Christopher L. Konakowitz

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed Jan. 30 that evidence supported a Brown County jury’s criminal sexual conduct conviction of a 41-year Hanska man on July 30, 2021.

Christopher Lee Konakowitz was convicted of two counts of 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct based on evidence he engaged in sexual contact with two young girls while they slept in a bedroom in his home.

The district court imposed consecutive sentences of 210 months and 36 months of imprisonment before Konakowitz appealed. He was ordered to register as a sexual predator.

In 2019, eight- and nine-year-old girls reported to their then-stepmother that Konakowitz engaged in sexual conduct toward them four or five years earlier. The children’s mother reported the matter to law enforcement, which investigated by conducting forensic interviews with the two girls and interviewing other witnesses.

In October 2019, the state charged Konakowitz with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct of a person younger than age 13

In December 2019, the state gave notice to introduce evidence of three other acts by Konakowitz.

The matter went to a five-day jury trial in July 2021. The jury found Konakowitz guilty of both counts.

Konakowitz argued that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s guilty verdicts.

“When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we undertake ‘a painstaking analysis of the record to determine whether the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the conviction was sufficient’ to support the conviction, read the Court of Appeals decision.

Konakowitz contended the evidence was insufficient on the grounds the girls were not credible witnesses because their testimony was unclear and contradictory.

“We assume that the jury believed the state’s witnesses and disbelieved any evidence to the contrary,” read the decision. “A jury is permitted to believe some parts of a witnesses testimony and not believe other parts. Accordingly, inconsistencies and conflicts in evidence do not require reversal.”

“We have recognized that inconsistencies in a witness’s testimony are a sign of human fallibility and do not prove testimony is false, especially when testimony is about a traumatic event,” continued the Court of Appeals decision. “The state introduced expert testimony that children often forget or misremember peripheral details if a report of criminal sexual conduct has been delayed. Consequently, we will not reverse the jury’s verdicts by second-guessing the credibility of the state’s witnesses.”

The Court of Appeals decision added that “relevant circumstances proved are that Konakowitz entered a guest bedroom of his home on Halloween night and support a reasonable inference that he had sexual intent. We agreed that such an inference is reasonable,” read the decision.

Konakowitz also argued evidence used to convict him was insufficient and the district court erred by allowing the state to present Spreigl evidence, evidence from earlier crimes and his prior acts were not sufficiently similar to his most recent case, and too much time passed since the prior acts to be relevant.

The court of appeals disagreed, opining that the district court identified similarities in all of Konawkowitz’s cases and they were not too far back in time to be irrelevant evidence.

Konakowitz is serving his prison sentence at the Rush City state corrections facility.