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The Utah Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions and sentence of a Bluffdale man for having sex with a teenage neighbor.
In a 3-0 decision issued Thursday, the court rejected David Serbeck's arguments that his trial attorney was ineffective and his sentence of up to 10 years behind bars was based on unreliable information concerning his potential for future harm.
Serbeck — who was paralyzed in an unrelated neighborhood watch shooting in 2009 — was convicted by a jury of three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, all third-degree felonies. He was sentenced to three prison terms of 0 to 5 years, with the first two sentences running consecutively and the third running concurrently with the other two.
According to court documents, the then-17-year-old victim started visiting Serbeck in 2007 because she was interested in reptiles and he kept pet snakes. The two ultimately had sex on three occasions and Serbeck, now 43, urged the girl not to tell anyone about what happened, the documents say.
In July 2009, after learning Serbeck had been shot and paralyzed while on neighborhood patrol, the victim came forward with the allegations that he had sex with her when she was underage. The victim testified at trial that she acted because she believed Serbeck might have been stalking another girl that day.
Fellow neighborhood watch advocate Reginald Campos was convicted of the shooting, which occurred after his teenage daughter told him she had been followed in their neighborhood by someone in an SUV. Campos found the SUV in the neighborhood and shot Serbeck when he stepped out of the vehicle.
At an April hearing, Serbeck's attorney, Nathalie Skibine, told the appeals court that the victim's testimony strongly implied Serbeck had sexually victimized Campos' daughter. Skibine argued that Serbeck's trial lawyer should have either objected to the victim's testimony or rebutted it.
But the appeals court said the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to dispel any suggestion that Serbeck had victimized the daughter. The ruling noted the jury was told Serbeck "has not been charged with any crimes arising from allegations that he stalked or harassed an underaged girl on July 22, 2009."
The court also rejected the argument that 3rd District Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills imposed the consecutive terms based on two unreliable statements made at sentencing — one by a woman who claimed she also was a victim of Serbeck but was unable to press charges because of the statute of limitations and the other by the victim alleging Serbeck used neighborhood watch to look for victims.
Instead, the record indicates the reasons for the consecutive sentences were unrelated to the statements, according to the appeals court. The ruling says Hruby-Mills' decided Serbeck did not appreciate the impact of his conduct on the victim and was not a candidate for meaningful and successful treatment.
Campos, now 49, was convicted of first-degree felony attempted murder for shooting Serbeck and third-degree felony aggravated assault for pointing his gun at another man in the SUV and sentenced to up to life in prison.
The attempted murder conviction was later overturned by the Court of Appeals and Campos resolved the case by pleading guilty to second-degree felony discharge of a firearm. He was paroled in July 2014.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC