Judge changes mind, rules rape case to stay in King County

A King County Superior Court judge Friday reversed her earlier ruling and decided the case against John Joseph Hauff Jr., who is accused of raping and torturing a prostitute in his Tacoma home, will remain in King County.

Judge Kimberley Prochnau based her ruling on Washington case law that had not been brought to her attention when she decided earlier this month to move the case to Pierce County.

Sean O'Donnell, the King County senior deputy prosecutor assigned to the case, filed a motion for reconsideration following Prochnau's May 13 decision to move the case.

Hauff's defense team sought a change of venue, arguing that the crimes he is accused of occurred in Pierce County.

The heart of the debate came down to consent: The victim, a 24-year-old prostitute working on Aurora Avenue North, agreed to get in the car with Hauff, who had offered to pay her $100 to allow him to tie her up and use a sex toy on her, prosecutors allege. She also allowed Hauff to blindfold her and bind her hands in Federal Way — supposedly so she would not know where Hauff lived — while en route to his isolated property in northeast Tacoma, where police say he had built an elaborate "torture room," according to charging documents.

Once inside Hauff's residence, the woman was chained to a wall and later tied to a table, charging papers say.

Hauff is accused of raping and torturing the woman for eight hours, letting her go only after seeing a text she had sent to a friend with Hauff's license-plate number and a request that the friend call police if he didn't hear from her, the papers say.

In reconsidering her ruling, Prochnau reviewed California and Washington cases in which a victim's consent was given based on deception, including one Washington case from 1902.

O'Donnell successfully argued that state law puts deception "on par" with force and intimidation in executing kidnappings or restraining victims against their will.

Essentially, when consent is given based on a lie, it doesn't constitute consent at all, O'Donnell said. The alleged victim agreed to go with Hauff "all based on the defendant's lie ... and his lies of omission," he said.

Defense attorney Gary Davis, pointing to a "dearth" of Washington cases that deal with consent when an adult, instead of child victim, is kidnapped, reiterated his argument that the case should be tried in Pierce County. "It's clear the elements of the crime didn't occur until she arrived at Mr. Hauff's house in Pierce County," he said.

But O'Donnell countered that "it's a continuum of events," and Hauff committed kidnapping and formed the intent to commit the crimes of rape and assault while in King County.

"There appears to be case law to support the state's theory of the case," the judge concluded, vacating her order to change venue to Pierce County.

Hauff, whose arraignment was put on hold while the question of venue was decided, is now scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. Hauff is being held without bail in the King County Jail on charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape and second-degree assault.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com