People v. Hanna

A 13-year-old disobeyed her father by setting up a MySpace page. Her profile name was Brebre, and she listed her age as 18 years old. Brebre’s father, DR, logged into her account and posed as Brebre to respond to a message from “King Jorge,” who turned out to be George Hanna (defendant). Brebre’s father told Hanna that Brebre was 13, and Hanna responded, “Are you a cop?” Throughout an increasingly sexually graphic exchange, Brebre’s father told Hanna that Brebre was 13 at least once more, and he characterized Brebre as sexually active with older men, formerly pregnant, and out of her supply of condoms. When Brebre’s father prompted Hanna for a photo of Hanna’s penis, Hanna sent a website address and claimed the photo was there. The men arranged to meet at a convenience store, where Brebre’s father confronted Hanna. Eventually Hanna ran away, leaving his truck in the parking lot. Hanna told an investigating officer that he did not know Brebre was 13; Brebre had said she was 18 and she looked 18. The investigator reminded Hanna that Brebre’s messages said Brebre was 13, but Hanna claimed he must not have read those portions of the messages. A jury convicted Hanna of arranging a meeting with a minor in order to engage in lewd and lascivious behavior, attempting lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under 14 years old, and attempting to use harmful material to seduce a minor. Hanna appealed, claiming that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on his mistake-of-age defense as to the charge of attempted lewd conduct with a child.