In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of: Takoda W.W. Picker

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided August 7, 2025·No. 40334-3·Unpublished

Opinion

FILED

AUGUST 7, 2025

In the Office of the Clerk of Court WA State Court of Appeals, Division III

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION THREE

In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of )

) No. 40334-3-III Takoda W.W. Picker, )

)

Petitioner. )

)

) UNPUBLISHED OPINION )

COONEY, J. — Takoda Picker was charged with two counts of assault in the second degree. He was later found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) and committed to the care and custody of the Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services (Department). More than seven years later, Mr. Picker filed a “Motion for Relief from Judgment of Sentence” under CrR 7.8. The superior court transferred the motion to this court as a personal restraint petition (PRP).

In his PRP, Mr. Picker claims (1) he received ineffective assistance from his trial counsel; (2) his plea of NGRI was not made knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently; (3) he was denied protections for those with developmental disabilities; and (4) the

In re Pers. Restraint of Picker

probable cause affidavit was tainted and excluded key evidence. In response, the State challenges the timeliness of Mr. Picker’s PRP.

We deem Mr. Picker’s PRP timely and deny the petition on the merits.

BACKGROUND

On August 17, 2016, the Asotin County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from Jesus Yzaguirre who alleged his brother, Takoda Picker, had assaulted him. Sheriff’s Deputy Nathan Conley responded and interviewed Mr. Yzaguirre and Mr. Picker’s sister, Tekiyah Kugler. Deputy Conley initially misidentified Ms. Kugler as Mr. Picker’s other sister, Tasheena Picker. The misidentification was memorialized in Deputy Conley’s probable cause affidavit, dated August 18, 2016. Deputy Conley promptly recognized his error and filed a “Supplemental Narrative” the next day. In it, Deputy Conley wrote:

Previously listed as the female witness, identified as Picker, Tasheena . . . is an incorrect identification. I later determined the correct identification of the present female witness to the incident, identified as Kugler, Tekiyah….

For the purposes of the original Probable Cause Narrative, all mentions of Picker, Tasheena are incorrect.

Second Response to PRP at 23. 1

1 The State provided the “Supplemental Investigation Narrative” as an attachment to its response brief.

In re Pers. Restraint of Picker

In the probable cause affidavit, Deputy Conley states that Mr. Yzaguirre told him Mr. Picker had “aggressed at him” in an “aggressive and confrontational demeanor and posture” while armed with a baseball bat in one hand and a knife in the other. Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 4. Mr. Yzaguirre further reported that Mr. Picker raised the bat toward him and placed the knife within two inches of his face.

Mr. Picker was charged with two counts of assault in the second degree on August 18, 2016. Two weeks later, the court ordered the Department to evaluate Mr. Picker’s competency. Straightaway, Michael Morrison, PhD., in conjunction with developmental disabilities professional, Randall Strandquist, PsyD., evaluated Mr. Picker. In a report dated September 16, 2016, Dr. Morrison and Dr. Strandquist concluded that Mr. Picker lacked the capacity to understand the proceedings against him and to assist in his own defense. They noted there was “very strong support for the conclusion that [Mr. Picker] is not developmentally disabled” and “did not find any basis for concluding that [Mr. Picker] has a developmental disorder.” CP at 47. In reliance on this evaluation, the court issued a 90-day stay of proceedings and ordered the Department to provide Mr. Picker with competency restoration treatment.

Dr. Morrison later re-evaluated Mr. Picker. In a report dated December 12, 2016, Dr. Morrison opined that Mr. Picker lacked the capacity to understand the proceedings against him and to assist in his own defense. Based on Dr. Morrison’s evaluation, the

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court issued a second 90-day stay of proceedings and ordered the Department to provide Mr. Picker with competency restoration treatment.

Dr. Morrison conducted a third evaluation of Mr. Picker in February 2017. In a report dated March 1, 2017, Dr. Morrison concluded that Mr. Picker “is currently adequately stabilized by treatment with psychiatric medications and . . . is functioning well enough to return to court to resolve the pending criminal case.” CP at 70. Based on Dr. Morrison’s evaluation, and by agreement of the parties, the court found Mr. Picker competent to proceed to trial. Concurrent to the finding of competency, the court ordered the Department to evaluate Mr. Picker’s mental state and sanity.

On May 18, 2017, Mr. Picker filed a motion for acquittal by reason of insanity.

Relying on the evaluations of Richard Gallaher, PhD., and Christina Zampich, PsyD., the court found Mr. Picker was competent to proceed with a plea of NGRI, was legally insane at the time of the offenses, and acquitted him of both counts. The court committed Mr. Picker “to the care and custody of the Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services for treatment at a state mental hospital for the criminally insane.” CP at 33.

On February 5, 2024, Mr. Picker filed a “Motion for Relief from Judgment of Sentence,” accompanied by the “Declaration of Tasheena Picker in Support of Defendant’s CrR 7.8 Motion to Vacate Judgment and Sentence.” In her declaration, Ms. Picker states she “did not learn what the police reports about my brother’s arrest said

In re Pers. Restraint of Picker

until recently” and “was shocked to learn that the police report contains inaccurate information and appears to have manufactured quotes that I never said.” Dec. of Picker at 1-2. Ms. Picker claims she “witnessed what happened after the police were called and just before they arrived, but [she] did not witness any of the events contained in the police report.” Dec. of Picker at 2. Ms. Picker asserts the deputies “wrote a report that seemed to suit their needs by lying about [her] statements.” Id.

Ultimately, the trial court determined Mr. Picker’s motion was time barred under RCW 10.73.090, that Mr. Picker had not made a substantial showing that he was entitled to relief, and resolution of the motion would not require a factual hearing. The court transferred Mr. Picker’s motion to this court as a PRP.

ANALYSIS

A PRP is an extraordinary form of relief that requires the petitioner to “meet a high standard before this court will disturb an otherwise settled judgment.” In re Pers. Restraint of Coats, 173 Wn.2d 123, 132, 267 P.3d 324 (2011). The petitioner in a PRP bears the burden of demonstrating error and, if the error is constitutional, that the petitioner is “actually and substantially prejudiced.” Id. If not constitutional, the petitioner must show the error represents a “fundamental defect . . . that inherently resulted in a complete miscarriage of justice.” In re Pers. Restraint of Finstad, 177 Wn.2d 501, 506, 301 P.3d 450 (2013). These heightened standards of review apply to all issues for which a petitioner had a previous opportunity for judicial review and are rooted

In re Pers. Restraint of Picker

in the court’s interest in economy, finality, and integrity of the trial process, and the petitioner’s prior access to judicial review. Coats, 173 Wn.2d at 132; In re Pers. Restraint of Meippen, 193 Wn.2d 310, 315, 440 P.3d 978 (2019).

TIMELINESS The State argues Mr. Picker’s PRP is untimely, and therefore time-barred, because it was filed more than one year after the judgment of acquittal became final. We conclude the PRP is timely due to the trial court’s failure to advise Mr. Picker of his right to collateral attack.

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