State v. Torres-Orellana
| Decision Date | 09 July 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. 20190599-CA,20190599-CA |
| Citation | 493 P.3d 711 |
| Court | Utah Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE of Utah, Appellant, v. William Alexander TORRES-ORELLANA, Appellee. |
Sean D. Reyes, Salt Lake City, and David A. Simpson, Attorneys for Appellant
Emily Adams, Freyja Johnson, Salt Lake City, and Cherise Bacalski, Attorneys for Appellee
¶1 After a jury convicted William Alexander Torres-Orellana on one count of rape, Torres1 moved for a new trial. He argued that his trial counsel (Trial Counsel) rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance by not seeking to admit "friendly" post-rape text messages exchanged between Torres and the victim. The trial court agreed and granted a new trial. The State appeals, and we reverse.
¶2 In July 2016, seventeen-year-old Tiffany3 met Torres, who was then nineteen, at her place of work. Soon thereafter, they began communicating via text message "on and off" and "hung out a couple times." Things got more serious by December, and they eventually began dating.
¶3 Because Tiffany had just given birth in November, she told Torres via text message, soon after they began dating, that she was not yet physically and emotionally ready for sex. Torres told her, "I want to do it but I can wait baby for you as long as you want till you ready to do it," and assured her, "i really don't mind waiting."4 In response, Tiffany told Torres that she felt that she had been taken advantage of in her prior relationships, but Torres was "different" and that she "fell ... hard" for him. Torres responded affectionately.
¶4 On January 31, 2017, Tiffany made plans to go to the mall with Torres. Torres picked her up in his vehicle just after 7:30 p.m. Tiffany's mother (Mother) expected her home by 9:00 p.m. After leaving home, Tiffany soon noticed that they were not heading to the mall and asked where they were going. Torres responded that they "were going for a drive," and he eventually pulled over at a nearby park. There, the two talked for about an hour and "[k]issed a couple of times." Torres, who was sitting in the driver seat that he had reclined "and pushed all the way back," then asked Tiffany "to get on top of him." When Tiffany refused, Torres attempted to pull her on top of him. Tiffany told him, "no," and that she "didn't want to." Having not succeeded in pulling Tiffany on top of him, Torres then repeatedly told her "to blow" him. Tiffany initially refused, but Torres was persistent, and she eventually gave in and "did it for just a little bit." She then stopped and told him she "didn't want to anymore."
¶5 In response, Torres became "more determined" and told her again "to get on top of him." He then grabbed her by the arms and pulled her on top of him so that she was facing him and began pulling down her pants. Tiffany resisted, but to no avail, as Torres was "much stronger." She told him "multiple times" that she "didn't want to," but Torres ignored her demands and began kissing her chest and body and then inserted his penis into her vagina. Tiffany fought back and eventually, after "five minutes at the most," succeeded in pushing herself back into the passenger seat.
¶6 Torres begged her "to keep going" and told her "it would only take a couple more minutes ... for him to finish." Tiffany refused and told him that she "was going to get in trouble and not be able to hang out with him anymore" if he did not take her home, but Torres "just kept begging." At that point, Tiffany texted Mother that Torres would not bring her home, and Mother responded by asking where they were. After seeing this text exchange, Torres took Tiffany home.
¶7 When they pulled up to the house, Torres tried to kiss Tiffany, but she pulled away and opened the car door. He then told her, "I love you," but Tiffany just shut the door and walked toward Mother, who was outside waiting for her. Inside, Mother noticed that Tiffany's "demeanor was off" and asked what had happened and whether Torres had hurt her or forced her to have sex. Tiffany "broke down" and responded, "Yeah." Mother immediately reported the rape to law enforcement.
¶8 That same night, a sexual assault nurse examiner (Nurse) examined Tiffany. The exam revealed bruises on Tiffany's neck, some of which were "very consistent with sucking," and others that appeared to be "more from pressure or a hand." Tiffany told Nurse that those injuries "occurred during the assault with kissing, sucking, and grabbing of her neck" by Torres. Tiffany also had bruising to her breasts that was "certainly ... consistent with grabbing of the breasts" and "with sucking." Nurse also noted multiple linear bruises and abrasions to Tiffany's knees and legs that occurred "with different motions" and concluded they were consistent with Tiffany's account of being pulled onto Torres, fighting him, and hitting against various objects in the car.
¶9 The genital exam revealed "multiple sites of injury," including a rugburn-like abrasion; a small, bleeding laceration to the perihymenal tissue; and a laceration to the right labia major that was 2.5 centimeters in length and consistent "with a dragging injury." Referring specifically to the 2.5 centimeter laceration, Nurse testified at trial that out of the approximately 200–300 sexual assault examinations she had conducted throughout her 12-year career, she had seen only "probably three" cases in which the injuries were as severe as Tiffany's. Based on the injuries she observed, Nurse confirmed that it was "safe to say that the vagina was penetrated." She also concluded that "several different motions" probably caused the injuries and that the number of injuries suggested non-consensual sex because in "consensual experiences, typically you would readjust or change something if something was uncomfortable or hurt you" and the "several sites of injury here indicate that there's not a correction to prevent injury."5
¶10 The forensic scientist who analyzed Tiffany's sexual assault kit testified that swabs of the perineal area revealed male DNA but in an insufficient quantity to extract a full profile. The swab of the vaginal area revealed no male DNA. He testified that possible reasons for the lack of male DNA included no penetration, transient penetration, ejaculation with low sperm count
, and wiping or cleaning the genital area.
¶11 Shortly after Torres dropped Tiffany off at her home, he texted her, "Babe I'm sorry I love you babe," followed by, "I'm sorry babe I was alittle tired, sorry I couldn't please you, I bet you hate me now babe I miss you." The next morning, Torres sent another text message asking Tiffany to let him know when she woke up. The following exchange ensued:
¶12 Their text conversation continued in a similar manner for another week, during which Torres repeatedly asked for forgiveness, including the following statements:
¶13 Although Tiffany was initially skeptical of Torres's repentance, within a couple of days she began expressing romantic feelings to him. For example, she told him, "I just want you but idk if my mom would let anything with us happen again," and, Tiffany also unsuccessfully tried to convince Mother to allow her to see Torres again. At trial, Tiffany explained that although she "was super hurt" by what Torres had done to her at the park, she "was also really dumb and thought that [she] could give him another chance" because her "hormones were all over the place from having a baby and [she] just wanted to feel loved and [she] liked him a lot before it happened."
¶14 Finally, after just over a week of communicating via text, Tiffany broke things off with Torres:
I've tried and tried and I can't keep fighting with my mom every night over this. She doesn't want me to be with someone who did what you did after going on 2 dates. There is nothing we can do. You can't take back what you did. Nothing will ever be able to fix this. I'm sorry. Idk what to tell you but it's just not gonna work. I'm not gonna ruin my relationship with my mom agin for a boy. I'm sorry.
Torres responded that he...
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