Former LDS leader’s state appeal fails

The conviction of a former leader at the Kasson Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who sexually assaulted a boy from the church will remain in place.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected several claims in the case of Michael Adam Davis, now 39, in a ruling issued last week.
The decision upholds his May 2022 jury conviction on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of indecent exposure, all felonies.
Davis was sentenced in November 2022 to concurrent terms of 30 years and 19 years on the first-degree counts, and 70 months on one of the second-degree counts. He was given credit for 229 days served.
Davis was arrested and charged in April 2019 and accused of sexually abusing a victim under the age of 16 while he served as a young men’s leader at the church.
Davis, who lived in Dodge Center, was the elders quorum president at the Kasson LDS church, where the victim and his mother attended.
According to the criminal complaint against Davis, he was pulled over on March 14, 2019, for not wearing a seat belt. A young boy was in the vehicle with Davis at the time.
A background check on Davis revealed he was a lifetime registered sex offender in Utah.
Further investigation led to charges that Davis sexually assaulted the juvenile, then 13, multiple times over the 2018 Christmas break.
After his conviction in Dodge County, the prosecution requested an upward departure for Davis, leading to a longer sentence than that allowed by Minnesota sentencing guidelines. In asking for the longer sentence, the prosecution cited his prior convictions in Utah.
Davis pleaded guilty in August of 2003 in Utah to misdemeanor lewdness involving a child and received a suspended sentence. In April of 2006, he pleaded guilty to two felony third-degree counts for attempted forcible sexual abuse. Since his second conviction in Utah, he was listed on the Utah Department of Corrections Sex and Kidnap Offender registry.
In the appeal filed in February 2023, Davis asked for the court to overturn the conviction and grant him a new trial, citing inadequate defense counsel, discovery violations, insufficient evidence he was in a position of authority, and improper admission of certain evidence.
He also argued his criminal history score was unjustly inflated, which was a factor in the length of his sentence.
The court rejected all of the arguments in a decision written by Judge Renee Worke.
“Because the evidence Davis seeks did not exist — a second interview with the claimant about whether he knew about Davis’s sex-offender status — the state was not obligated to create such evidence for Davis,” Worke wrote.
Testimony from a man familiar with church hierarchy as well as text messages between Davis and his sister were relevant, not prejudicial, the court found.
Worke also concluded the lower court accurately calculated Davis’ criminal history score because the offenses listed in the document spanned a long enough time to count as separate offenses.
Defense attorney Thomas Braun argued that Davis’s prior felony convictions in Utah should count as one under Minnesota law because they were committed against the same victim.
The court disagreed.
“When the criminal sexual conduct involves the same complainant but took place years apart, that conduct cannot be considered of the same behavioral incident,” the ruling said.