State v. Martinez

• Decision Date: 09 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. 20010023.,20010023.
• Citation: 52 P.3d 1276,2002 UT 80
• Parties: STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Michael Trevor MARTINEZ, Defendant and Petitioner.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

52 P.3d 1276

2002 UT 80

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Michael Trevor MARTINEZ, Defendant and Petitioner.

No. 20010023.

Supreme Court of Utah.

August 9, 2002.

Mark L. Shurtleff, Att'y Gen., Joanne C. Slotnik, Asst. Att'y Gen., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Joan C. Watt, Lynn R. Brown, Stephen W. Howard, Salt Lake City, for defendant.

On Certiorari to the Utah Court of Appeals

DURHAM, Chief Justice:

¶ 1 Defendant Michael Trevor Martinez was convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third degree felony, in violation of section 76-5-401 of the Utah Code. Defendant's conviction was upheld by the Utah Court of Appeals. Defendant appeals, arguing that the court erred when it held that unlawful sexual activity with a minor is a strict liability crime and that imposition of strict liability does not violate defendant's federal due process rights. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 Defendant was nineteen years old when he had sexual intercourse with a fifteen-year-old girl. Defendant was charged with unlawful sexual intercourse in violation of section 76-5-401. Before trial, defendant filed a motion in limine to determine whether he could submit evidence in support of an affirmative defense that the victim represented herself to be seventeen years old at the time of the sexual intercourse. Defendant contended that section 76-5-401 does not impose strict liability and that he should therefore be allowed to present evidence that he did not know the victim's age. Defendant also argued that if the statute does impose strict liability, it violates federal and state due process requirements.

¶ 3 The trial court denied defendant's motion, relying on section 76-2-304.5 of the Utah Code¹ which excludes the defense of mistake as to the victim's age in a prosecution for unlawful sexual intercourse.² In addition, the trial court determined that neither section 76-2-304.5 nor section 76-5-401 violates due process under either the State or the federal constitution. Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to unlawful sexual intercourse, subject to an appeal of the trial court's denial of defendant's pre-trial motion.

¶ 4 On appeal, the Utah Court of Appeals held that: (1) the legislature clearly intended a violation of section 76-5-401 to be a strict liability crime and expressly precluded the defense of mistake as to the victim's age; and (2) defendant's federal due process rights³ have not been violated because the statutory scheme reflects careful consideration of protection for minors and rationally furthers a legitimate governmental interest. See State v. Martinez, 2000 UT App 320, 14 P.3d 114

. This court granted certiorari.

STANDARDS OF REVIEW

¶ 5 "When exercising our certiorari jurisdiction, we review the decision of the court of appeals and not that of the trial court." Salt Lake City v. Roberts, 2002 UT 30, ¶ 15, 44 P.3d 767 (quoting Longley v. Leucadia Fin. Corp., 2000 UT 69, ¶ 13, 9 P.3d 762). Whether section 76-5-401 of the Utah Code imposes strict liability is a question of statutory construction, which we review for correctness, according no deference to the legal conclusions of the court of appeals. Id.; see also Grand County v. Rogers, 2002 UT 25, ¶ 6, 44 P.3d 734

.

¶ 6 A challenge to the constitutionality of section 76-5-401 is also a question of law, which we review for correctness. State v. Morrison, 2001 UT 73, ¶ 5, 31 P.3d 547 (citing State v. Lopes, 1999 UT 24, ¶ 6, 980 P.2d 191). "When addressing such a challenge, this court presumes that the statute is valid, and we resolve any reasonable doubts in favor of constitutionality." Id.

ANALYSIS

¶ 7 Section 76-5-401 of the Utah Code governs the crime of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. On appeal, defendant argues that this statute does not impose strict liability because it fails to clearly indicate a legislative purpose to do so, and that the crime of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor requires a culpable mental state of at least recklessness. He also argues that if section 76-5-401 does impose strict liability, it violates his federal right to due process for failing to require proof of a culpable mental state. We address each of these arguments in turn.

I. STRICT LIABILITY UNDER SECTION 76-5-401

¶ 8 "When interpreting statutes, our primary goal is to evince `the true intent and purpose of the Legislature.'" State ex. rel. Div. of Forestry, Fire & State Lands v. Tooele County, 2002 UT 8, ¶ 10, 44 P.3d 680

(quoting Jensen v. Intermountain Health Care, Inc., 679 P.2d 903, 906 (Utah 1984)). We discern legislative intent and purpose by first looking to the "best evidence" of its meaning, which is the plain language of the statute itself. Id.; see also Platts v. Parents Helping Parents, 947 P.2d 658, 662 (Utah 1997). When examining the statutory language we assume the legislature used each term advisedly and in accordance with its ordinary meaning. Tooele County, 44 P.3d 680, 2002 UT 8 at ¶ 10 (citing Nelson v. Salt Lake County, 905 P.2d 872, 875 (Utah 1995)); see also Platts, 947 P.2d at 662. Furthermore, we "avoid interpretations that will render portions of a statute superfluous or inoperative." Hall v. State Dep't of Corr., 2001 UT 34, ¶ 15, 24 P.3d 958.

¶ 9 Section 76-5-401 states in relevant part:

(1) For purposes of this section "minor" is a person who is 14 years of age or older, but younger than 16 years of age, at the time the sexual activity described in this section occurred.

(2) A person commits unlawful sexual activity with a minor if . . . the actor:

(a) has sexual intercourse with the minor ...

(3) A violation of subsection (2) is a third degree felony unless the defendant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence the mitigating factor that the defendant is less than four years older than the minor at the time the sexual activity occurred, in which case it is a class B misdemeanor.

Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-401 (2001).⁴ Section 76-5-401 does not specify a culpable mental state for the crime of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. It simply says that "[a] person commits unlawful sexual activity with a minor if ... [the person] has sexual intercourse with the minor." The sole mitigating factor provided in the statute is if the defendant can show that he or she was fewer than four years older than the victim at the time of the offense. The plain language of section 76-5-401, therefore, does not require that a defendant intend to have sexual intercourse with a minor who is fourteen or fifteen years old. The commission of the sexual act itself is sufficient to violate the statute.

¶ 10 When a statute does not supply a mental state for proscribed conduct, further guidance is provided by section 76-2-102 of the Utah Code, which states:

Culpable mental state required.... An offense shall involve strict liability if the statute defining the offense clearly indicates a legislative purpose to impose criminal responsibility for commission of the conduct prohibited by the statute without requiring proof of any culpable mental state.

Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-102 (2001). We must therefore determine whether the legislature intended to impose criminal liability for unlawful sexual activity with a minor without requiring proof that the defendant intended to engage in sexual intercourse with a fourteen or fifteen-year-old. If we find that this was the legislature's specific purpose, then the crime is one of strict liability, and proof of a culpable mental state is not required.

¶ 11 The plain language of section 76-5-401 does not contain a mens rea element yet we may look to the relationship between other sections of the criminal code and the section at issue for further guidance on legislative intent. See State v. W.C.P., 1999 UT App 35, ¶ 8, 974 P.2d 302

("In discerning the purpose of [the statute], we are guided by the relationship [of the section] to other sections of the criminal code."); see also State v. Bishop, 753 P.2d 439, 468 (Utah 1988) ("[W]hen possible, statutes must be interpreted harmoniously with other statues relevant to the subject matter."). Section 76-2-304.5, entitled "Mistake as to victim's age not a defense," explicitly prohibits a defendant from raising mistake as to the victim's age as a defense to a violation of section 76-5-401. Section 76-2-304.5 states:

It is not a defense to the crime of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a violation of Section 76-5-401 ... that the actor mistakenly believed the victim to be 16 years of age or older at the time of the alleged offense or was unaware of the victim's true age.

Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-304.5(2)(2001). This section clearly states the legislative intent. The plain language of both section 76-2-304.5 and 76-5-401 shows that the legislature intended to impose criminal responsibility for sexual activity with a minor whether or not the defendant knew the victim's true age.⁵ Allowing the defense of mistake as to the victim's age, or requiring the prosecution to prove a mens rea for a violation of section 76-5-401 would render section 76-2-304.5 inoperative.⁶ ¶ 12 Defendant's statutory analysis of the strict liability question focuses on the "clearly indicates a legislative purpose" language of section 76-2-102, to the exclusion of the rest of the sentence which reads, "... to impose criminal responsibility for commission of the conduct ... without requiring proof of any culpable mental state." That is, defendant seems to assert that clear legislative purpose cannot be discerned from the language of the statute, but that some other sign of legislative purpose is needed. However, as we have previously stated, "[t]he fundamental rule of statutory construction is that statutes are generally to be construed according to their plain language." Zoll & Branch, P.C. v. Asay, 932 P.2d 592, 594 (Utah 1997). Section 76-5-401 makes sexual intercourse with a fourteen or fifteen-year-old a violation of the statute, irrespective of defendant's knowledge...