State v. Braun

• Decision Date: 20 January 2022
• Docket Number: 37635-4-III
• Citation: 502 P.3d 884
• Parties: STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Lars Ronson BRAUN, Appellant.
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals

502 P.3d 884

STATE of Washington, Respondent,

v.Lars Ronson BRAUN, Appellant.

No. 37635-4-III

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3.

FILED JANUARY 20, 2022

Stephanie Alice Taplin, Newbry Law Office, 623 Dwight St., Port Orchard, WA, 98366-4619, for Appellant.

Gregory Lee Zempel, Carole Louise Highland, Kittitas County Prosecuting Attorney, 205 W 5th Ave. Ste. 213, Ellensburg, WA, 98926-2887, for Respondent.

PUBLISHED OPINION

Fearing, J.

[S ]ex traffickers select victims who demonstrate vulnerabilities including homelessness, substance abuse, mental health issues, and histories of physical, emotional or sexual abuse. A typical trafficker recruits victims by telling them that he loves them, promising them a better life, providing them with shelter and drugs, and lying to them about the nature of the job. ...

....

[T ]raffickers control their victims through physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence and grooming. Traffickers ... groom victims with promises and compliments, but escalate to physical abuse, sexual assault and death threats. ... They also use psychological violence such as tearing a victim down, telling them they are worthless, sociallyisolating them, and controlling them financially and by taking advantage of a victim's drug dependency. ...

... [V ]ictims often stay with their traffickers—or leave and then return—because they believe they have nowhere to go; that there is no one else out there for them, and no other options for them; they feel ashamed and guilty and stigmatized, thinking that they will not be accepted elsewhere. They are also afraid that if they leave, the trafficker will find them and harm them even more egregiously. Testimony of Sharon Cooper in United States v. Carson , 870 F.3d 584, 590-91 (7th Cir. 2017).

¶ 1 Appellant Lars Braun appeals his convictions, after a bench trial, for human trafficking and promoting prostitution. Because overwhelming evidence supports a finding that his victim engaged in prostitution as the result of Braun's manipulation, we affirm both convictions. We also reject Braun's contention that the trial court violated the appearance of fairness doctrine. We grant Braun's request for resentencing because his offender score included an earlier conviction for possessing a controlled substance.

FACTS

¶ 2 This prosecution arises from the protracted, poignant, and pungent relationship between Jane, a pseudonym, and defendant Lars Braun. The four-year relationship included the performance of commercial sex acts by Jane at the request of and for the financial gain and sexual enchantment of Braun. Braun's appeal raises two principal questions. First, whether Braun, within the meaning of Washington's human trafficking statute, meted "force, coercion, and fraud" against Jane in fulfillment of one of the crime's elements? Second, whether the force, coercion, or fraud led to Jane's prostitution in satisfaction of a second element of the crime? Answers to these questions require a review of the language, intent, and history behind RCW 9A.40.100, Washington's trafficking statute. Answering the questions also necessitates a narrative of Jane's remarkable story, remarkable not because of its singularity or the tragedy portrayed, but because of the prevalence, yet hidden nature, of trafficking and because of the story's example of how enduring manipulation can implausibly result in the control of another's choices, even to the extent of causing the other to perform repulsive and dangerous acts. We glean the appeal's facts primarily from the trial testimony of Jane.

¶ 3 In February 2013, Jane began communicating with Lars Braun over the Internet. Jane was then twenty years old and married. Braun was in his early fifties and also married. Jane lived in Spokane, and Braun resided in Ellensburg. Jane knew Braun's children through her husband, who socialized with the offspring. In her cyber messages to Braun, Jane expressed concern about the methamphetamine intake of Braun's children.

¶ 4 At the same time that Jane started writing Lars Braun, she commenced abusing alcohol. Her alcohol use created conflict in her marriage.

¶ 5 By April 2013, Lars Braun and Jane spoke by phone or communicated by e-mail several hours each day. Jane then admired Braun, thirty years her senior, as an accomplished intellectual. Jane divulged her marital problems. Braun advised Jane to engage in an extramarital affair. Braun expounded that he rekindled his marriage by cheating on his wife.

¶ 6 In May 2013, Lars Braun and Jane met in person for the first time and interlocked in sexual intercourse inside a Spokane hotel room. By May, Braun and his wife were in the process of divorce. Jane's husband soon learned of her carnal encounter with Braun. Jane moved from her husband's residence and divorced him.

¶ 7 Lars Braun learned that Jane informed Jane's husband of her sexual encounter with Braun. Braun grew furious at Jane because he worried that his wife would also hear about the affair and use the tryst against him in their divorce and child custody proceeding. Braun ceased speaking with Jane.

¶ 8 Alas, the lack of interaction between Lars Braun and Jane did not last. While Jane engaged in intimate relations with another man, Braun called Jane. We do not know why Jane answered the phone during this rendezvous. During the telephone conversation, Braun screamed at Jane. Braun called Jane " ‘slut.’ " Clerk's Papers (CP) at 253-54. Braun's clamorous comments suggested to Jane that Braun was jealous. The remarks also surprised Jane since Braun had told her he would never speak to her again. Braun and Jane spoke by phone on additional occasions in the coming days. Jane repeatedly apologized to Braun. Braun revealed to Jane she was his girlfriend.

¶ 9 In early June 2013, Lars Braun invited Jane to visit him in Ellensburg, where he would introduce her to his friends. Jane lacked a driver's license. So Jane traveled by bus from Spokane to Ellensburg to visit Braun. Braun there purchased alcohol for Jane, since she remained below the legal age to purchase liquor. Contrary to his telephonic enticement, Braun hid his relationship with Jane from acquaintances in Ellensburg. He directed her to use the name "Kathy," and he informed others that "Kathy" and he shared a platonic relationship. During the first visit, Braun permitted his seven-year-old son to enter the bed where Braun and Jane lay naked.

¶ 10 Dave, with an unidentified last name, also resided with Lars Braun in Ellensburg during Jane's early June 2013 visit. On one day, Braun left Jane alone with Dave, during which time Dave groped Jane. Dave informed Jane that Braun gave him permission to have sex with her. Jane refused Dave's overture, after which Dave punched the bed by her head. Jane ran into and locked herself in a bathroom, while crying hysterically. She texted Braun and requested he return to the residence. Braun declined. When Braun eventually returned home, he accused Jane of promoting the advance by Dave because of her suggestible behavior. Braun questioned Jane about why she did not strike Dave if she objected to the housemate's advance. Braun volunteered that she encouraged Dave to engage in sex with her. He instructed Jane not to report Dave to law enforcement. Braun then initiated sex with Jane. Jane never saw Dave again.

¶ 11 At 2:00 a.m. on the morning following Dave's sexual assault, Lars Braun deposited Jane at the Ellensburg Greyhound station. Braun instructed Jane to leave Ellensburg. Jane lacked money for a ticket, but, after pleading with the bus driver, received a free ride to Spokane.

¶ 12 After her return to Spokane, Jane resided with her parents, but encountered difficulty living with them. Weeks later, Lars Braun offered to allow Jane to live with him in Ellensburg. Late in June 2013, Jane returned to Ellensburg to reside with Braun indefinitely. She brought her personal belongings. In the coming months, Braun supplied Jane alcohol, and Jane furnished Braun sex. Jane continued to employ the pseudonym "Kathy" among Braun's acquaintances.

¶ 13 In September 2013, Jane's monogamous sexual relationship with Lars Braun shifted. Braun expressed his desire for group sex for his impending birthday. Although Jane did not relish the idea of a quartet of bodies, she employed the Internet to procure an encounter with an Ephrata couple. When Braun and Jane met the couple in their Ephrata home, Braun pressured the woman to kiss and touch Jane. The woman refused because of Jane's reticence. Though the foursome engaged in sexual intercourse, the lethargic Braun quickly retired to the couch to nap, while Jane continued the assignation with the couple. Braun later told Jane that she failed him because of the unattractive, advancing age of the Ephrata woman. Braun's comment saddened Jane.

¶ 14 Lars Braun told Jane that the two should locate other individuals for group sex. Jane unearthed another man-woman couple in Yakima. When the four met, Braun directed Jane to please the man as he watched. During Jane's encounter with the male, the male grew aggressive. Despite Jane's plea to Braun to stay near, he retreated with the woman to another room.

¶ 15 Jane and Lars Braun resided together in Ellensburg from late June to December 2013. During these six months, Jane relied exclusively on Braun for food and housing. Braun supplied Jane mass quantities of alcohol.

¶ 16 In December 2013, Lars Braun moved to Florida without Jane. Braun never told Jane the reason behind his cross-continent move. Jane returned to Spokane and resided again with her parents. She missed and wanted the company of beau Braun. While in Florida, Braun lived with his friend, Susan.

¶ 17 Lars Braun and Jane distantly communicated. Braun began entreating Jane to post Craigslist ads for sex. Jane minded Braun. An individual responded to one advertisement and offered Jane money for sex. The offer of remuneration surprised Jane. She asked Braun why somebody would pay money for sex. In...