State v. Vars

237 P.3d 378
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedAugust 16, 2010
Docket62673-6-I
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 237 P.3d 378 (State v. Vars) 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. Vars, 237 P.3d 378 (Wash. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

237 P.3d 378 (2010)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Jeffrey L. VARS, Appellant.

No. 62673-6-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

August 16, 2010.

*379 Lila J. Silverstein, Wash. App. Project, Sea., WA, for Appellant.

Randi J. Austell, King Co. Pros. Att., Sea., WA, for Respondent.

LEACH, A.C.J.

¶ 1 Jeffrey Vars appeals his convictions for two counts of indecent exposure with sexual motivation. He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to establish that he exposed his genitalia, that he knew that this exposure would cause affront or alarm, and that he did so with sexual motivation. He also claims that one of his convictions violates double jeopardy because the two counts were based *380 on separate witness observations during a single extended period of exposure.

¶ 2 Because a witness need not observe the defendant's exposed genitalia and the State presented sufficient circumstantial evidence that Vars exposed himself with the knowledge that he was likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm, sufficient evidence supports one conviction for indecent exposure. A reasonable trier of fact could infer from the evidence that Vars's actions were sexually motivated. But because his behavior constituted only a single unit of prosecution, one of his two convictions violates double jeopardy. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

FACTS

¶ 3 At around 2:00 a.m., May 3, 2008, Jeffrey Vars drove to a Kirkland neighborhood, parked his car, removed his clothing, and began wandering naked through the streets. Approximately 30 minutes later, A.C. looked out the bedroom window on the second story of his condominium and saw a man, later identified as Vars, walking swiftly down the street. Vars was "completely nude" except for his shoes. A.C. felt ambivalent about the sighting, but since he considered the conduct inappropriate, he decided to call 911. A.C. saw Vars's buttocks but he did not see his genitalia.

¶ 4 Shortly after 5:00 a.m., D.B. was driving his car in the area when a man, later identified as Vars, ran across his headlights. D.B. could see that Vars was naked, though he appeared to be wearing a ski mask. Vars held his hands "up in sort of a menacing kind of posture." D.B. pulled into the post office parking lot and observed Vars crouching in the bushes along the road and watching him as D.B. turned his car around. D.B. called 911 and reported the sighting to the police. Like A.C., D.B. saw Vars's buttocks but not his genitalia.

¶ 5 Officer Spak responded to these two calls but was unable to locate anyone. About an hour after D.B.'s call, Officer Spak observed Vars, still nude, but holding a bundled garment in front of his genitalia. When the officer's patrol car became visible, Vars fled. Soon afterward, Officers Anderson and Davidson found Vars naked and squatting against a fence. As they approached, Vars again turned and ran into a nearby business lot. The officers pursued and eventually found him pulling on a pair of pants and wearing a black stocking cap, shoes, and a gray shirt. A large 10-inch rip ran along the left leg of his pants, allowing the officers to notice that he was not wearing any underwear. After the officers read Vars his Miranda[1] warnings, he denied walking nude through the neighborhood. He claimed to be in the area looking for a place to defecate. A car registered to Vars was found 15 blocks from where he was arrested.

¶ 6 The State charged Vars with two counts of indecent exposure, each committed with an aggravating factor, sexual motivation. Vars waived his right to a jury trial and stipulated to facts underlying eight prior convictions for indecent exposure, two of which were felonies. The State moved in limine to admit evidence of these prior convictions under ER 404(b). The court granted the motion as to three convictions for the purposes of showing common scheme or plan, knowledge, absence of mistake or accident, and sexual motivation.

¶ 7 The first of these prior convictions stemmed from an April 2000 incident when Vars was near Interstate 90 at 4:50 a.m. He was naked, except for his shoes and socks, and holding a jar of Vaseline. When the officer approached, Vars ran until the officer caught up with him. His car was parked at the end of a bike path, and his clothes were folded neatly underneath the driver's seat.

¶ 8 The second conviction resulted from a December 2000 incident where Vars was observed standing nude, with the exception of his shoes and socks, in a gas station parking lot in Renton just after 1:00 a.m. When the officer asked what he was doing, he replied that he was looking for a place to defecate.

¶ 9 The third conviction arose from an August 2004 incident. At 6:30 p.m. a witness saw Vars jump in and out of the roadside bushes while keeping a watch on the witness. *381 Vars was naked except for his shoes and socks. When the police arrived, Vars attempted to flee. When caught, he explained to the officer that he needed a place to defecate, took exit 31, and did not see any of the nearby restaurants or gas station.

¶ 10 The court found Vars guilty on both counts and that he had committed each count with sexual motivation. He received two concurrent 60-month sentences.

¶ 11 This appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

¶ 12 Vars first argues that the State failed to present sufficient evidence of an indecent exposure as none of the witnesses saw his naked genitalia. He also contends that since he was in a dark residential area in the very early hours of the morning, the State failed to prove that he knew that his conduct was likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm.

¶ 13 Whether the State must prove that a witness observed the defendant's naked genitalia as an element of the crime of indecent exposure is a matter of first impression for Washington courts. We review de novo this question of law.[2] The relevant statute, RCW 9A.88.010, provides,

(1) A person is guilty of indecent exposure if he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm. The act of breastfeeding or expressing breast milk is not indecent exposure.
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection, indecent exposure is a misdemeanor.
(b) Indecent exposure is a gross misdemeanor on the first offense if the person exposes himself or herself to a person under the age of fourteen years.
(c) Indecent exposure is a class C felony if the person has previously been convicted under this section or of a sex offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030.

¶ 14 This statute does not define or expressly incorporate any definition for the phrase "any open and obscene exposure of his or her person." "`When a statute fails to define a term, the term is presumed to have its common law meaning and the Legislature is presumed to know the prior judicial use of the term.'"[3] Since at least 1966, Washington common law has defined this phrase as "a lascivious exhibition of those private parts of the person which instinctive modesty, human decency, or common propriety require shall be customarily kept covered in the presence of others."[4]

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Bluebook (online)
237 P.3d 378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-vars-washctapp-2010.