State v. Hahn

799 N.W.2d 25, 2011 Minn. App. LEXIS 60, 2011 WL 2119333
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedMay 31, 2011
DocketNo. A10-780
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 799 N.W.2d 25 (State v. Hahn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Hahn, 799 N.W.2d 25, 2011 Minn. App. LEXIS 60, 2011 WL 2119333 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

OPINION

HALBROOKS, Judge.

On appeal from his conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, appellant argues that (1) he was denied a speedy trial; (2) the district court committed reversible error by allowing the state to introduce sexually explicit images of the victim found on appellant’s computer; (3) the district court erred by ordering that appellant’s sentences be served consecutively; and (4) the victim’s testimony should have been excluded under the doctrine of judicial estoppel. We conclude that appellant was not denied a speedy trial and that the district court properly admitted both the images of the victim and the victim’s testimony. But because concurrent sentencing was presumptive, and because the district court failed to articulate a valid basis for a sentencing departure, we reverse the sentence and remand for resentencing consistent with this opinion.

FACTS

On September 4, 2007, the state charged appellant Kris Alan Hahn with the crime of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.342, subd. 1(a) (2004). The complaint alleged that in or between July 2005 and August 2005, appellant (born March 18, 1957) twice raped K.H., the daughter of an old friend of appellant. K.H. turned 12 on July 28, 2005. After the second rape, appellant took pictures of K.H. in the nude and wearing her mother’s lingerie; he posed her, among other places, in her baby sister’s crib and in the bathtub. In December 2006, appellant took more pictures of K.H., two of which were subsequently found on appellant’s computer and admitted at trial: one depicts K.H. clothed, in a sexually suggestive pose, and another is an unclothed close-up of her genitalia. In spring 2007, K.H. told her mother, B.H., about the rapes and the photographs, and B.H. reported them to the police. In investigating the allegations, police officers seized appellant’s computer and discovered pornographic pictures of K.H. on it. The police also discovered that appellant had [29]*29attached the images to e-mail that he sent to K.H.

In a separate proceeding, appellant was charged in federal court with one count of production of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a), (e) (2006). Appellant pleaded guilty to that charge, and on January 23, 2009, he was sentenced to 210 months in prison. The resolution of appellant’s case in state court was deferred while the federal case proceeded.

Appellant’s first appearance on the state charge after the federal sentencing was in February 2009. On March 26, 2009, appellant moved pro se to dismiss the state complaint on the grounds that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel and been deprived of a speedy trial. On April 24, 2009, appellant’s counsel withdrew from the case. On August 10, appellant moved to suppress the photographs of K.H. found on his computer and statements that he had made during the plea and sentencing hearings in his federal case. On September 25, the district court denied appellant’s motion to dismiss for denial of a speedy trial. Before trial, the district court denied appellant’s motions to exclude the photographs of K.H. and the statements that appellant had made at his plea and sentencing hearings in the federal case. K.H. testified at trial, and over appellant’s objection, the district court allowed the jury to see several photographs that appellant had taken of K.H.

The jury found appellant guilty and found, in response to a question submitted by the court following the verdict, that appellant had penetrated K.H. more than once. The presentencing report recommended a sentence of 144 months (the presumptive sentence), to be served consecutively to the federal sentence. At the February 8, 2010 sentencing, the district court stated that the jury’s finding that appellant penetrated his victim more than once provides a basis for either a durational departure or for imposing the sentence consecutive to the federal sentence. The district court sentenced appellant to 100 months in prison, to be served consecutive to the federal sentence. Appellant moved the district court to reconsider his motion to dismiss the charge on the ground that he was denied a speedy trial; the district court denied the motion. This appeal follows.

ISSUES

I. Was appellant denied his right to a speedy trial?

II. Did the district court abuse its discretion by admitting into evidence photographs of K.H. taken by appellant?

III. Did the district court abuse its discretion by ordering that appellant serve his state sentence consecutive to his unexpired federal sentence?

IV. Did the district court abuse its discretion by failing to exclude KH.’s testimony pursuant to the doctrine of judicial estoppel?

ANALYSIS

I.

Appellant argues that the case should have been dismissed because he was denied a speedy trial. A speedy-trial challenge presents a constitutional question subject to de novo review. State v. Cham, 680 N.W.2d 121, 124 (Minn.App.2004), review denied (Minn. July 20, 2004). “The right to a speedy trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 6 of the Minnesota Constitution.” State v. DeRosier, 695 N.W.2d 97, 108 (Minn.2005). “By rule in Minnesota, trial is to commence within 60 days from the date of the demand unless good cause is shown ... [30]*30why the defendant should not be brought to trial within that period.” Id. at 108-09 (citing Minn. R.Crim. P. 6.06,11.10).

In determining whether an accused has been deprived of the right to a speedy trial, Minnesota courts have adopted the four-factor balancing test announced by the United States Supreme Court in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972). State v. Widell, 258 N.W.2d 795, 796 (Minn.1977). The four factors are: (1) the length of the delay; (2) the reason for the delay; (3) whether the defendant asserted his right to a speedy trial; and (4) whether the delay prejudiced the defendant. State v. Windish, 590 N.W.2d 311, 315 (Minn.1999). No one factor is necessary to or dispositive of a determination that a defendant was denied the right to a speedy trial; the factors must be considered together in light of the relevant circumstances. Id.

A. Length of Delay

In Minnesota, a delay of more than 60 days from the date of the speedy-trial demand is presumptively prejudicial, triggering review of the remaining three factors. Id. at 315-16. Here, the record shows that appellant demanded a speedy trial on March 26, 2009,1 and that trial began on November 9, 2009 (228 days later), indicating that consideration of the other Barker factors is warranted.

B. Reason for Delay

The responsibility for promptly bringing a case to trial rests with the state. Barker, 407 U.S. at 529, 92 S.Ct. at 2191. Although the state has the primary burden of ensuring a speedy trial, delays are assigned different weights in assessing whether a defendant’s speedy-trial right has been violated. Id. at 531, 92 S.Ct. at 2192; Cham,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
799 N.W.2d 25, 2011 Minn. App. LEXIS 60, 2011 WL 2119333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hahn-minnctapp-2011.