State v. Norton

Decision Date03 May 2018
Docket NumberNo. 20150302-CA,20150302-CA
Parties STATE of Utah, Appellee, v. Lonnie NORTON, Appellant.
CourtUtah Court of Appeals

Lori J. Seppi, Attorney for Appellant

Sean D. Reyes and Christopher D. Ballard, Salt Lake City Attorneys for Appellee

Judge Jill M. Pohlman authored this Opinion, in which Judges Michele M. Christiansen and Diana Hagen concurred.

Opinion

POHLMAN, Judge:

¶1 Lonnie Norton appeals his convictions arising from events that occurred over one night in November 2012 when he broke into his parents-in-law’s house, kidnapped his estranged wife (Wife), and sexually assaulted her. Norton alleges several errors related to the jury instructions and sentencing. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶2 In October 2012, Wife left Norton, her husband of over twenty years, taking their children with her. After staying in a women’s shelter for several days and after a protective order against Norton went into effect, Wife and the children moved into her parents’ then-vacant house. The protective order permitted Norton to have supervised visits with the children and to communicate with Wife via email regarding "parent time, counseling, and school attendance."

¶3 On the date when the events leading to Norton’s convictions occurred, Norton had overnight supervised parent time with the children in the marital home. Wife claimed that, on that night, Norton left the children and broke into her parents’ house, after which he, among other things, kidnapped and raped her at gunpoint. The State charged Norton with aggravated kidnapping, a first degree felony; three counts of aggravated sexual assault, all first degree felonies; aggravated burglary, a first degree felony; aggravated assault, a third degree felony; violation of a protective order, a class A misdemeanor; and damage to or interruption of a communication device, a class B misdemeanor.

¶4 The case proceeded to a jury trial. Norton and Wife each testified about the events of that night and agreed on the following basic facts. It was snowing. After the children went to sleep, Norton retrieved Wife from her parents’ house and drove the two to Fort Douglas on the University of Utah campus. Norton, who worked for the University, accessed a vacant office building with a key he had by virtue of his employment. Once inside the building, the parties had sexual intercourse in an office, after which Wife rinsed off in a bathroom across the hall. Norton then drove Wife first to the marital home to check on the children and then back to her parents’ house. Aside from these facts, the parties’ accounts differed significantly.

Wife’s Account

¶5 Wife testified that, on the night in question, she awoke in the middle of the night to "a loud bang" downstairs in her parents’ house, which she "figured ... was [from] the dryer" that she had previously moved in front of a door to block entry from the basement’s outside entrance. Wife grabbed her phone and dialed 911 when Norton appeared "at the end of [her] bed." He punched her face with a closed fist, grabbed the phone, and duct-taped her head. She passed out, and when she regained consciousness, she was riding in Norton’s car with him. She claimed that Norton "had a gun in his lap" and pointed it at her as she tried to open the car door. She realized that they were driving "up to the Fort Douglas area" near Norton’s office at the University of Utah. After arriving at a building in the Fort Douglas area, Norton parked the car and told Wife that they were going to enter the building and that she "needed to be quiet or he would shoot [her]." Because she did not have any shoes on, Norton gave her a pair of his shoes and then led Wife toward the building and unlocked the entrance door.

¶6 Wife testified that Norton initially took her to a bathroom, where he "ripped the duct tape off [her] head" and began talking to her about their marriage, going to counseling, and getting back together. Wife rejected Norton’s suggestions, and after talking for approximately twenty minutes, Norton told Wife "to take [her] shirt off." When she initially refused, he "pointed the gun at [her]" and again ordered her to take off her shirt. She complied. He then "squeezed [her] breasts" and led her to an office across the hall. Once there, he told her to "take off [her] pants." Again, she refused, and again he "pointed the gun at [her]," and she complied.

¶7 While Wife was undressing, Norton also undressed. Norton then "popped the magazine out of the gun" and put the gun pieces in a drawer. He "told [her] that [they] were going [to] have sex." She again told him, "no," which Norton dismissed, and Wife asked if he was "going to rape [her]." Norton replied, "You can’t rape somebody that you’re married to," and he laid down on the floor and pulled Wife on top of him. He then vaginally raped her. Wife testified that she made no effort to participate. She testified that at one point she grabbed his penis "really hard," but that because she has rheumatoid arthritis

, she did not "know how hard" the squeeze was. Norton responded by grabbing "both of [her] hands and ... put[ting] them over [her] head in one of his hands."

¶8 Wife testified that afterward Norton took her back to the bathroom and ordered her "to get in the bathtub and rinse [herself] off." She stated that her "hands were shaking really bad" and that Norton told her that she was not "doing a good enough job," at which point he "shoved his fingers up in [her vagina] and tried to rinse himself out." Wife dried herself off with some paper towels, and they both got dressed.

¶9 Norton, having retrieved the gun, then told Wife to sit down on a chair. While he initially suggested the two reconcile, the conversation took a turn when he told her that "he was going [to] kill himself," and he put the gun to his head. He then pointed the gun at Wife and said, "[M]aybe I’ll kill you and then I’ll kill myself." Norton "went back and forth" about shooting himself and Wife for a few minutes, after which Wife "got really mad" and "[t]old him to go ahead and shoot himself." At that point, "it just ended," and Norton "took [Wife] back out into the car." Norton then drove them to their marital home and, after insisting that Wife "couldn’t tell anybody" what had happened and that she needed to "make up some sort of story" to tell the children about how she hurt herself, he drove her back to her parents’ house. Once there, Norton attempted to fix both a locked gate and the basement door through which he had entered earlier. He again told her not to tell anybody what had happened, and she told him she would not tell. After Norton left, Wife called the police, and an officer took her to the hospital.

Norton’s Account

¶10 Norton testified at trial that Wife willingly accompanied him to the Fort Douglas office building and that she initiated the sexual conduct that occurred. He claimed that Wife had "told [him] to come over" to her parents’ house after their children had gone to sleep and that, after missing her call at approximately two o’clock in the morning, he drove to the house and parked in front. Though it was snowing, Norton testified that, "[a]fter a couple of minutes," Wife came outside "in stocking feet" and got into the car with him. He gave her some Reeboks to wear. He claimed that as they drove, Wife suggested going to his office to talk. Norton thought that rather than his office, "it might not be a bad idea to ... go up to one of the buildings that’s part of [his] college up in the Fort Douglas area." Accordingly, he parked behind a building there and unlocked the entrance to a unit that used to be an officer’s quarters and was recently vacated by its tenant.

¶11 Norton testified that, once inside, the parties went into an office, sat down, and began talking about marriage counseling and possible reconciliation. Norton claimed that as they were reminiscing about when they first married, Wife went over "and sat on [his] lap and put her arms around [him]" and they began kissing. He testified that they eventually moved to the floor, undressed, and that Wife "climbed on top of [him]" and had sex with him.

¶12 Norton testified that afterward they went into the bathroom and that Wife got in the bathtub. Norton said that normally they would shower, but that because the water in the building was cold, he told Wife that he was not going to shower. Instead, he suggested to Wife that she "just rinse off," and he turned on the knob for her. He claimed that after Wife rinsed and dried herself off with paper towels he provided, they then went back into the office and dressed.

¶13 Norton testified that, at this point, the parties resumed their conversation about reconciliation. He stated that Wife indicated that she "didn’t really want to reconcile," which prompted him to say that he thought it would be fair for him to have joint custody of their children. Wife responded that she did not want joint custody, and she became angry—calling him names—when he said his attorney told him that he would be able to get joint custody. At one point during the exchange, Wife slapped Norton, and he claimed that he backhanded her "pretty hard" in response. He testified that Wife then tried to hit him again, and so he "grabbed her hands and [they] rastled for a minute," which caused Wife to start crying. Norton stated that Wife then went into the bathroom, shut the door, and refused to come out for about ten minutes.

¶14 When Wife came out, Norton and Wife left the building and got back into the car. Norton testified that Wife asked to check on their children at the marital home, which they did. Norton then drove Wife to her parents’ house. When they arrived, they discovered the front door was locked. Norton testified that he then went around to the back door, and along the way opened a locked gate by pushing it "real hard." He then went and "pushed" the laundry room back door open and walked through the house to let Wife in around front.

¶15 Norton testified that, once...

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4 cases
  • State v. Norton
    • United States
    • Utah Supreme Court
    • July 13, 2020
    ...clear that Norton had to act intentionally or knowingly with regard to H.N.’s nonconsent. State v. Norton , 2018 UT App 82, ¶¶ 25, 28, 427 P.3d 312. He also argued that the district court erred in rejecting some of his requests for instructions on lesser included offenses. Id. ¶ 26.¶27 Nort......
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    ...of the penalty." LeBeau v. State , 2014 UT 39, ¶ 42, 337 P.3d 254 (emphasis added); see also State v. Norton , 2018 UT App 82, ¶ 79, 427 P.3d 312 ("[W]e will not fault the court for failing to conduct a sua sponte review of the Utah Code to identify similar offenses and then compare their s......
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    • United States
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  • State v. Salgado
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    • Utah Court of Appeals
    • July 12, 2018
    ...a lesser included offense instruction is a question of law, which we review for correctness."3 State v. Norton , 2018 UT App 82, ¶ 26, 427 P.3d 312 (quotation simplified).ANALYSISI. Sufficiency of the Evidence¶26 Salgado contends that we should reverse her DUI conviction "because the State ......

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