THE Superior Court has acquitted a woman who was among the several persons arrested by the government’s Anti-Prostitution Task Force for allegedly engaging in prostitution last year.
Associate Judge Robert C. Naraja said the court finds defendant Zhao Ying not guilty of prostitution.
“This court holds that the prosecution failed to meet its burden with regard to the charged offense,” said Naraja in the order granting Zhao’s motion for a judgment of acquittal.
Naraja ruled that the evidence presented does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zhao offered to engage in sexual conduct for a fee.
Court records showed that during a bench trial held last March 26, Customs Officer Raymond Arroyo testified that on May 23, 2001, he entered Sakura Health Massage as an undercover agent for an investigation conducted by the Anti-Prostitution Task Force.
Arroyo testified that he asked Tang Yong, the supervisor of the establishment, about the cost of hiring a prostitute.
Arroyo said that after Tang made several phone calls, a group of 12 to 15 women entered Sakura and lined up in front of him.
Arroyo said he picked up Zhao in the line-up because she was tall. He said he then paid Tang.
Arroyo, Tang, the defendant and another woman then left Sakura for Summer Holiday Hotel.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Arroyo and the defendant went to his room where officers arrested Zhao.
The processing officer testified that he found a cell phone, a brown bag, and two condoms in Zhao’s possession.
After the government, through Special Prosecutor Linn Asper, rested its case, Zhao, through attorney G. Anthony Long, moved for a judgment of acquittal.
Naraja said that after reviewing all of the facts, the court finds that the government failed to proffer any direct or circumstantial evidence that defendant’s conduct amounts to an offer to engage in sexual conduct with Arroyo.
First, Naraja said, though unclear whether Arroyo and Tang conversed in English or Japanese, the government failed to establish that defendant understood their conversation and their subsequent transaction.
Second, Naraja said, Arroyo testified that he picked defendant from the line-up, not because she made any overt act, but rather because she was tall and “stood out.”
Thus, the judge said, the court finds that Zhao’s participation in the line-up does not amount to an offer to engage in sexual services.
Naraja also noted that Arroyo paid Tang, not the defendant.
