State v. Clark

• Decision Date: 11 September 2009
• Docket Number: No. 20080545.,20080545.
• Parties: STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Zachriah E. CLARK, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals

219 P.3d 631

2009 UT App 252

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Zachriah E. CLARK, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 20080545.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

September 11, 2009.

Herschel Bullen, Salt Lake City, for Appellant.

Mark L. Shurtleff, atty. gen., and Christine F. Soltis, asst. atty. gen., Salt Lake City, for Appellee.

Before Judges BENCH, ORME, and McHUGH.

OPINION

McHUGH, Judge:

¶ 1 Defendant Zachriah E. Clark appeals his conviction of five counts of sodomy on a child and five counts of sexual abuse of a child. Defendant contends that the trial court erred in excluding evidence of the sexual behavior or, alternatively, the prior false allegations, of his accusers pursuant to Utah's rape shield law. See generally Utah R. Evid. 412(a) (making evidence of a victim's other sexual behavior inadmissable in criminal proceedings involving alleged sexual misconduct). He further argues that the trial court erred in denying an evidentiary hearing on the matter. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On June 19, 2006, Defendant was charged with ten counts of sodomy on a child, see Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-403.1 (2008), and five counts of sexual abuse of a child,¹ see id. § 76-5-404.1.² The information alleged that Defendant had sodomized and sexually abused his two younger brothers, T.C., then twelve years old, and S.N.C., then ten years old.

¶ 3 Defendant and his younger brothers resided together with their siblings and parents until 2002, at which point Defendant became estranged from the family. In November 2005, Defendant reunited with the family and began making regular visits to the family home. Initially, Defendant's visits occurred on the weekends when his parents and other siblings were home. After several weeks, however, Defendant began coming to the home on weekdays while his parents were at work.

¶ 4 Occasionally Mother would remove T.C. and S.N.C. from school late in the day to attend professional appointments. In these instances, rather than returning the boys to school, Mother dropped them off at home while she returned to work. Defendant testified that although at times he arrived at the family home while T.C. and S.N.C. were there alone, he never interacted with his younger brothers. T.C. and S.N.C. claimed otherwise.

¶ 5 In May 2006, S.N.C. approached Mother and told her that he and T.C. had been sexually abused. Mother and Father questioned T.C. and S.N.C. and then called police to report the allegations of abuse against Defendant.

¶ 6 On May 22, 2006, T.C. and S.N.C. were interviewed separately by a detective at the Children's Justice Center. During their interviews, both T.C. and S.N.C. described specific instances of oral and anal sodomy as well as other acts of sexual abuse committed by Defendant.³ When asked about other incidents of abuse, S.N.C. alleged that he had been anally sodomized by a twelve-year-old neighbor boy, A.R. S.N.C. also said that he was anally sodomized by T.C. When questioned by the detective, T.C. confirmed that he had sodomized S.N.C., although he claimed he acted under duress imposed by Defendant. T.C. also recalled that S.N.C. confided that he had been anally sodomized by A.R.

¶ 7 Before trial, Defendant moved to admit evidence of the sexual activities between T.C. and S.N.C., as well as S.N.C.'s allegation against A.R. Defendant argued that the evidence of T.C.'s and S.N.C.'s other sexual behavior was admissible as an exception to rule 412 of the Utah Rules of Evidence, see Utah R. Evid. 412(b) (providing exceptions to the general bar to the admission of evidence of a sexual assault victim's other sexual behavior in specified circumstances). In the alternative, Defendant's trial counsel argued that if the allegation against A.R. were false, that evidence was admissible irrespective of rule 412.

¶ 8 Defendant requested an evidentiary hearing on the matter. See generally id. R. 412(c) (providing for a hearing before evidence is admitted). In support of his motion, Defendant argued that the evidence of other sexual contact was probative of the boys' sexual knowledge and their ability to fabricate the allegations against Defendant. Defendant's trial counsel further argued that even if the evidence were inadmissible under rule 412, he was entitled to "an evidentiary hearing with [A.R.] to show and demonstrate that we have [a] preponderance of the evidence that [the claim that A.R. sodomized S.N.C. is] a false allegation."

¶ 9 The State opposed Defendant's motion, arguing that any true allegations of other sexual abuse were barred by rule 412 and no exception to the rule applied. The State further asserted that Defendant could not prove that S.N.C.'s allegation against A.R. was false and, therefore, that the accusation constituted evidence of the alleged victim's other sexual behavior and was precluded by the rule. Persuaded by the State's arguments, the trial court refused to admit the evidence. The trial court also denied Defendant's motion for an evidentiary hearing to prove the falsity of the allegation against A.R. The jury convicted Defendant and this appeal followed.

ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

¶ 10 On appeal, Defendant argues that the evidence of T.C.'s and S.N.C.'s other sexual conduct should have been admitted pursuant to rule 412(b) and, in the alternative, that he was entitled to a hearing to prove the allegation against A.R. was false. Specifically, Defendant argues that his Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause rights created an exception to rule 412, thereby making S.N.C.'s accusation against A.R., and the sodomy between T.C. and S.N.C., admissible. "We review the trial court's interpretation of ... rule [412] for correctness, according no particular deference to the trial court." State v. Quinonez-Gaiton, 2002 UT App 273, ¶ 10, 54 P.3d 139. We review the trial court's underlying evidentiary determinations for abuse of discretion. See State v. Tarrats, 2005 UT 50, ¶ 16, 122 P.3d 581. "[D]enial of the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses presents a question of law which is reviewed for correctness." State v. Gonzales, 2005 UT 72, ¶ 47, 125 P.3d 878.

¶ 11 Defendant also contends that the trial court erred by denying his request for a rule 412 hearing. We review the trial court's determination that no evidentiary hearing was required by rule 412 for correctness. See Quinonez-Gaiton, 2002 UT App 273, ¶ 10, 54 P.3d 139.

ANALYSIS

¶ 12 Defendant first contends that evidence of S.N.C.'s claim that he was sexually assaulted by A.R. and evidence of sodomy between T.C. and S.N.C. was admissible to facilitate effective cross-examination at trial. See Utah R. Evid. 412(b)(3) (providing for an exception to the rule where exclusion "would violate the constitutional rights of the defendant"); see also U.S. Const. amend. VI (Confrontation Clause). According to Defendant, S.N.C. was sodomized by A.R., leading T.C. and S.N.C. to have sexual relations. Defendant suggests this created a motive for T.C. and S.N.C. to accuse Defendant in order to deflect attention from their own conduct. Defendant contends that by excluding this evidence, the trial court violated his Confrontation Clause rights by denying him an opportunity to explore the source of T.C.'s and S.N.C.'s sexual knowledge, challenge their credibility, and establish potential motives they may have had for falsely accusing Defendant.

¶ 13 In the alternative, Defendant argues that even if S.N.C.'s accusation against A.R. were false, the evidence was admissible under rule 412 because its exclusion violated his constitutional right to confrontation.⁴ The State counters that the trial court was correct in excluding evidence of T.C.'s and S.N.C.'s other sexual behaviors and that Defendant did not meet his obligation to establish that the allegation against A.R. was false. The State further contends that Defendant has waived any argument that he was entitled to a hearing unrelated to rule 412.

I. Truthful Allegations of Other Sexual Conduct

¶ 14 Rule 412 of the Utah Rules of Evidence provides that "evidence offered to prove that any alleged victim engaged in other sexual behavior[] and ... evidence offered to prove any alleged victim's sexual predisposition" is inadmissible in criminal proceedings involving alleged sexual misconduct. Utah R. Evid. 412(a). Rule 412 presumes that evidence of an alleged victim's prior sexual behavior is not relevant in a sexual assault prosecution. See Tarrats, 2005 UT 50, ¶ 21, 122 P.3d 581. Furthermore, "[e]ven where such evidence bears some marginal relevance, it has an unusual propensity to unfairly prejudice, inflame, or mislead the jury and is likely to distort the jury's deliberative process and should therefore be excluded." Id. (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, "[a] truthful prior allegation of [sexual abuse] carries no value whatsoever in the trial process, and its admission into evidence bears a high potential for humiliating the accuser, discouraging victims from reporting sexual crimes against them, and introducing irrelevant and collateral issues that may confuse or distract the jury." Id. ¶ 24. Accordingly, the rule serves to bar all evidence of the alleged victim's other sexual behavior, "whether offered as substantive evidence or for impeachment," unless an exception applies. Utah R. Evid. 412 advisory comm. note.

¶ 15 Here, Defendant argues that the evidence of other sexual conduct is admissible pursuant to the exception recognized in subsection (b) of rule 412, which states, in relevant part: "The following evidence is admissible, if otherwise admissible under these rules: ... (3) evidence the exclusion of which would violate the constitutional rights of the defendant." Utah R. Evid. 412(b)(3). Accordingly, for evidence of S.N.C.'s and T.C.'s conduct with each other and of S.N.C.'s conduct with A.R. to qualify as an exception under rule 412(b), Defendant must demonstrate both that the evidence was not prohibited by any other rule of...