State of Minnesota vs. Vanengen
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The State of Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals that the District Court did not abuse its discretion when it ordered an upward durational sentencing departure for third-degree criminal sexual conduct against a physically helpless person, in violation of Minnesota Statutes section 609.344, subdivision 1(d) (2020), when the offense occurred in the victim’s zone of privacy.
The appellant, Curtis Lablanche Vanengen, was found guilty by the jury of third-degree criminal sexual conduct against a physically helpless person. The offense took place in the victim’s bedroom, which the jury determined as the victim’s zone of privacy. The district court sentenced Vanengen to 120 months in prison, a 29-month upward durational departure from the top of the presumptive sentencing guidelines range.
Vanengen appealed, arguing that the location of the offense in the victim’s bedroom did not make it “significantly more serious” than the “typical” criminal sexual conduct offense against a physically helpless person who is asleep. The court of appeals and the Supreme Court disagreed, stating that the victim was entitled to safety and security in her own home, and the violation of this security by committing the offense in her private zone justified the upward departure. The Supreme Court concluded that the zone-of-privacy aggravating factor was a legally permissible reason for an upward departure in this type of case and was factually supported in the record. The court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals.
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