Personal Restraint Petition Of Ricky Arntsen

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 3, 2023
Docket83075-9
StatusPublished

This text of Personal Restraint Petition Of Ricky Arntsen (Personal Restraint Petition Of Ricky Arntsen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Personal Restraint Petition Of Ricky Arntsen, (Wash. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

NOTICE: SLIP OPINION (not the court’s final written decision)

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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of No. 83075-9-I

RICKY MARVIN ARNTSEN, DIVISION ONE

Petitioner. PUBLISHED OPINION

COBURN, J. — Ricky Arntsen, through a personal restraint petition (PRP),

once again challenges his conviction for assault in the second degree. Unlike

unlawful display of a weapon, assault in the second degree required the jury to

find both that Arntsen had the specific intent to create reasonable fear and

apprehension of bodily injury and in fact did create a reasonable apprehension

and imminent fear of bodily injury. While intent may be inferred from pointing a

firearm at another, that did not occur here. We are left to determine whether the

evidence sufficiently established that Arntsen did more than merely display a

rifle, allowing a jury to infer, without speculating, that he had the requisite intent.

We hold that it did not. We also hold that the evidence did not establish that

Arntsen did in fact create an imminent fear of bodily injury. We grant the petition,

reverse the conviction, and remand to the trial court to vacate.

Citations and pin cites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/. No. 83075-9-I/2

FACTS

Kim Koenig was commuting to work one morning in December 2014.

Koenig drove northbound on Auburn Way, a road with two lanes for traffic and

one center turning lane. As Koenig approached an intersection, she came upon

an older model gray Jaguar, driven by Arntsen, 1 which was in the lane closest to

the turning lane. Koenig noticed the Jaguar had its blinker on to move into the

right lane and was backing up traffic. Koenig “made a maneuver” in front of the

Jaguar. Koenig then noticed that Arntsen, while still behind her, started driving

aggressively with her like she had made him very mad. Koenig testified that it

was hard to describe, but said Arntsen started to “attack” Koenig’s vehicle with

his own by driving up to her and stopping just short of hitting her car. He then

moved into the lane next to Koenig, “acting like he wanted to hit me from the

other side.” Koenig testified that Arntsen had his window rolled down and was

yelling and gesturing, pointing to the side of the road, like he wanted Koenig to

get off the road. Koenig could not hear what Arntsen was saying and tried to

avoid looking at him during this exchange in an attempt to avoid aggravating him

further. Arntsen continued “flailing” his arms and yelling at Koenig as they

proceeded down the road for “a few minutes or seconds.”

Arntsen then sped up, positioned his car in front of Koenig’s, “threw his car

into a turn,” slammed his brakes and came to a stop diagonally, blocking the

lanes of traffic. Koenig stopped on the road, putting “as much distance” as she

1 Arntsen maintains that he was not the driver, but for the purposes of this petition, he does not challenge identity.

2 For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/. No. 83075-9-I/3

could between herself and Arntsen’s vehicle. 2

Arntsen then opened his driver’s side door and exited. Arntsen had covered

his face with a kerchief like an “old bank robber movie” and was holding a rifle. 3

Arntsen walked toward Koenig’s car carrying the rifle, but never pointed it at her.

Koenig immediately called 911 and averted her eyes and focused on talking to the

911 operator. Based on just peripheral vision and her feelings, she “felt like he

had come up on the driver’s side” very close to her vehicle before looking up and

seeing him walk back towards his car.

Witness Robert Morrill, who was trying to drive around the backed-up

traffic on the right, saw Arntsen’s actions from the time he stepped out of his

vehicle until he left the scene. Arntsen had the gun held straight up in one hand

as he, according to Koenig, walked up to the driver’s side door of the passenger

car. 4 Arntsen then moved the rifle from its upward position in one hand down to

his waist where he held it with two hands. Morrill saw the driver of the jaguar run

up to the driver’s side of the passenger car that was blocked by the jaguar, turn

2 This court’s previous opinion, which addressed different issues, described Koenig as being “forced off the road by a man driving an older, grayish Jaguar.” State v. Arntsen, No. 76912-0-I, slip op. at 3 (Wash. Ct. App. Jan. 6, 2020) (unpublished), www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/769120.pdf. While Arntsen blocked Koenig from continuing to drive on the road, Koenig’s car never left the roadway. 3 Witnesses gave conflicting descriptions of the type of rifle used. Koenig said it appeared to be a “deer hunting rifle” and not an “assault-style rifle.” Passing motorist, Robert Morrill, however, stated that it appeared to be an “AK-47.” The State alleged the deadly weapon used in the assault in the second degree was a “rifle.” 4 Arntsen notes that Morrill described the vehicle as a “passenger car” when Koenig was driving a Dodge Caravan, and that Morrill described the person in the car as a “man” when Koenig is referred to in the record with female gender pronouns. Describing the vehicle as a passenger car does not mean that it was not the Caravan driven by Koenig. The record establishes that Morrill used the term “man” generically as he testified that he could not see who was in the car.

3 For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/. No. 83075-9-I/4

around, run back to his car, jump in and “t[ake] off.” It happened very quickly and

Morrill could not hear what, if anything was said. Morrill never saw the driver of

the vehicle point the rifle at anyone in the car.

Arntsen was subsequently charged by amended information with 17

counts based on this event and unrelated events that occurred before and after

this road rage incident.

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