Gym Enhancement Fee: Closing arguments this afternoon in Health Club owner’s theft trial for “gym enhancement fee”

Gym Enhancement Fee: Closing arguments this afternoon in Health Club owner’s theft trial for “gym enhancement fee”  

After about an hour this morning of arguments without the jury in the courtroom, the theft trial of a former Kennewick gym owner continued with the state resting its case and the defense calling just one witness.Closing arguments are expected when jurors return to Benton County Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. today.Jason Ray Sleater, 35, is charged with first-degree theft and seven counts of second-degree theft. Sleater, who is now living in Spokane, is accused of charging a $19.60 “gym enhancement fee” without authorization to 375 members of the now-defunct 509 Fitness gym.Before the jury was brought into court today, defense attorney Scott Johnson argued two separate motions to dismiss, which were both denied.He argued that the first-degree theft charge should be dismissed because the state had not proven its case. More specifically, Johnson said, there was no evidence presented that the members didn’t not authorize the charge beyond the handful of gym members who testified as witnesses.“With these 365 people, there’s no shred of evidence one way or another. There has to be some evidence from these people that they didn’t authorize the fee,” Johnson said.Deputy Prosecutor Terry Bloor countered that the evidence was obvious, including testimony that Sleater from the gym’s third-party billing company that Sleater decided by himself to impose the fee, without consultation or agreement from the gym members.The fact that not all the members complained about the fee, doesn’t mean a crime still wasn’t committed when Sleater made the unauthorized charge, Bloor said.“If you have a person breaking into the car stealing coins from the center console, a lot of people may shrug their shoulders and say I don’ really care about this,” he said, but added that the crime still occurred.Judge Bruce Spanner questioned whether Bloor has shown that the charge was not authorized. Bloor responded that the contracts do not provide for the fee, and is supported by the fact that Sleater got a template for a new contract that specifically the gym enhancement fee.Spanner said that when he viewed the evidence in a way most favorable to the state, as is required, he found evidence to suggest Sleater, himself, didn’t believe the charge was authorized and denied the defense’s motion.Johnson then tried to get the charge dismissed because the charging document didn’t include the appropriate information about the dollar amount loss required for first-degree theft, but Spanner found that was a simple scribner’s error and didn’t cause any prejudice to the defense.The jury was then brought into the court and Bloor rested his case. Johnson called Kennewick police Detective Rick Runge, the lead detective on the case, to the stand and asked him questions about a report submitted by Officer John Greenough.The day before the gym closed, Greenough was called to the facility after two members were kicked off the property by Sleater after complaining about the gym enhancement fee. Johnson asked Runge what Greenough told the two witnesses.“He advised them the fee charged was a civil issue … an to consult an attorney,” Runge said.Johnson also asked Runge if it was true that Sleater tried to make arrangements to refund the fee and Runge said yes. But, when questioned by Bloor, Runge said Sleater requested the criminal charges be dismissed before he would refund the fee.