State v. Carrell
| Decision Date | 01 February 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 20150924-CA,20150924-CA |
| Citation | 414 P.3d 1030 |
| Parties | STATE of Utah, Appellee, v. John Martin CARRELL, Appellant. |
| Court | Utah Court of Appeals |
Ronald J. Yengich, Attorney for Appellant
Sean D. Reyes and Jeanne B. Inouye, Attorneys for Appellee
Opinion
¶1 Defendant John Martin Carrell (Defendant) drove a school bus for children with special needs. A jury convicted Defendant of sexually abusing two of these children in 2014. Defendant appeals his convictions, and asks us to consider two arguments. First, he asserts that the jury was improperly instructed as to the elements and required mental states for his charged crimes. Second, he contends that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions. We find Defendant's arguments unpersuasive and therefore affirm his convictions.
¶2 In early 2014, Defendant had been a bus driver employed by Canyons School District (the District) for nearly five years. At that time, Defendant was assigned to drive "route 250," a bus route for elementary-school-aged children with special needs. This route included two separate daily circuits, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. C.B. (First Victim), a five-year-old girl, was one of the students on Defendant's morning bus route. Z.B. (Second Victim), also a five-year-old girl, was one of the students on Defendant's afternoon bus route.
¶3 During the relevant time period, Defendant would usually pick up First Victim near her home at around 8:30 a.m. and drop her off at school at about 8:40 or 8:45 a.m. He would then pick her up at school after class ended, and drop her back off at home at approximately 11:00 a.m. On most mornings, only four or five students rode on Defendant's morning bus route. Defendant would then pick up Second Victim near her home at 11:30 a.m., take her to school, pick her up at school after class, and then drop her back off at home by 3:00 p.m. Defendant's afternoon bus route was also used by only a handful of students.
¶4 Per District policy, Defendant received training regarding various security and safety features of his bus, as well as training regarding permissible and impermissible physical interaction with the children. Specifically, the District informed Defendant that the children, while riding on the bus, were required to sit in "star seats," which had seatbelt harnesses with straps across both shoulders and between their legs that buckled together near each child's lower midsection. The District further instructed Defendant that it was permissible for him to help the children get buckled into or unbuckled out of the star seats, but that it was normally not necessary or permissible for Defendant to touch them during this process. The District also instructed Defendant that, in all other contexts, physical contact with children was to be kept to a minimum. For instance, it was permissible for a bus driver to "high-five" or "fist-bump" with the children, and even to accept a "side hug" if the child initiated it, but Defendant was aware that bus drivers were not to accept any other type of hug and were not allowed to initiate physical contact of any kind. As part of this training, Defendant also learned that his bus came equipped with surveillance cameras which began recording when the ignition key was turned on and would continue to record for fifteen minutes after the ignition was turned off. These cameras recorded many of Defendant's interactions with both victims.1
¶5 At the time, it was also District policy, at least for route 250, for the students to remain on the bus in Defendant's care, even after the bus had stopped at the school, until the students' individual teachers came outside and physically escorted them from the bus. Because the bus did not always arrive at exactly the same time each day, and because the teachers did not always emerge from the school at the same time each day, the period of time in which the students remained on the bus under Defendant's care varied each day, from just one or two minutes to as long as eight or ten minutes. First Victim's teacher was often one of the last teachers to emerge from the school, a fact which often resulted in First Victim (along with one other girl) being one of the last students on the bus in the morning.
¶6 While Defendant scrupulously followed the District policy of keeping the students on the bus until their teachers retrieved them, he did not always follow the other policies. For example, he frequently helped the students unbuckle their star seat belts when the bus arrived at school. On several occasions during this unbuckling, Defendant passed by First Victim to help unbuckle other children, saving First Victim's unbuckling for last. Defendant succeeded in unbuckling the other children in just a few seconds' time, but routinely spent much longer—up to ninety seconds—unbuckling First Victim. Although the video footage does not always show the placement of Defendant's hands, in several instances he appears to continue touching First Victim even after she is unbuckled—the video shows First Victim's legs and shoulders visible in positions that would not be achievable were she still buckled in to the star seat, and shows that Defendant's arms were extended down towards her body. In one instance, First Victim struggles to emerge from the seat into the aisle while Defendant blocks her progress with his body.
¶7 After the children were unbuckled each morning, they were allowed to freely move about the interior of the bus until their teachers came to meet them. While other students moved about the bus playing, First Victim often gravitated toward Defendant, who usually passed the time seated in the driver's seat at the front of the bus. As First Victim approached him, Defendant often took her by the hand, shoulder, or side and pulled her towards him, positioning her either to sit on his lap or stand between his legs with her back to the other children and to the bus door. While First Victim and Defendant were positioned in this manner, Defendant's hands often were not visible to the camera. However, on several occasions, the video footage shows Defendant's left hand positioned somewhere on the lower midsection of First Victim's body, while his right hand was either extended towards the lower part of her body or extended straight out, holding her backpack at an angle that placed it between her body and the door of the bus. In some instances, Defendant's right hand can be seen cupping, resting on, or moving across First Victim's buttocks, and in one instance Defendant's hand appears to be under First Victim's skirt. In several instances, while Defendant's left hand was somewhere out of view on or near the lower front of First Victim's body, Defendant's left shoulder can be seen moving up and down in short, rhythmic motions. On some occasions, Defendant moved his head close to First Victim's head and can be seen touching her face with his, apparently nuzzling or kissing her. Several times, after placing his left hand somewhere out of sight but apparently on or near the lower front of First Victim's body, Defendant brought that same hand to his face and can be seen seemingly smelling or licking his fingers.
¶8 Whenever a teacher approached the bus to collect children from it, Defendant pushed First Victim away from him so that she was standing at some distance away from him while the teacher was present. Often, once the teacher departed, Defendant pulled First Victim back towards him and again apparently placed his left hand somewhere on the lower front of her body. In one of these instances First Victim can be heard telling Defendant, "You've been pulling my pants up."
¶9 The cameras also recorded many of Defendant's interactions with Second Victim. On several occasions the video footage shows Defendant unbuckling Second Victim and then, after she was unbuckled, placing his hands on her clothed genitals for several seconds. In one instance, Defendant also placed his left hand between Second Victim's legs and lifted her off the floor while holding her clothed genitals. At the time, Second Victim was not yet verbal, but appeared to struggle during some of these interactions.
¶10 On April 22, 2014, while First Victim's father was getting her ready for school, she remarked that she "can ride on the bus seat today again." First Victim's father asked her if the driver was letting her pretend to drive the bus, and she responded by saying "no" but said Defendant let her sit on his lap and "[made] it soft for [her]." As she said this, First Victim rubbed her crotch. The next day, First Victim's father raised the subject again and asked her to clarify what she did when she sat on the bus seat. In response, First Victim once more rubbed her crotch and said, "Does that feel good?" After this conversation, First Victim's father called the District and informed Defendant's supervisor that he was concerned that Defendant might be sexually abusing his daughter.
¶11 The District then placed Defendant on administrative leave, obtained the video footage from Defendant's bus, and referred the matter to the police. On May 1, 2014, after the police had reviewed the video footage pertaining to First Victim, a detective interviewed her. During this interview, First Victim was largely unresponsive to the detective's questions. She was quiet, did not make eye contact, looked down at her hands, and responded in the negative when asked if she knew why she was being interviewed. When prompted that she was being interviewed because her father said something might have happened to her, First Victim responded by saying, "I've got a sore throat." Despite multiple attempts to rephrase the question, First Victim continued to remain quiet, to refuse to make eye contact, and to state that she did not know why she was being interviewed. After the detective...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Klenz
...exists from which a reasonable jury could find that the elements of the crime have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt." State v. Carrell , 2018 UT App 21, ¶ 49, 414 P.3d 1030 (quotation simplified). Our role is not to reassess or reweigh the evidence; instead, we generally "resolve confl......
-
State v. Cegers
...intent to cause pain or to arouse or gratify sexual desires." State v. Sellers , 2011 UT App 38, ¶ 5, 248 P.3d 70 ; see also State v. Carrell , 2018 UT App 21, ¶ 27, 414 P.3d 1030 (stating that the Model Utah Jury Instructions for sexual abuse of a child, which includes both a general and a......
-
State v. Law
...surrounding the crime" to find the requisite intent. See, e.g. , State v. Chacon , 962 P.2d 48, 51 (Utah 1998) (cleaned up); State v. Carrell , 2018 UT App 21, ¶ 57, 414 P.3d 1030 (explaining that a defendant's intent "can be inferred from conduct and attendant circumstances in the light of......
-
State v. Thomas
...instructions, reversal is warranted only if there is a reasonable probability that the error affected the outcome of the case." State v. Carrell , 2018 UT App 21, ¶ 19, 414 P.3d 1030 ; see also State v. Horvath , 2018 UT App 165, ¶ 22, 436 P.3d 191 (explaining that an appellant challenging ......