State v. Meyers

• Decision Date: 24 June 2011
• Docket Number: No. 08–1524.,08–1524.
• Citation: 799 N.W.2d 132
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellee,v.Randy Scott MEYERS, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

799 N.W.2d 132

STATE of Iowa, Appellee,

v.Randy Scott MEYERS, Appellant.

No. 08–1524.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

June 24, 2011.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and David A. Adams, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for appellant.Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Sheryl A. Soich, Assistant Attorney General, Michael J. Walton, County Attorney, and Julie A. Walton, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.CADY, Chief Justice.

Randy Scott Meyers seeks further review of a decision by the court of appeals that affirmed his conviction for sexual abuse in the third degree and lascivious conduct with a minor. Meyers primarily challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions. On our review, we affirm the decision of the court of appeals and affirm the judgment and sentence of the district court.

I. Background Facts and Prior Proceedings.

In the fall of 1993, Randy Scott Meyers met and began dating Patricia, a single mother of two children. Meyers was thirty years old. Patricia and her children lived in Davenport. The oldest child, Mindy, was six years old at the time. Meyers moved in with Patricia and her two children in the spring of 1994. The couple had one child together later that year.

In June 1995, Meyers was convicted of the crime of lascivious acts with a child after Patricia found Meyers engaging in sexual activity with Mindy in her bedroom. He was sentenced to five years in prison. Shortly after he completed serving his sentence, Meyers returned to live with Patricia and her children. He then married Patricia, and the couple continued to live together in Davenport with the children.

Patricia suffered from bipolar disorder during the course of their marriage. She threatened and attempted suicide while the children were present and was hospitalized. Meyers was the “controlling figure” to the children. At times, Meyers physically and mentally abused Mindy, as well as her younger brother. In September 2004, the Department of Human Services (DHS) investigated an injury inflicted on Mindy by Meyers.

After the incident of physical abuse, the already contentious familial circumstances deteriorated rapidly. Meyers, Patricia, and Mindy had started to smoke crack cocaine together. Meyers supplied the cocaine. Mindy quickly developed an addiction to the drug, which caused her to drop out of high school. She was seventeen years old. In late 2004, Patricia sought and received a protective order against Meyers that required him to move out of their Davenport home. Disharmony also developed between Mindy and Patricia, which caused Mindy to leave the home. She began living with Meyers in his trailer outside Davenport.

On New Year's Eve 2004, Meyers and Mindy had a party at the trailer. Mindy consumed alcohol at the party. On at least two occasions, guests observed Mindy and Meyers go into Meyers' bedroom or the bathroom together for thirty minutes or more. On a separate occasion, Meyers was observed touching Mindy's face and hair in a romantic way while telling her she was beautiful.

Mindy lived with Meyers until January 2005, when Patricia sought and obtained a court order for her involuntary commitment for drug treatment. Mindy was initially admitted to a hospital in Davenport for treatment. In the spring of 2005, she was transferred to Youth Shelter Services, a residential treatment facility in Ames.

After Mindy was placed at Youth Shelter Services, Meyers moved to Ames to be closer to her. He was subsequently convicted of lascivious conduct with a minor and was sentenced to one year in jail. Mindy was the victim of the crime. While in jail, Meyers sent Mindy a series of letters. Many of the letters professed love for Mindy and revealed she was the object of his sexual and romantic desires. In one letter dated March 8, 2006, Meyers wrote:

All I want is to buy you things (hold you) and make little ones with you. Please be mine.... It's been over 60 days since I've had sex. It has been with this one beautiful blonde.¹ ... She is so gorgouse [sic] so careing [sic] and everything I've ever wanted. I love this beautiful blond! (Her p–––– taste great) The best I've ever tasted. The best in bed also and she treats me like a king....

In another letter to Mindy dated March 12, 2006, Meyers wrote: “I must have you soon. I must hold you soon.... Remember our shower. I love memories.... I'd give anything to have you again and again and again. You no [sic] what I mean.” Meyers also described Mindy's physical attributes in a letter dated March 11, in which he stated:

Your legs are awesome your hips are perfect your chest is more woman than I can handle your lips are thin and hot your face is perfect your toes are cool but I'll admit I haven't looked at them as much as your beautiful body but I will!

These letters were signed “Love, Randy.” In other letters, Meyers signed “Love, Dad.” In one such letter, Meyers advised Mindy to sell his truck and keep the money to live on and to “be a good kid.” Mindy gave the letters to her Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor and friend, Johnna Folkmann–Ask. Folkmann–Ask confronted Meyers about the letters over the phone and told Meyers to stop calling Mindy.

The DHS child protection worker, who had been initially involved with the family in 2004, Kim Cronkleton Fish, continued working with the family's case in 2005. In June 2005, Fish visited Mindy at the Ames shelter to follow up on a report of sexual abuse between Meyers and Mindy. Fish also interviewed Meyers, who admitted he and Mindy had “crossed the line” and that he knew it was wrong. Meyers further admitted to Fish that the sexual activity with Mindy he described in the letters had actually taken place.

The State charged Meyers with two counts of sexual abuse in the third degree, one count of lascivious conduct with a minor, and one count of distributing a controlled substance to a minor for his conduct with Mindy while they resided together in Meyers' trailer between September 2004 and January 2005. The State offered two alternative theories of sexual abuse under Iowa Code section 709.4 (2003). The first alternative alleged Meyers performed sex acts by force or against Mindy's will. See Iowa Code § 709.4(1). The second alternative alleged Meyers performed sex acts at a time when Mindy was suffering from a mental defect or incapacity. See id. § 709.4(2)( a ). Meyers waived his right to a jury trial and proceeded to a bench trial. Mindy did not testify at trial, and the trial court denied the State's offer to admit her deposition into evidence in her absence.

At trial, the State introduced evidence consistent with the background facts set forth in this opinion. Additionally, the State offered the testimony of an expert witness, Dr. Richard Hutchison, a board-certified clinical psychologist who specializes in the mental health treatment of children and families. Dr. Hutchison opined that Mindy did not have the ability to consent to a sex act with Meyers under all the circumstances of the case. The State asked Dr. Hutchison a series of hypothetical questions about the psychological state of a girl in Mindy's circumstances from the time she was sexually abused as a young child by her stepfather to when she moved in with her stepfather and began a romantic relationship with him involving sex. ² Dr. Hutchison generally opined that a girl in Mindy's situation would not be psychologically able to effectively consent to sex with her stepfather. He testified that Meyer's past abuse of Mindy in their home as her father figure, along with Patricia's support of Meyers following the abuse, would confuse a child's boundaries and freeze the child's emotions at the age of the trauma if left untreated. Dr. Hutchison also testified a child witnessing and experiencing physical violence in the home by Meyers would fear resisting him. He further testified that a chaotic household without appropriate decision making and boundaries would cause increased confusion. Additionally, Dr. Hutchison testified an addiction to crack cocaine, with the authority figure as the supplier, would cause a physiological layer of dependency. The State concluded its questioning of Dr. Hutchison by asking him to express his expert opinion about Mindy's ability to consent to sexual activity with Meyers based on the evidence presented at trial. Dr. Hutchison concluded the combination of all the factors in Mindy's life would cause her to have a “below normal” ability to resist her stepfather and that, ultimately, Mindy would not have the ability to consent to sex with him.

The district court found Meyers guilty of all charges against him. The court concluded there was insufficient evidence Mindy was “mentally incapacitated” under Iowa Code section 709.4(2)( a ) at the time of the sex acts with Meyers. Yet, it found Meyers guilty of sexual abuse in the third degree under the totality of the circumstances that showed the sex acts were against Mindy's will because they occurred while she was psychologically unable to consent to Meyers' advances as her stepparent. See Iowa Code § 709.4(1). Relying on the same facts, the court found Meyers guilty of lascivious conduct with a minor based on evidence that Meyers had “persuaded [Mindy] to disrobe for the purpose of arousing his sexual desires.” See id. § 709.14. Finally, the court found the State proved Meyers was guilty of distributing a controlled substance to a minor under Iowa Code section 124.406.

Meyers appealed from his conviction for lascivious conduct with a minor and sex abuse in the third degree.³ He primarily challenged the sufficiency of the evidence to support the conviction. The thrust of the challenge targets the absence of testimony from Mindy that the sex acts with him were by force or against her will. Meyers asserts Mindy's consent cannot be negated without expert evidence that she suffered from a recognized mental defect. He claims the expert testimony presented by the State that s...