State v. Trane, 18-0825

CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Iowa
Citation934 N.W.2d 447
Docket NumberNo. 18-0825,18-0825
Parties STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Benjamin G. TRANE, Appellant.
Decision Date11 October 2019

934 N.W.2d 447

STATE of Iowa, Appellee,
v.
Benjamin G. TRANE, Appellant.

No. 18-0825

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Filed October 11, 2019


Alfredo Parrish and Adam Witosky of Parrish Kruidenier Dunn Boles Gribble Gentry Brown & Bergmann, L.L.P., Des Moines, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Sheryl Soich, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

MANSFIELD, Justice.

I. Introduction.

The former owner of a now-shuttered school for troubled youth was convicted of three criminal charges—(1) assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, (2) pattern, practice, or scheme to engage in sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist, and (3) child endangerment. The first two convictions involved acts of sexual misconduct against a former female student. The third conviction related to the school’s physical mistreatment of two former male students when each was confined for long periods of time in an isolation room. The defendant appeals.

On appeal, the defendant raises the following claims of error: (1) the district court abused its discretion in excluding evidence the female student made false allegations of sexual abuse against her adoptive and foster parents without conducting a rule 5.412 hearing; (2) the district court erred in refusing to consider allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel at the motion-for-new-trial stage and before appeal; (3) the district court should have severed the two counts involving the female student from the count involving the male students for trial purposes; (4) the district court should not have permitted testimony by a state expert witness that purportedly vouched for the credibility of the female student; (5) the district court erred in instructing the jury that they could find child endangerment by determining that either of the male students had been victimized, without requiring the jury to agree on a single victim-student; and (6) there was insufficient evidence to support the defendant’s convictions.

On our review, we find the evidence sufficient to sustain the defendant’s convictions. We also hold the district court did not err in declining to consider ineffective-assistance claims as part of the motion-for-new-trial proceedings. However, we hold the district court should have conducted a rule 5.412 hearing before or during trial to determine, by a preponderance of the evidence, whether the female student made false accusations of sexual abuse against her adoptive or foster parents. We therefore conditionally affirm the defendant’s

934 N.W.2d 450

convictions but remand with directions for the court to conduct such a hearing. The defendant’s remaining arguments are before us only as ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims; we conclude they should be addressed (if necessary) in a postconviction-relief proceeding.

II. Facts and Procedural History.

In the fall of 2002, Benjamin Trane and his wife moved from Utah to Iowa with hopes of establishing a private, therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens. Their efforts paid off, and Midwest Academy opened its doors in June 2003 in Keokuk. Eventually, Trane became the sole owner of the school. Midwest Academy offered programming unique from that of other private, military, or residential schools, rendering it appealing to parents of teens with a variety of behavioral and disciplinary struggles. Midwest Academy purported to offer a combination of character-building, therapeutic, and educational programming, although it operated outside the purview of the Iowa Board of Education and its licensing requirements.

Midwest Academy functioned under a rules-and-consequences-based levels system, providing structure for its cognitive behavioral therapy program. There were six levels that students could ascend (or descend) through as part of the program. All students began at Level 1, the most restrictive level. Examples of restrictions at Level 1 included not being permitted to use condiments with food, not being allowed to look in a mirror or out of windows, and being allowed to speak with students at higher levels only at specified times. Students could earn greater freedom through a points-based reward system while working up through the program. For example, Level 2 came with the ability to get second helpings at mealtime, Level 3 offered the ability to speak with family members by telephone, and Level 4 permitted off-campus trips.

A number of students, however, were unable to progress past Level 1, and their inability to do so sometimes resulted in harsh consequences. Relevant to the child endangerment charge was the use of Out-of-School Suspension (OSS) rooms. OSS rooms were designed for a single student to occupy for up to twenty-four hours at a time, with constant supervision. The OSS rooms were employed as a "last ditch effort" to curb undesirable behaviors; for instance, constant distractions in the classroom or physical attacks on an instructor would land a student in OSS. While in OSS, the student was expected to sit in structure except for bedtime, meaning he or she could choose from one of three positions in which to sit without moving.1 The lights in the OSS room were always on. Should the student break structure without permission or otherwise act out, the twenty-four-hour clock would reset.

A.H. and B.V. were each confined in an OSS room for significant periods of time. A.H. arrived at Midwest Academy in May 2014 when he was twelve years old. A.H. had been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and oppositional defiant disorder, and had been unsuccessfully treated at a psychiatric hospital. A.H.’s psychiatrist recommended Midwest Academy to A.H.’s parents. At Midwest Academy, A.H. continued his pattern of defiance, and as a result, he spent approximately half of his time in OSS. While in OSS, A.H. engaged in behavior such as urinating on the walls, punching his own nose to make it bleed, and throwing his chewed-up food at the surveillance camera. When A.H.’s parents removed him from Midwest Academy after

934 N.W.2d 451

approximately a year, A.H.’s weight had declined from 120 to 90 pounds.

B.V. was admitted to Midwest Academy a few months after A.H., when he too was twelve years old. B.V. came to the school with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder, as well as a past history of assaultive behavior. While at Midwest Academy, B.V. spent at least 133 of his 210 days in OSS—sixty-three percent of his time at Midwest Academy. While in OSS, B.V. defecated and urinated in the room and often refused to eat. By the time B.V. left Midwest Academy in March 2015, his weight had gone down from 115 pounds to 89 pounds.

In March 2015, the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) received a hotline tip that students were being held at Midwest Academy in isolation to the detriment of their health. Accordingly, DHS opened an inquiry. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), having already received similar information, contacted DHS to coordinate investigations into the alleged abuse at Midwest Academy.

Meanwhile, in December 2015, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) was asked to look into a possible sexual abuse case at Midwest Academy involving K.S., a seventeen-year-old female student. At Midwest Academy, each student was assigned a "family representative." Trane, the owner, was also the family representative for four students, including K.S. As K.S.’s family representative, Trane controlled what level K.S. was on, whether K.S. could call home, and whether K.S. could go on outings.

Like other students at Midwest Academy, K.S. had undergone a troubled childhood before entering the school. She had been adopted by her aunt and uncle when she was eight years old. (Her adoptive mother was the sister of her biological father.) Before that, K.S. had lived in foster care and with her grandparents. In January 2015, after K.S. ran away from her adoptive home, K.S.’s adoptive parents arranged for her to be sent to Midwest Academy.

In late 2015, K.S. disclosed to a night-time staff member named Cheyenne Jerred that Trane had been sexually abusing her, and Jerred reported the allegations to DHS. K.S.’s disclosure to Jerred apparently came the day after Trane delivered to K.S. the ill-received news that she would not be permitted to travel off campus with anyone for Thanksgiving. The allegations were later investigated by DCI.

Over the course of several interviews with DCI, K.S. disclosed the following incidents of sexual contact with Trane: (1) Trane pulled K.S.’s pants down enough to expose her underwear under the guise of looking for and photographing distinctive birthmarks for the Child Protection Center (CPC);2 (2) after lights out, Trane knelt next to K.S.’s bed while she faced away from him and slid his hand under the covers, under her shorts, and into her vagina;3 (3) Trane placed K.S.’s hand over the groin area of his pants while he developed an erection; (4) Trane unbuttoned K.S.’s uniform pants and put his finger into her vagina while she visited his home with other students; (5) Trane videotaped himself engaging in sexual intercourse with K.S. and ordered K.S. to clean the floor where the act occurred so that K.S. would be permitted to call her sister; (6)

934 N.W.2d...

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