt Mr. Guzman touch her breast. M.J. called out for her sister, who woke up, turned on the light, and told Mr. Guzman to leave. M.J. later told Ms. Johnson that Mr. Guzman had asked M.J. to get into bed with him and asked if he could kiss her.

The next morning, M.J.’s mother contacted the police, and M.J. made a written statement to police describing the incident. This statement was admitted into evidence.

Mr. Guzman testified that he did not remember the incident because he had been drinking the entire day. Ms. Johnson, now Ms. Guzman, testified that at that time Mr. Guzman had a serious drinking problem and often blacked out or hallucinated when he drank.

After the 1995 incident, M.J.’s relationship with her sister and Mr. Guzman was normal and they saw each other regularly. In mid-August 2001, M.J. went to stay with the Guzmans at their home in Wapato, Washington, to visit and to help the Guzmans care for their house and their children.

[181]*181M.J. testified that on August 15, 2001, Mr. Guzman raped her while Ms. Guzman was at work. M.J. stated that between 8:30 and 9:00 that morning, she was sitting on the couch watching television; she was wearing the outfit she had slept in — a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Mr. Guzman was sitting in a chair next to the couch; he was wearing boxer shorts. The Guzman children were playing outside.

According to M.J., Mr. Guzman came over, sat down next to her on the couch, he put his hand under the blanket, and touched her bare thigh. When M.J. got up and started to walk away, Mr. Guzman grabbed her and pushed her to the floor. M.J. stated that Mr. Guzman got on top of her, held her legs down with his legs, and held her arms above her head with his hand. Mr. Guzman tried to take her shirt off and touched her breast. He then pulled her underpants and shorts down to her knees and put his penis in her vagina. Eventually, he let go of her legs; M.J. then kicked him off, got up, and locked herself in the bathroom.

M.J. stayed with the Guzmans for the rest of the planned visit. M.J. did not tell her sister or her parents what had happened. According to M.J., Mr. Guzman told her every chance he could that she should not tell anyone about the incident. She did write an entry in her diary describing the incident. Later, M.J. confided in her therapist and a school counselor that she had been raped. The therapist encouraged M.J. to contact the police.

Mr. Guzman denied raping M.J. and denied ever having sexual intercourse with M.J.

Conviction. Before submitting the case to the jury, the court granted Mr. Guzman’s motion to dismiss the alternative charge of sexual misconduct with a minor because the State failed to establish that Mr. Guzman abused a supervisory position. The jury found Mr. Guzman guilty of the remaining charge, third degree rape. The court imposed a sentence in the standard range. Mr. Guzman appeals.

[182]*182ANALYSIS

Admission of 1995 Incident. Mr. Guzman contends the trial court erred by admitting evidence that he had prior sexual contact with M.J. He contends the evidence related to the 1995 incident is not relevant to show that he had a lustful disposition toward M.J. because the incident took place six years earlier, and no other incidents occurred during the intervening years. In response, the State contends the admission of the evidence related to the 1995 incident was probative and not unfairly prejudicial. Furthermore, the State maintains that the admission of this evidence was an appropriate exercise of the trial court’s discretion.

ER 404(b) provides as follows:

Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident.

However, evidence of a defendant’s prior sexual acts against the same victim is admissible to show the defendant’s lustful disposition toward that victim. State v. Ray, 116 Wn.2d 531, 547, 806 P.2d 1220 (1991). When considering lustful disposition, it is important that the prior conduct reveals a sexual desire for that particular victim. See State v. Ferguson, 100 Wn.2d 131, 134, 667 P.2d 68 (1983) (quoting State v. Thorne, 43 Wn.2d 47, 60-61, 260 P.2d 331 (1953)).

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State v. Guzman
79 P.3d 990 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
79 P.3d 990, 119 Wash. App. 176, 2003 Wash. App. LEXIS 2730, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-guzman-washctapp-2003.