State v. Oanes

• Decision Date: 06 February 1996
• Docket Number: No. C1-95-1064,C1-95-1064
• Citation: 543 N.W.2d 658
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Rachel Janel OANES, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

Page 658

543 N.W.2d 658

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Rachel Janel OANES, Appellant.

No. C1-95-1064.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

Feb. 6, 1996.

Syllabus by the Court

Under Minn.Stat. § 609.321, subd. 10, a woman's breasts constitute an intimate part of her body. In a prostitution offense, an objective standard determines whether the actor intended to engage in sexual activity for gratification of sexual impulses. An individual does not establish an entrapment defense to a prostitution charge merely by showing he or she did not explicitly offer to exchange sex for money.

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Attorney General, St. Paul, Surell Brady, Minneapolis City Attorney, Laura A. Yonts, Assistant City Attorney, Minneapolis, for respondent.

Samuel M. Vaught, Gregory M. Pennella, St. Paul, for appellant.

Considered and decided by PETERSON, P.J., and RANDALL and SHORT, JJ.

OPINION

SHORT, Judge.

After a bench trial, Rachel Janel Oanes was convicted of prostitution in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.324, subd. 3(1). On appeal, Oanes argues: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support her conviction; (2) the trial court erred by failing to consider the defense of entrapment; and (3) the trial court improperly relied on evidence earlier excluded as irrelevant.

FACTS

On July 6, 1994, an undercover police officer from the Minneapolis Police Department entered "Nite-Lites," a reputed house of prostitution. Oanes greeted the officer at the door, informing him the cost was $100 and he should pick the woman with whom he would like to spend a "session." The officer selected Oanes.

Oanes brought the officer to a room with a bed and table. She suggested he remove his clothes, told him he could shower if he wanted, and said she would return shortly. The officer took off his clothes and sat on the bed. Oanes returned after approximately ten minutes and laid down on the bed. After making small talk, Oanes asked the officer to massage her. As he rubbed her shoulders, she raised her back and the straps of her halter top fell over her shoulders. The officer pulled the straps down exposing Oanes' breasts, and moved his hands over them. When the officer asked if Oanes was going to massage him, she said she could not and told him to finish massaging her front. The officer continued rubbing Oanes's stomach and then unbuttoned her shorts. When the officer asked for help in removing her clothes, Oanes lifted up her bottom. At the officer's request, Oanes moved to the middle of the bed and spread her legs apart. After the officer placed his hands on Oanes's inner thighs and his face close to her vaginal area, the officer stopped and arrested her. Oanes was brought to the police station and another officer returned her to Nite-Lites. While in the car, Oanes informed the second officer that she was the manager of Nite-Lites and had previously been a manager of a sauna in St. Paul.

Prior to trial, Oanes raised the defense of entrapment. Her counsel indicated to the court that she did not wish a preliminary hearing, but would proceed to trial. In his final written argument, Oanes's counsel again raised and argued the entrapment issue.

At trial, the undercover officer testified his conduct was necessary to "check out" with Oanes and to show he was not a police officer. He testified he refrained from mentioning sex or money when he was with Oanes because, based on prior knowledge, he believed she would leave if he did. When the state attempted to admit Oanes's statements regarding her management positions, the trial court ruled the information inadmissible because it was not relevant to the current charge of prostitution. In rendering its judgment of conviction, however, the trial court found Oanes

offered that she was the manager of Nite-Lites. She also indicated that she had previously worked at a sauna in St. Paul.

The trial court concluded Oanes intentionally offered, agreed, and engaged in sexual contact for hire. In reaching its decision, the trial court did not address Oanes's entrapment defense.

ISSUES

I. Was the evidence sufficient to support Oanes's conviction for prostitution?

II. Did the trial court err by failing to consider Oanes's defense of entrapment?

III. Did the trial court err by referring, in its verdict, to Oanes's statements regarding her management of Nite-Lites and a sauna?

ANALYSIS

I.

It is a misdemeanor to "engage[ ] in prostitution with an individual 18 years of age or above." Minn.Stat. § 609.324, subd. 3(1) (1994). Prostitution involves "engaging or offering or agreeing to engage for hire in sexual penetration or sexual contact." Minn.Stat. § 609.321, subd. 9 (1994). "Sexual contact" includes "[t]he intentional touching by an individual of a prostitute's intimate parts" if it may "reasonably be construed as being for the purpose of satisfying the actor's sexual impulses." Id., subd. 10 (1994). In reviewing a claim of insufficiency of the evidence, we must determine whether the evidence, when viewed in a light most favorable to the conviction, reasonably supports the trial court's conclusion. State v. Webb, 440 N.W.2d 426, 430 (Minn.1989).

A. Sexual Contact

Oanes argues she did not engage in sexual contact because breasts are not "intimate parts" under Minn.Stat. § 609.321, subd. 10. Because the legislature has not defined "intimate parts" in the prostitution statutes, we must construe the words according to common usage. Minn.Stat. § 645.08(1) (1994). A woman's breasts are commonly considered a sexual and intimate part of her body. See Minn.Stat. §§ 609.341, subd. 5 (1994) (defining "intimate parts" to include a person's breasts for purposes of the criminal sexual conduct statutes), 617.241, subd. 1(b)(iv) (1994) (defining sexual conduct to include physical contact with a female's breasts), 617.245, subd. 1(e)(4) (1994) (same), 617.246, subd. 1(e)(iv) (1994) (same). In the United States, women normally cover their breasts when in public and take offense at a stranger's touch. See Minn.Stat. §§ 609.343, subd. 1 (making certain sexual contact, which includes the touching of another's intimate parts as defined in Minn.Stat. § 609.341, subd. 5, criminal), 609.345, subd. 1 (same), 609.3451, subd. 1 (1994) (same).

Our conclusion that a woman's breast is an intimate body part is supported by precedent of foreign jurisdictions. See, e.g., State v. Taylor, 167 Ariz. 429, 808 P.2d 314, 316 (Ct.App.1990) (noting sexual contact, as defined in the Arizona prostitution statute, includes the fondling of female breasts); State v. Turner, 33 Or.App. 157, 575 P.2d 1007, 1008 (1978) (recognizing, as a matter of law, that breasts are intimate parts under Oregon's sexual abuse statute), review denied (Or. June 20, 1978); In re Welfare of Adams, 24 Wash.App. 517, 601 P.2d 995, 997 (1979) (relying on Turner and holding that breasts, as a matter of law, are "sexual or other intimate parts" under Washington's indecent liberties statute).

The legislature enacted the current criminal sexual conduct statutes before the present prostitution sections, and grouped them under the common heading "Sex Crimes," thus indicating sex crimes, including prostitution, encompass acts of touching another person's breasts under certain conditions. See Minn.Stat. § 645.16(5) (1994) (allowing consideration of laws on similar subjects when interpreting a statute and discerning the legislature's intent); see also State v. Dooley, 380 N.W.2d 582, 584 (Minn.App.1986) (finding evidence that the defendant touched the victim's breast, combined with injury, supported conviction for second-degree criminal sexual conduct), review denied (Minn. Mar. 27, 1986).

Other similarities between the sex crimes statutes suggest the validity of using one to interpret the other. Both sections provide essentially the same definition of "sexual penetration" and one major difference between the two crimes, the issue of consent, cannot be used as a defense to a prostitution charge. See Minn.Stat. §§ 609.321, subd. 11 (defining sexual penetration for prostitution offenses), 609.325, subd. 2 (1994) (disallowing the use of the client's consent as a defense to a prostitution charge); State v. Kelly, 379 N.W.2d 649, 652 (Minn.App.1986) (holding consent of a prostitute's customer is not a defense to a charge of prostitution); see also Minn.Stat. § 609.341, subd. 12 (1994) (defining sexual penetration for criminal sexual conduct offenses). Thus, the legislature's failure to specifically define "intimate parts" in section 609.321, does not indicate its desire to deviate from the standard established in section 609.341. See Minn.Stat. § 609.321, subd. 3 (1994) (using other sections of chapter 609 to define "force" for purposes of the prostitution statutes); see also Minn.Stat. § 609.3451, subd. 1 (explicitly deviating from the definition of sexual contact (generally, the touching of another's intimate parts) provided by Minn.Stat. § 609.341, subd. 11(a) (1994)).

B. Satisfaction of Sexual Impulses

Oanes also argues the undercover officer did not have the required intent to sustain conviction because he did not subjectively intend to satisfy his sexual impulses by touching her breasts. However, the statute's language, "if the acts can reasonably be construed as being for the purpose of satisfying the actor's sexual impulses," suggests an objective standard. Minn.Stat. § 609.321, subd. 10 (emphasis added); cf. Guinther v. Wilkinson, 679 F.Supp. 1066, 1069-70 (D.Utah 1988) (finding the definition of "sexual activity" in a prostitution statute unconstitutional, in part, because the terms "apparent or actual sexual stimulation or gratification" were wholly capricious and lacking a "standard of objective measurement") (emphasis added). The statute looks to the intent of the prostitute to determine whether an offer or agreement was made, thus suggesting the client's subjective intent is not relevant. See State v. Crist, 281 N.W.2d 657, 658 (Minn.1979) (holding the state need...