In re Detention of Swanson, 02-0579.
| Decision Date | 04 September 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-0579.,02-0579. |
| Citation | 668 N.W.2d 570 |
| Parties | In re the Detention of Robert E. SWANSON. State of Iowa, Appellee, v. Robert E. Swanson, Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Mark Smith, First Assistant Public Defender, and Melissa A. Anderson, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Andrew B. Prosser and Roxann M. Ryan, Assistant Attorneys General, and Thomas J. Ferguson, County Attorney, for appellee.
In this appeal, we consider what constitutes a "recent overt act" for purposes of determining whether an individual is a sexually violent predator. Iowa Code § 229A.2(6) (2001). More specifically, we examine the actions of this defendant to determine whether his conduct created "a reasonable apprehension of [harm of a sexually violent nature.]" Id. We conclude that there was sufficient evidence from which a fact finder could determine that the defendant committed a recent overt act and affirm the district court judgment and order finding the defendant is a sexually violent offender who should be confined for treatment.
Robert E. Swanson (Swanson) was living in a halfway house in Des Moines in early November 2001 after being released from prison. He went to an area business, ostensibly to apply for a job. An employee there, a young woman named Christine Eiselstein (Eiselstein), informed Swanson that applications were accepted at another location. She signed a work release form for Swanson, and he went on his way.
Later that evening, Swanson called Eiselstein on the telephone at her apartment, which happened to be across the street from his halfway house. He did not identify himself initially, although he later told her his name and made reference to their meeting earlier in the day. During the course of their brief conversation, Swanson asked her whether she was "still alone" and "wanted to be friends." He also expressed that he had hesitated to call her because he could get in "big trouble" for doing so. After a few minutes, Eiselstein pretended to have another call and attempted to end the conversation. Before doing so, Swanson asked if he could call her again. Eiselstein said he could, but later explained that she told him this in an attempt "to get him off the phone."
Eiselstein telephoned a friend and the police after hanging-up with Swanson. The police told her that a lone call was insufficient to warrant an extensive response. However, they recorded her complaint and told her to call back if Swanson contacted her again. Late the next evening, he did. This time, Swanson called to explain that he had spoken with the manager of Eiselstein's apartment complex and he was taking steps to move into the complex. He also told her that he had written and sent her a letter. When asked what the letter said, Swanson told her that he wrote about himself and asked if she was interested in moving in with him, suggesting they could be friends "with no strings attached." Eiselstein promptly ended the call.
Eiselstein called the police once again and later met with an officer. The officer offered to make a report or to talk to Swanson about his actions toward her. Eiselstein deferred to the officer's judgment about the proper approach, and the officer later went and spoke directly to Swanson. Eiselstein then left Iowa for a brief period of time. When she returned, Swanson's letter was waiting for her. The three-page, hand-written letter stated, in part (with original punctuation and omissions signaled by * * *):
Eiselstein gave the letter to the police and had no further contact with Swanson. She changed her phone number and moved from her apartment. As the matter was investigated further, Swanson's actions began to take on a greater meaning.
The investigation revealed Swanson had a long history of committing sexually violent offenses. He was charged with his first sexual offense in 1964, at the age of fourteen. In 1973, he was convicted for raping a fourteen-year-old girl. He was released from prison in 1979 and returned there in 1980 after another conviction, this time for sexual abuse in the third degree. He also allegedly assaulted another woman in 1980 who did not report the crime before the statute of limitations on the offense had run. In a letter to the governor in 1984, Swanson pleaded for additional state treatment programs for sex offenders such as him, claiming that he had raped five or six additional women between 1964 and 1973. In the same letter, he claimed he had raped at least one more woman between 1979 and 1980. Finally, while imprisoned for the second time, Swanson called or wrote several women in the Marshalltown area, apparently by randomly finding phone numbers and addresses that were listed with only a single, female name.
Based on his prior criminal record and his own admissions, Swanson had committed about ten sexually violent offenses in his lifetime. However, it was the pattern of his prior conduct that became most alarming as the investigation proceeded. On a number of times in the past, Swanson had randomly contacted single women with whom he had had little or no prior connection in an effort to befriend them.1 Tragically, some of these women later became victims of his violent sexual assaults.2 On November 29, 2001, the State filed a petition in the district court seeking a determination of Swanson's status as a sexually violent predator under Iowa Code chapter 229A. See id. § 229A.4. At a later hearing, the district court found that probable cause existed to believe Swanson was a sexually violent predator and that he should be temporarily confined pending trial. See id. § 229A.5. His trial commenced in February 2002. As a procedural matter, the district court determined it would decide whether Swanson's conduct constituted a recent overt act, and the jury would decide the other issues.3 After examining the evidence presented, the district court determined that Swanson's conduct toward Eiselstein was a recent overt act. Based on this finding, combined with the jury's additional conclusions, the district court entered a judgment that Swanson was a sexually violent predator who should be confined for treatment. Swanson appeals from the district court's judgment and order of confinement.
Swanson's challenge to the district court's order is directed toward the sufficiency of the evidence underlying the court's determination that he had committed a recent overt act. We recently summarized our standard of review for issues of sufficiency of the evidence in State v. Yeo, 659 N.W.2d 544, 547 (Iowa 2003):
Our review of challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence is for correction of errors at law. State v. Lambert, 612 N.W.2d 810, 813 (Iowa 2000) (citing State v. Thomas, 561 N.W.2d 37, 39 (Iowa 1997)). We are bound by the trial courts finding[s] [if the findings are]...
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