State v. Peterson

2015 UT App 129, 351 P.3d 812, 787 Utah Adv. Rep. 39, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 128, 2015 WL 2408491
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedMay 21, 2015
Docket20130874-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2015 UT App 129 (State v. Peterson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Peterson, 2015 UT App 129, 351 P.3d 812, 787 Utah Adv. Rep. 39, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 128, 2015 WL 2408491 (Utah Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

DAVIS, Judge:

T1 Matthew Wallace Peterson appeals his convictions of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, first degree felonies, see Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-404.1(4)-(5) (Lexis-Nexis 2012); one count of rape of a child, a first degree felony, see id. § 76-5-402.1 (Supp.2014); one count of object rape of a child, a first degree felony, see id. § 76-5-402.8; and one count of tampering with a witness, a third degree felony, see id. § T6-8-508(1) (2012). We affirm.

{2 Peterson argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction on any of the five charges. When reviewing a conviction for sufficiency of the evidence, "we review the evidence and all inferences which may reasonably be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the verdict of the jury" and "will reverse the jury's conviction only if the evidence, so viewed, is sufficiently inconclusive or inherently improbable that reasonable minds must have entertained a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime of which he was convicted." 1 State v. Hales, 2007 UT 14, ¶ 36, 152 P.3d 321 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

I. Aggravated Sexual Abuse Charges

13 Peterson first asserts that the State failed to present sufficient evidence for the jury to find either that he held a position of special trust with respect to the child victim (Child) or that he penetrated her vagina when he touched her with his finger. In order to convict Peterson of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, the jury needed to find at least one of these aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. See Utah Code Ann. §$ 76-5-404.1(4). We agree with the State that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to have found both factors.

A. Penetration

$4 The penetration factor required the jury to find that Peterson "caused the penetration, however slight, of the genital ... opening of the child by any part or parts of the human body other than the genitals or mouth." Id. § 76-5-404.1(4)(J). At trial, Child testified that on two separate occasions, Peterson touched her "private" with his finger underneath her underwear. She explained that by "private," she meant her "front" private used for "[gloing to the bathroom" and distinguished it from her "bottom." She also specifically testified that when Peterson touched her private with his *814 finger, it went "in" her private. Peterson argues that Child's general reference to her private, as opposed to her vagina, was insufficient to establish penetration. He also points to the testimony of the witness who performed a physical examination on Child that children generally do not know how to express the difference between touching and penetration of their genitals. He asserts that this makes Child's testimony that Peterson put his finger "in" her private insufficient to establish the penetration aggravator. We disagree.

15 If believed, Child's testimony establishes, at a minimum, that Peterson put his finger between the outer folds of Child's labia, which "is sufficient to constitute 'penetration.'" See State v. Simmons, 759 P.2d 1152, 1154 (Utah 1988). In sexual abuse cases, child witnesses frequently refer to genitalia as "privates"; a child's failure to use an anatomical reference does not make her testimony insufficient, so long as the child's meaning is clear. Cf, eg., State v. Taylor, 2005 UT 40, ¶ 3, 116 P.3d 360 (indicating that the child witness had testified that the defendant told her "to 'suck on his private'" and described it "as tasting like urine"); State v. Pritchett, 2003 UT 24, ¶ 16, 69 P.3d 1278 (indicating that the child witness had testified that the defendant put his index and middle fingers into her "private area" and that he "sticked [sic] his privates inside her private" (internal quotation marks omitted)). Here, Child's clarification that she was referring to her "front" private, which she uses for "[gloing to the bathroom" sufficiently indicated that she was referring to her vaginal opening. And unlike in other cases where evidence of penetration has been held to be insufficient, Child specifically testified that Peterson's finger went "in" her "private." Cf Simmons, 759 P.2d at 1154 (holding that the evidence of penetration was insufficient where the victim "testified that [the] defendant put the tip of his penis 'on' her labia"); State v. Pullman, 2013 UT App 168, ¶ 13, 306 P.3d 827 (holding that the evidence of penetration was insufficient where the victim testified that the defendant "tried" to put his penis in her "butt" but that she "pushed him away before it" went inside). Whether Child had a complete understanding of what it meant for something to be "in" her private was a credibility question for the jury. But her testimony that Peterson put his finger in her private, if believed, was sufficient for- the jury to find penetration.

B. Position of Special Trust

146 The evidence was also sufficient for the jury to find that Peterson held a position of special trust with respect to Child. A position of special trust is one that puts the defendant in a "position of authority" and gives the defendant "the ability to 'exercise undue influence' over" a child. State v. Watkins, 2013 UT 28, ¶ 39, 309 P.3d 209 (quoting Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-404.1(4)(b)). Examples of positions of authority are enumerated in the aggravated sexual abuse of a child statute and include babysitters and adult cohabitants of the child's parent. 2 See Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-404.1(4) (LexisNexis 2012). Child testified that Peterson lived with her family and sometimes looked after her when her mother was at work or visiting Child's great-grandmother in the hospital. She testified that Peterson was responsible for feeding and taking care of her when her mother was away and that she was required to "pay attention ... and listen to what he said." Child's mother testified that Peterson lived with her and that he regularly picked Child up from school, fed her, and helped her *815 with her homework. © Child's mother also testified that Peterson frequently tended Child while the mother worked, visited the great-grandmother, and attended social events. Peterson told the investigating detective that "he was always taking care of" Child. This evidence supports a finding that Peterson was both a babysitter and an adult cohabitant of Child's mother and therefore held a position of authority. It also supports a finding that he was able to exert undue influence over Child because she was frequently left alone with him and he was given charge over her such that she believed she was expected to "listen to what he said." Accordingly, the evidence was sufficient to support a determi-" nation that Peterson occupied a position of special trust with respect to Child.

II. Rape of a Child and Object Rape of a Child Charges

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re C.N.
2023 UT App 41 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2023)
State v. Rust
2017 UT App 176 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2017)
State v. Kirby
2016 UT App 193 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2016)
State v. Gibson
2016 UT App 15 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2016)
State v. McCallie
2016 UT App 4 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2015 UT App 129, 351 P.3d 812, 787 Utah Adv. Rep. 39, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 128, 2015 WL 2408491, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-peterson-utahctapp-2015.