State v. Workman

852 P.2d 981, 212 Utah Adv. Rep. 3, 1993 Utah LEXIS 81, 1993 WL 143900
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedApril 30, 1993
Docket910190
StatusPublished
Cited by88 cases

This text of 852 P.2d 981 (State v. Workman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Workman, 852 P.2d 981, 212 Utah Adv. Rep. 3, 1993 Utah LEXIS 81, 1993 WL 143900 (Utah 1993).

Opinions

[983]*983STEWART, Justice:

David and Nita Workman were charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first degree felony, and sexual exploitation of a minor, a second degree felony. Nita Workman was also charged with obstructing justice. A jury acquitted the Work-mans on the aggravated sexual abuse charges, convicted them of sexual exploitation of a minor, and convicted Nita Workman of obstructing justice. The trial judge arrested judgment, and the State appealed. The court of appeals affirmed. State v. Workman, 806 P.2d 1198 (Utah Ct.App.1991). We granted the State’s petition for a writ of certiorari to determine whether the court of appeals applied the correct standard in reviewing the trial court’s order arresting judgment.

David and Nita Workman are the parents of thirteen children, including a daughter whom we identify only as E. Eleven or twelve of the children were living at home in 1985, when the Workmans met and befriended Clinton Kelly during a family vacation in Idaho. Kelly, who was in the Navy, began visiting the Workmans in their Layton, Utah home from about 1985 or 1986 to 1988. He visited the family approximately six times in 1986, four times in 1987, and once or twice in 1988. While visiting the Workmans, Kelly presented himself “as a clean cut, polite young man who was impressed with the Workmans’ family life and who was interested in learning more about the Workmans’ religious beliefs.” Id. at 1199. When visiting, he slept in the home and shared meals. He also participated in the chores and attended church with the Workmans. Kelly was later convicted of sexually abusing E. based on events that occurred in 1987 and 1988.

Over the two and one-half years that Kelly visited the Workmans, he showed a particular interest and attachment to E., who was seven years old in 1986. Over time, he gave her gifts of jewelry and clothing, which included panties, bras, Easter dresses, a coat, and overalls. He also paid ten dollars per week for E.’s ice skating lessons, sent her roses on several occasions, and telephoned her frequently from San Diego, where he was stationed.

During the time in question, Mrs. Workman was occupied with cleaning, cooking, canning, gardening, yard work, laundry, chauffeuring, and other daily tasks necessary to the maintenance of a large household. Her workload was increased by Mr. Workman’s epilepsy, which prevented him from driving.

The Workmans’ conviction for sexual exploitation of a minor was based on one photograph that Kelly took of E. in the early part of 1986 and circumstantial evidence arising from Kelly’s conduct. Shortly before taking the photograph, Kelly purchased Mary Lou Retton gymnastics suits for E. and three of her sisters. The suits were cut high on the outer thigh and patterned after the one worn by Mary Lou Retton in the 1984 Olympics. Their style is similar to those commonly worn by female gymnasts in public, both locally and nationally. The suits, when properly worn, expose the lower part of the wearer’s buttocks,

Kelly took three photographs of E. wearing her gymnastics suit. The first two photographs show E. casually standing in her parents’ bedroom, apparently showing off the new suit. Mr. Workman is shown lying on the bed, with Mrs. Workman leaning back against his upraised knee. Both are fully clothed in daytime attire and appear to be conversing with each other. The third photograph, which is the basis for the conviction, shows E. bending over the bed toward her mother, with her buttocks toward the camera. Just prior to taking the photograph, Kelly pulled the bottom of E.’s suit up at the thighs and pulled down her panties, which she wore under the suit, thereby exposing the cheeks of her buttocks. E.’s private parts were, however, fully covered. Mr. and Mrs. Workman appear in the background of this picture also, but Mrs. Workman’s body is visible only from the waist down, making it impossible to determine where she was looking. Mr. Workman, whose face appears in the picture, is looking toward the camera, but his [984]*984view of E.’s buttocks appears to be blocked by Mrs. Workman’s body.

The State insists that the Workmans knew at the time the picture was taken that Kelly was photographing E. with her buttocks exposed. Kelly testified at the preliminary hearing that the Workmans reacted angrily when he took the photograph, but at trial he testified that he could not remember the Workmans’ reaction, if any, but guessed that Mrs. Workman was upset. The Workmans testified that they did not remember the photo being taken and that they were not aware that it existed until the police showed it to them in 1988.

The trial judge arrested judgment for the sexual exploitation convictions on the ground that there was no evidence that the Workmans had the requisite mental state. In a unanimous opinion written by Judge Garff, the court of appeals affirmed, holding that the State’s evidence of the Work-mans’ mental state, as required by the sexual exploitation statute, was so inherently improbable that reasonable minds could not have convicted the couple.

The issue on certiorari is whether the court of appeals applied the correct legal standard in reviewing the trial court’s order arresting judgment.1 The State argues that in reviewing the trial court’s arrest of judgment, the court of appeals did not view the evidence in a light most favorable to the jury verdict, but impermissibly reweighed conflicting evidence to reach a different result. We disagree.

Rule 23 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that a trial court may arrest judgment “if the facts proved or admitted do not constitute a public offense.” The standard for determining whether an order arresting judgment is erroneous is the same as that applied by an appellate court in determining whether a jury verdict should be set aside for insufficient evidence. Under that standard, a trial court may arrest a jury verdict when the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, is so inconclusive or so inherently improbable as to an element of the crime that reasonable minds must have entertained a reasonable doubt as to that element. State v. Petree, 659 P.2d 443, 444 (Utah 1983); State v. McCardell, 652 P.2d 942, 945 (Utah 1982); State v. Romero, 554 P.2d 216, 219 (Utah 1976).

When the evidence presented is conflicting or disputed, the jury serves as the exclusive judge of both the credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given particular evidence. State v. Myers, 606 P.2d 250, 253 (Utah 1980); State v. Gentry, 747 P.2d 1032, 1039 (Utah 1987); State v. Logan, 563 P.2d 811, 813 (Utah 1977); State v. Harless, 23 Utah 2d 128, 459 P.2d 210, 211 (1969). Ordinarily, a reviewing court may not reassess credibility or reweigh the evidence, but must resolve conflicts in the evidence in favor of the jury-verdict. Logan, 563 P.2d at 813-14. In some unusual circumstances, however, a reviewing court may reassess witness credibility.

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Bluebook (online)
852 P.2d 981, 212 Utah Adv. Rep. 3, 1993 Utah LEXIS 81, 1993 WL 143900, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-workman-utah-1993.