State v. Wengreen

2007 UT App 264, 167 P.3d 516, 583 Utah Adv. Rep. 25, 2007 Utah App. LEXIS 268, 2007 WL 2198889
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedAugust 2, 2007
Docket20051018-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2007 UT App 264 (State v. Wengreen) 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. Wengreen, 2007 UT App 264, 167 P.3d 516, 583 Utah Adv. Rep. 25, 2007 Utah App. LEXIS 268, 2007 WL 2198889 (Utah Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

GREENWOOD, Associate Presiding Judge:

{1 In October 2002, a jury convicted Defendant Sydney Arthur Wengreen of one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. See Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-404.1(8) (1999). 1 Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in denying (1) Defendant's motion for arrest of judgment or new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct; (2) his motion to compel compliance with a subpoena duces tecum seeking medical records of K.S., the victim; and (8) Defendant's motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence. We affirm.

BACKGROUND 2

T2 At the time Defendant was accused of abusing K.S., she was a thirteen-year-old girl and Defendant was approximately forty years old. Prior to the abuse, K.S. spent a lot of time with Defendant and his family, working on their farm and babysitting the children. During one evening in 2001, K.S. was babysitting at Defendant's home. When Defendant and his wife, Mrs. Wengreen, returned home, the children were asleep and Defendant, KS., and Mrs. Wengreen watched television together until Mrs. Wen-green went into her bedroom. Shortly thereafter, Defendant scooted close to K.S. and "started rubbing [her] leg and kissing [her] neck." Defendant then "picked [K.S.] up and unzipped [her] pants and he laid [KS.] on him." Defendant also touched K.S.'s butt and told her she "was pretty and stuff" and that "he loved" her. KS. was "scared" and "shocked." Defendant then drove K.S. home, and along the way he told K.S. that if she told anyone about the incident, they would both "get in trouble." Defendant also said that he would "come after" K.S. and her family.

T3 On two occasions, K.S. wrote about the babysitting incident 3 in her journal. She also described the abuse to her sister, her parents, and her church bishop.

{4 In February 2002, the police and a representative from the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) interviewed KS. about the abuse allegations, and K.S. described what happened. K.S. was also interviewed a week later, where she essentially reiterated the allegations from the first interview. As part of the investigation, the police had K.S. place a "pretext" telephone call to Defendant. During the telephone conversation, K.S. asked Defendant, "Why did you do it and stuff?" Defendant responded, "That I don't know, being stupid I guess.... I like you a lot and I was showing a way of being nice to you I guess ... which was wrong." Defendant also repeatedly apologized for his conduct, stating:

[Def:] I apologize, I shouldn't have told you I liked ya' or anything and I *518 shouldn't have taken anything when you sat next to me either ... so, so, I apologize and I wish I could take things back, and I've been trying to come to terms with what happened too so....
[K.S.:] I know, and you also touched my bootie and stuff.
[Def:] I touched your what?
[K.S.:] My bum.... You were rubbing it and [long pause] it makes me feel disgusting.
[Def:] Well, I'm sorry, I apologize for it.

KS. also asked Defendant if it was okay if she talked to her bishop about the incident so that she could "be worthy to get [her] patriarchal blessing." Defendant responded,

Well, what if it throws me in jail ... I don't know what your dad will do.... Not every sin you do has to be confronted with people, I mean, or go to the bishop or whatever. A lot of your sins can be taken care of with you and the lord, right?

He then told K.S., "[Tiry it. I have. I went to him. I fasted and prayed about it and I feel like I have been forgiven of it ..." At the close of the conversation, Defendant stated, "I'm sorry for what I did. I'm supposed to know better." K.S. then asked Defendant, "Why did you touch me?" He responded, "I gave you a hug to tell you that I liked you." She asked, "Why my butt?" And Defendant stated, "Um, you got a cute butt.... I'm sorry."

15 At trial, the State introduced a recording of the pretext telephone call. At the beginning of the tape, there was a brief exchange between K.S. and Mrs. Wengreen that the trial court had ruled was inadmissible hearsay. When the tape was played for the jury at trial, the prosecutor fast forwarded through the exchange between K.S. and Mrs. Wengreen. But when the prosecutor submitted the tape to the jury, he failed to redact that portion of the recording, and the entire tape was taken into the jury room.

T6 On October 4, 2002, a jury found Defendant guilty of one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. On October 11, Defendant filed a Motion For New Trial or for Arrest of Judgment Based on Prosecuto-rial Misconduct. Defendant's motion was based on the inadmissible portion of the tape being submitted to the jury. The trial court denied the motion based on the fact that two jurors submitted affidavits stating that the jurors did not listen to that section of the tape, and Defendant failed to provide any evidence to the contrary.

T7 In February 2003, Defendant's presen-tence investigation report (PSI) was completed. The PSI revealed that three days after the verdict was announced, K.S. attempted suicide and was subsequently treated at Logan Regional Hospital Behavioral Health Unit, McKay-Dee Hospital, and Utah State Hospital. In preparation for the PSI, the investigator had interviewed K.S. while she was being treated at Logan Regional Hospital. During the interview, K.S. described the babysitting abuse as being more egregious than she had at previous interviews and at trial. Several health care professionals also provided letters, included in the PSI, regarding KS's emotional stability. One letter, which was also submitted to the State before trial, stated that K.S.'s "emotional stability is currently in serious question due to the trauma of the abuse and ongoing harassment and intimidation by the accused." Another letter stated that K.S. was "experiencing severe and chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [(PTSD)], Major Depressive Disorder and Anorexia Nervosa." The PSI also revealed that K.S. had previously been sexually assaulted by other individuals and that there were allegations of prior physical abuse by her brother that had not yet been investigated.

18 Based on the information revealed in the PSI, Defendant filed a motion to compel K.S.'s medical records from two of the hospitals that had treated K.S. after trial for in camera review. Defendant argued that the records would reveal that K.S. was unstable at trial and was, therefore, unable to testify truthfully. The trial court denied Defendant's motion. 4 Defendant also filed a motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence. Defendant argued that the alleged *519 new evidence-allegations of other abuse, KS's changed account of Defendant's abuse, and KS's fragile mental state-indicated that K.S. was unable to testify truthfully at Defendant's trial. The trial court denied Defendant's motion.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2007 UT App 264, 167 P.3d 516, 583 Utah Adv. Rep. 25, 2007 Utah App. LEXIS 268, 2007 WL 2198889, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wengreen-utahctapp-2007.