Personal Restraint Petition Of Allixzander Devell Harris

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided July 31, 2019·No. 51481-8·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed

Washington State

Court of Appeals

Division Two

July 31, 2019

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II

In the Matter of the No. 51481-8-II Personal Restraint of

ALLIXZANDER DEVELL HARRIS,

Petitioner.

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

CRUSER, J. — Allixzander D. Harris seeks relief from personal restraint on his conviction for six counts of promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor with aggravating factors, one count of tampering with a witness, and one count of second degree promoting prostitution. Harris claims that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when his counsel withdrew his CrR 3.6 motion to suppress evidence. Harris contends that the motion would have been granted because there was a pretextual traffic stop, a prolonged or unlawful detention, a coerced consent to search, an illegal search, and a tainted probable cause affidavit. We conclude that Harris did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel because he has not shown that a motion to suppress would likely have been granted. Accordingly, we deny Harris’s petition.

FACTS

I. HARRIS’S ARREST

On December 28, 2012, Bremerton police took a report from L.P. L.P. reported that Harris1 and another individual raped her from December 26 through December 28. She reported that the rapes occurred at two motels, one in Tacoma and one in Bremerton. On December 31, Sergeant Randy Plumb and Detective Martin Garland confirmed that Harris rented the rooms at the Bremerton motel as L.P. had reported.

Sergeant William Endicott worked for the Bremerton Police Department. On December 31, he had a conversation with Sergeant Plumb in which he learned about the ongoing investigation regarding Harris. Plumb asked Endicott to alert him if any officers came into contact with Harris. That same day, Officer Jonathan Meador conducted a traffic stop involving Harris. Officer Inklebarger had called Meador to the area “for a subject that may or may not have been suspended, but had expired tabs on the vehicle.” 8 Verbatim Report of Proceedings (VRP) at 1098. Meador pulled in behind the car and noticed that it had expired tabs. The windows were tinted so he could not see the driver. He stopped the car and made contact with the driver, Harris, who told Meador that his license was suspended. Meador detained Harris. Meador ran Harris’s information and discovered that he “came back [driving with license suspended (DWLS)] 3rd degree.” Br. of Resp’t, App. L at 2. Inklebarger arrived at the scene and placed Harris in custody. Endicott traveled to the scene and informed Plumb of the stop and that Harris was the driver.

1 The report refers to Harris as “Allixzander Park,” which is an alias he used.

Sergeant Plumb asked Sergeant Endicott if Harris had a cell phone and a laptop. Endicott then asked Harris if he could look inside his car. Harris “assured [Endicott] there was nothing illegal in there and that [Endicott] could look.” 9 VRP at 1185. Endicott looked inside Harris’s car and discovered a cell phone and a laptop inside a backpack. The police then impounded Harris’s car.

Sergeant Plumb later obtained a warrant to search Harris’s car and the items discovered within it. The cell phone and laptop contained evidence that Harris was involved in promoting the commercial sexual abuse of minors.

II. CRR 3.6 MOTION WITHDRAWN The State charged Harris with six counts of promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor with aggravating factors, one count of tampering with a witness, and one count of second degree promoting prostitution.2 Harris’s attorney filed a CrR 3.6 motion to suppress the evidence seized following the stop, arguing that the stop was pretextual. The State responded by arguing that the stop was justified because Officer Meador had a reasonable suspicion that Harris had expired tabs and that he was driving with a suspended license.

Before the scheduled CrR 3.6 hearing, Officer Inklebarger sent an e-mail to the prosecutor stating,

I knew [special operations group (SOG)] was looking for [Harris] and knew the vehicle he was driving. I saw the vehicle at the old [Bremerton] Motel a few days prior but not Harris. We also knew the vehicle was expired because I drove by and ran the license. We set up for it to leave and I believe I saw [Harris] get into the

2 The State also charged Harris with second degree possession of depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct that the court later dismissed without prejudice.

driver’s seat when it left. It went Officer Meador’s direction and he conducted the stop. We all [k]new SOG was looking for him because they put the information out at an earlier date.

Personal Restraint Petition (PRP), Attach. at 13.

At the hearing, Harris’s attorney withdrew his CrR 3.6 motion. He said that he spoke to Officer Inklebarger, who told him that “his law community was familiar with that vehicle because they had seen it and been in contact with it over the previous days, or . . . a week.” VRP (July 11, 2014) at 4. Inklebarger was familiar with the car and knew the tabs were expired. Harris’s attorney informed the court that he was withdrawing the motion because he believed he did not have any evidence to challenge the reasonableness of the stop.

III. CONVICTION AND APPEAL A jury found Harris guilty on all counts and the court imposed an exceptional sentence.

Harris appealed his conviction and sentence. In an unpublished opinion, we affirmed Harris’s conviction but remanded to the trial court to conduct an individualized inquiry on Harris’s ability to pay discretionary legal financial obligations (LFOs). State v. Harris, noted at 194 Wn. App. 1017 (2016). On October 30, 2017, Harris filed this timely PRP.

ANALYSIS

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A petitioner may seek relief through a PRP when he believes he is under unlawful restraint.

RAP 16.4 (a)-(c). In order for a petitioner to be entitled to collateral relief through a PRP, the petitioner must prove error by a preponderance of the evidence, and he must prove he suffered prejudice as a result of the error. In re Pers. Restraint of Crow, 187 Wn. App. 414, 420-21, 349 P.3d 902 (2015).

A petitioner asserting constitutional error must demonstrate that the error resulted in actual and substantial prejudice. In re Pers. Restraint of Monschke, 160 Wn. App. 479, 488, 251 P.3d 884 (2010). A petitioner who demonstrates that he received ineffective assistance of counsel has shown actual and substantial prejudice. In re Pers. Restraint of Crace, 174 Wn.2d 835, 846-47, 280 P.3d 1102 (2012). When a petitioner has made the required showing, we must grant the PRP. Monschke, 160 Wn. App. at 489.

I. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL Harris claims that his trial counsel’s performance was deficient because he withdrew his CrR 3.6 motion to suppress. He makes a number of claims in support of this argument, which we address below.

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 22 of the Washington Constitution guarantee a criminal defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 685-86, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1984); State v. Thomas, 109 Wn.2d 222, 229, 743 P.2d 816 (1987). A defendant claiming ineffective assistance of counsel bears the burden of establishing that (1) counsel’s performance was deficient and (2) the deficient performance resulted in prejudice. State v. Grier, 171 Wn.2d 17, 32-33, 246 P.3d 1260 (2011). Defense counsel’s representation is deficient if it falls “‘below an objective standard of reasonableness.’” Grier, 171 Wn.2d at 33 (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688). There is a strong presumption that defense counsel’s conduct was not deficient. Grier, 171 Wn.2d at 33.

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