Opinion ID: 1172674
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: My pubic hair. And had intercourse with me and asked me to perform oral sex on him.[101]

Text: There was testimony from Ms. Schnell that, following the sexual assault, Appellant forced her to write several checks to him upon her account. She recalled that he rejected the first two checks because she had not matched to his satisfaction her signature on the checks with the signature on her driver's license. [102] On cross examination, Ms. Schnell testified that, prior to Appellant's initial assault upon her, they engaged in some consensual sex. She stated they kissed and fondled each other, and that Appellant performed oral sex on her. [103] There was no abuse of discretion in admitting the testimony of Ms. Susan J. Schnell. The trial court identified on the record the reasons for its admission under ER 404(b). The testimony was relevant to material issues in the case relating to premeditation, intent, and the four aggravating factors. It also qualified as res gestae evidence because it provided the jury with a more complete picture of events surrounding the crimes committed against Ms. Holly C. Washa. The trial court properly weighed the probative value of the testimony against its prejudicial effect and concluded its probative value substantially outweighed its prejudicial effect. Admission of the testimony of Ms. Schnell was proper under ER 404(b) because it was probative of Appellant's motive, intent, preparation and plan to kidnap, rob, and murder Ms. Holly C. Washa. It was the State's theory at trial that Appellant used Ms. Washa to finance his trip to join Ms. Susan J. Schnell in California. He was in contact with Ms. Schnell while he held Ms. Washa captive. Evidence of his encounter with Ms. Schnell supported the State's theory. That evidence also supported the State's argument that Appellant intended and premeditated Ms. Washa's killing to conceal his crimes so he could go to California to meet Ms. Schnell. Evidence that Appellant slit the throats of two captive women in two days tended to rebut his contention that his killing of Ms. Washa was merely an impulsive spur of the moment act. The testimony of Ms. Schnell was similarly probative on the issue of Appellant's rape of Ms. Washa. Appellant contended at trial that the sexual contact between him and Ms. Washa was consensual. Ms. Washa was dead and not available to relate the true facts. Evidence of a sexual assault against Ms. Schnell would tend to rebut Appellant's contention. Just two days after his assault upon Ms. Washa, Appellant sexually assaulted Ms. Schnell in a markedly similar manner. Both women were bound with the same pair of handcuffs, gagged, and had their pubic hair shaved by Appellant before he raped them. Because of these similarities, evidence of the attack on Ms. Schnell made it more probable that the sexual contact between Appellant and Ms. Washa was by forcible compulsion, and less probable that it was consensual. Although Appellant was not actually convicted of sexually assaulting Ms. Schnell in California, her testimony concerning the entire incident was supported by a preponderance of the evidence. Appellant pleaded guilty in California to the crimes of attempted murder in the first degree, aggravated mayhem, torture, robbery in the first degree, and false imprisonment with Ms. Schnell as his victim. [104] This satisfies the preponderance of the evidence standard with respect to those crimes. Ms. Schnell's testimony concerning her sexual encounter with Appellant satisfies this standard as well. Her description of the assault upon her was consistent with the sexual assault upon Ms. Holly C. Washa. Although she testified she and Appellant earlier engaged in some consensual sexual activity, that activity occurred prior to Appellant's assault upon her. After having her throat cut, her pubic hair shaved, and being bound and gagged by Appellant, it is not reasonable to believe she consented to any further sexual activity with him. Under these circumstances, her testimony concerning the sexual assault was sufficient to satisfy the preponderance of the evidence standard. The testimony of Ms. Schnell was also admissible as res gestae evidence because the crimes against Ms. Washa and against her were linked in significant ways. Appellant's kidnapping, assault and robbery of Ms. Schnell was similar to the crimes he committed against Ms. Washa. Appellant sexually assaulted both women in a similar manner. He forced both women to write checks to him upon their respective bank accounts. He also used the same weapon to threaten both women into submission and to slit their throats. From this we can reasonably conclude that Appellant was engaged in an ongoing criminal enterprise of restraining, raping, robbing, and assaulting Ms. Washa and Ms. Schnell. Additionally, while Appellant was committing the crimes against Ms. Washa in Washington, he was also contacting Ms. Schnell to finalize his plans to meet her in California. He admitted to Palm Springs police officers that he kidnapped, assaulted, robbed and abused Ms. Washa because he needed money to get back to California, where he ultimately met Ms. Schnell and embarked on a similar pattern of criminal behavior. The events in California culminated a sequence of events which began in Washington with the crimes involving Ms. Holly C. Washa as victim. Under these circumstances, the jury was entitled to know about the events in Palm Springs with Ms. Schnell as victim in order to have a more complete picture of the circumstances surrounding Ms. Washa's death. Appellant argues that Ms. Schnell's testimony did not qualify as res gestae evidence because he committed the crimes against her more than two days after he committed the crimes against Ms. Washa and hundreds of miles away in another state. This argument is without merit for two reasons. First, Rule 404(b) applies to evidence of other crimes or misconduct regardless whether they occurred before or after the conduct for which a defendant is currently charged. [105] Second, while res gestae evidence is, as Appellant argues, restricted to proving the immediate context within which a charged crime took place, [106] geographical distance and the passage of two days between these two similar and connected crimes do not defeat immediacy of context in this case. [107] Appellant claims that even if the evidence of his crimes against Ms. Susan J. Schnell was admissible for a valid purpose, it was too prejudicial to be admitted. He concludes that because it was admitted, he is now entitled to a new trial. This claim, too, is without merit. The trial court considered the prejudicial nature of Ms. Schnell's testimony and determined its probative value outweighed that prejudice. As a cautionary measure, the court gave the jury limiting instructions which explained that the testimony was not to be considered as character or propensity evidence.