D.S. v. State

• Decision Date: 21 November 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–0888.,13–0888.
• Citation: 856 N.W.2d 348
• Parties: In the Interest of D.S., Minor Child. D.S., Minor Child, Appellant, State of Iowa, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

856 N.W.2d 348

In the Interest of D.S., Minor Child.

D.S., Minor Child, Appellant State of Iowa, Appellee.

No. 13–0888.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Nov. 21, 2014.

Thais A. Folta, Elwood, O'Donohoe, Braun & White, L.L.P., Cresco and John Slavik, Elwood, O'Donohoe, Braun & White, L.L.P., Charles City, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Bruce L. Kempkes, Assistant Attorney General, and Jill M. Kistler, County Attorney, for appellee.

Opinion

ZAGER, Justice.

A juvenile accused of harassing a peer during an after-school confrontation appeals from her delinquency adjudication. She contends that there was insufficient evidence to support the finding that she committed harassment under Iowa Code section 708.7(1)(b ). She also contends that her delinquency adjudication violated her First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. Upon our de novo review, we conclude there was insufficient evidence to support the finding that the juvenile committed harassment. Because we reach this conclusion on different grounds than did the court of appeals, we vacate the decision of the court of appeals and reverse the judgment of the juvenile court.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

On February 20, 2013, K.B. approached New Albin Police Chief, Kent Orr, and told him that her fifteen-year-old daughter, T.B., had been harassed at school by a fellow classmate, fifteen-year-old D.S.

Based on this report, Chief Orr went to the home of D.S., who lived with her mother in New Albin. According to Chief Orr, D.S. answered the door and immediately said, “Let me guess. This is about [T.B.]” Chief Orr told D.S. he had received a complaint that she had been harassing T.B. D.S. replied, “I hate that f*cking b*tch.” Orr then asked D.S. if she talked to T.B. at school. D.S. answered, “I don't ever talk to that nasty b*tch because she stinks and she f*cked the bus driver. I don't like her and can't stand being around her.” Before leaving the house, Chief Orr instructed D.S. not to have any contact with T.B.

Chief Orr then met with T.B. and her mother at the police station. At Chief Orr's request, T.B. wrote a statement of the incident in question. T.B. wrote:

I was walking home from the bus and [D.S.] yelled “T-bitch” so I turned around and I thought she was talking to me so [I] told her “What?” and then she said “I wasn't talking to you you fat skanky b*tch! I'm way better than you [and] prettier than you and I'm not desperate like you to sleep with the bus driver.” I replied, “I don't care about looks at least I have a heart.” [D.S. responded,] “Whatever you skanky b*tch!” [D.S.] bullied me about every day since kindergarten.

K.B. added, “Earlier last year we had our house for sale because the harassment is so bad we don't know what else to do.”

Later that day, Chief Orr spoke with the mother of D.S. Chief Orr asked her whether she was aware of “what was going on.” She answered, “Yes, [T.B.] has issues. She has no friends and is just a spoiled little brat.” Chief Orr informed her he had directed D.S. not to have contact with T.B. and asked for her assistance in preventing future harassment. She replied, “Yeah, well ... I'll do my best.”

On March 11, the State filed a “Petition Alleging Delinquency” alleging D.S. had committed a delinquent act as defined in Iowa Code section 232.2(12), specifically harassment in the third degree in violation of Iowa Code sections 708.7(1)(b ) and 708.7(4). According to the petition, D.S. “did purposefully and without legitimate purpose, have personal contact with another person, with the intent to threaten, intimidate, or alarm that other person.”

An adjudicatory hearing was held in juvenile court on May 9. The court heard testimony from Chief Orr, K.B., T.B., D.S., and one of T.B.'s neighbors who witnessed part of the encounter. T.B. testified that on February 20,

[D.S.] yelled b*tch, and I turned around and asked her if she needed to say anything to my face, and she said, “Yeah, well, you're a fat skank, and I can get with any guy I want, and you can go die in a hole.” And I [said], “Well, I don't care how I look or I don't care about my weight, but at least I'll get farther in life than you'll get.” Then she said, “Whatever, skank,” and walked off.

T.B. further testified that she went home and cried after the incident.

According to T.B., D.S. has bullied her in the past. T.B. testified that the two “used to get kind of along when [T.B.'s] mom was a Girl Scout leader, but after that [D.S.] bullied [her] ... nonstop....” T.B. further testified that she “couldn't even walk home at night without being scared,” and that she is intimidated by D.S.

On cross-examination, T.B. conceded “[D.S.] threatened [her] in the past, not at this event, but ... before,” and that D.S. made her feel intimidated by “in the past ... picking fights with [her].” She further testified that D.S. made her “feel insecure,” as though “[she] ... almost want[ed] to commit suicide.” T.B. testified that she and D.S. were about ten feet apart during the incident. T.B. acknowledged she did not mention in her written statement to Chief Orr that D.S. yelled “you can go die in a hole,” but that “it did occur.”

On redirect, T.B. testified that during the encounter with D.S. she felt intimidated and thought D.S. was threatening to harm her. T.B. testified that her feelings were based on D.S. “saying mean things to [her], and with all the things she said in the past, just reoccurring.”

D.S.'s counsel then cross-examined T.B. again. T.B. was asked what D.S. threatened to do to her. T.B. testified, “She says the exact same things over and over again, and just—I don't know.” T.B. then testified that D.S. had “threatened to kill [her] family before.” Counsel asked, “Did that happen on February 20?” T.B. answered, “No.”

T.B.'s neighbor testified that she heard D.S. yell at T.B. on February 20. She stated that she was unsure whether D.S. “said the C word, c*nt, or s*ut” because she “was shocked.” The neighbor testified that she asked T.B., “[D]id she just say what I thought she said?” T.B. responded, “Yes, she did ... but I'm getting used to it.”

D.S. testified that before the incident on February 20, she had gotten off the bus, as she does every day, and lost track of her friend, T.F. In an effort to reunite with T.F., D.S. yelled “T bitch” because “that's what [she] always called her.” D.S. testified, T.B. “looked at me and said, ‘Thank you,’ all snotty.” D.S. responded to T.B., “I wasn't talking to you. You're stupid.” According to D.S., T.B. “just started yelling a bunch more stuff at [her], and [they] just kept yelling stuff at each other.” The incident lasted about five minutes. D.S. testified she was not trying to intimidate or alarm T.B., and that she did not make any threats to T.B.

The juvenile court issued its “Findings, Conclusions, and Order” on May 10. In its order, the court highlighted inconsistencies between T.B.'s testimony and her statement to police. Specifically, it noted that T.B. did not mention in her statement to Chief Orr that D.S. told her “she could die in a hole,” which T.B. testified to at the hearing. It further noted that T.B.'s statement to Chief Orr alleged D.S. made comments concerning T.B. “having sexual relations with the bus driver.” However, T.B. had failed to mention that in her testimony. Based on these inconsistencies, the juvenile court concluded that T.B.'s testimony with respect to these statements was not credible.

The juvenile court also found it was not reasonable to believe T.B. anticipated any physical harm or threat of physical harm from D.S. because D.S. is substantially shorter and weighs less than T.B. In addition, the court noted T.B. testified she was not threatened during the incident and that T.B. was not in apprehension of imminent physical harm during this encounter. Nevertheless, the court found D.S.'s statements were meant as a put down, had no legitimate purpose, and that D.S. intended her statements to make T.B. lack self-confidence in her relations with the opposite sex and about her body-build.

The juvenile court then consulted dictionary definitions of the statutory terms “threaten,” “intimidate,” and “alarm.” Specifically, it interpreted the term “intimidate” to mean “to make timid or fearful,” and in turn defined “timid” as “lacking in courage or self-confidence.” Thus, the juvenile court ultimately concluded the term “intimidate” means to “make one lack courage or self-confidence.” The court then concluded the State had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that D.S. committed harassment in the third degree by means of intimidation. The juvenile court rejected the First Amendment defense raised by D.S. in a prior motion. Accordingly, the court adjudicated D.S. to have committed a delinquent act.

D.S. appealed, and the case was transferred to the court of appeals. The court of appeals determined the district court erred in defining “intimidate” as “lacking in courage or self-confidence.” Instead, based on dictionary definitions, and applying our rules of statutory construction, the court of appeals held “intimidate” means to “inspire or affect with fear” or to “frighten.” Applying this narrower definition, the court of appeals concluded the State had failed to prove D.S. harassed T.B. under section 708.7(1)(b ) and reversed the delinquency adjudication.

The State applied for further review, which we granted.

II. Standard of Review.

Delinquency proceedings are “special proceedings that serve as an alternative” to criminal prosecution of a child. In re J.A.L., 694 N.W.2d 748, 751 (Iowa 2005). The objective of the proceedings is the best interests of the child.Id. We review the sufficiency of the evidence for juvenile adjudications de novo. See In re A.K., 825 N.W.2d 46, 49 (Iowa 2013). While in reviewing such proceedings we give weight to the factual findings of the juvenile court—especially regarding witness credibility—we are not bound by them. Id. “We presume the child is innocent of the charges,...