State Of Washington, Resp. v. James Master Ocain, App.

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided April 18, 2016·No. 73191-2·Unpublished

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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, )

) No. 73191-2-1

Respondent, )

) DIVISION ONE

v. )

)

JAMES MASTER OCAIN, ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION )

Appellant. ) FILED: April 18,2016 )

Becker, J. — James O'Cain1 was convicted of six counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Two of the convictions were for cocaine, two for methamphetamine, and two for heroin. Double jeopardy was not violated when O'Cain's convictions were for possessing three different drugs with the intent to deliver because the convictions were different in law and in fact. Double jeopardy was violated when O'Cain was convicted twice for possessing the same drugs with the intent to deliver. Such convictions constitute one unit of prosecution where there were not two distinct intents to deliver. We remand.

1 In the amended information, the name of the defendant James Master O'Cain was misspelled as James Master Ocain. The proper spelling of his name will be used in the opinion with the exception of the caption, which has not been changed.

FACTS

On October 7, 2013, the King County Sheriff's Office obtained a warrant to search appellant James O'Cain's person, apartment, and two cars. One week later, on October 14, 2013, a team of detectives and a supervising sergeant went to O'Cain's apartment to execute the search warrant.

The detectives searched O'Cain's person. In his jacket pocket, they found, among other items, a plastic sandwich bag containing small rocks of crack cocaine, three small dime bags of methamphetamine imprinted with golden skulls on a black background, 0.3 grams each, and a baggie containing about 16 individually-packaged portions of heroin, 0.14 grams each.

The detectives also searched O'Cain's apartment. In the master bedroom closet, detectives found a locked file cabinet. Inside the file cabinet was a locked safe. Inside the locked safe, detectives found, among other items, a 66.3-gram brick of powder cocaine, a pill container holding a single baggie of 28 grams of methamphetamine, and a 27-gram lump of heroin. The safe also contained two small digital scales and more golden-skull-imprinted baggies.

O'Cain was charged by amended information with six counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Two of these counts charged cocaine, two charged methamphetamine, and two charged heroin, corresponding to the drugs found in O'Cain's jacket pocket and in the locked safe. A jury found O'Cain guilty as charged. O'Cain appeals.

CHALLENGE TO SEARCH WARRANT In the detective's affidavit supporting probable cause for the warrant, the detective reported that O'Cain sold drugs to a confidential informant on four separate occasions. Before trial, O'Cain sought to challenge the search warrant. The detective refused to reveal the identity of the confidential informant or any further details regarding O'Cain's alleged drug sales to the informant. O'Cain moved the trial court for an in camera hearing to determine whether there was probable cause to search his person and apartment, pursuant to State v. Casal, 103 Wn.2d 812, 818, 699 P.2d 1234 (1985). The trial court denied his request, stating that the basis for his request was speculative and that he had not demonstrated any inconsistency or the required materiality. O'Cain assigns error to the trial court's refusal to conduct an in camera hearing.

There is a presumption of validity with respect to the affidavit supporting a search warrant. Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 171, 98 S. Ct. 2674, 57 L. Ed. 2d 667 (1978). Before the defendant will be allowed a hearing to challenge the warrant, he must make a substantial preliminary showing that the affiant

knowingly and intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth, included a false statement in the warrant affidavit. Franks, 438 U.S. at 155-56. When a

defendant is faced with a confidential informant, however, he "lacks access to the very information that Franks requires for a threshold showing offalsity." Casal, 103Wn.2dat818.

An in camera hearing under Casal can solve this problem. A trial court should exercise its discretion to conduct an in camera examination of the affiant or confidential informant where a defendant presents information which (1) casts a reasonable doubt on the veracity of material representations made by a search warrant affiant and (2) the challenged statements are the sole basis for probable cause to issue the search warrant. Casal, 103 Wn.2d at 813.

As to the first prong, O'Cain argues that he has met the Casal threshold by submitting repair shop invoices showing that the car the detective said O'Cain was driving was in the repair shop during some of the time period at issue. But the type of car driven by O'Cain was immaterial to the issue of probable cause to search O'Cain's person and apartment, where all the drugs in question were found. No drugs were found in O'Cain's cars. Even if the type of car were material, the repair shop invoices presented by O'Cain do not cast a reasonable doubt on the veracity of the detective's representations regarding these cars. The detective wrote in his affidavit that "within the last week" he saw O'Cain driving his Cadillac at a drug sale to a confidential informant and also saw this same Cadillac parked behind O'Cain's apartment building. The detective's affidavit was dated October 7, 2013, so "within the last week" would be approximately September 30 to October 6, 2013. The repair shop invoices submitted by O'Cain show that this Cadillac was in the shop on the morning of October 1, 2013, and from October 4 through 11, 2013. This leaves several days, including September 30, part of October 1, and October 2 and 3, that the detective could have seen the Cadillac as he alleges. The detective's affidavit, on its face, is not inconsistent with the repair shop invoices submitted by O'Cain.

O'Cain has not cast a reasonable doubt on the veracity of the detective's representations regarding these cars.

O'Cain also argues that he met the Casal threshold by submitting internal investigation documents from the King County Sheriff's Office. The documents showed that the affiant detective had been disciplined in the past for giving a false report regarding his personal vehicle being stolen from his house, and that he had once been reprimanded for referring to a juvenile as "'monkey butt'" or "'monkey boy.'" O'Cain argues that the affiant detective should have disclosed this past disciplinary history in his affidavit. He cites no authority requiring such disclosure. Both of these incidents occurred over 15 years ago. They are unrelated to the information in the search warrant. O'Cain has not specified how the detective's past discipline casts a reasonable doubt on any specific material representation that the detective made in the affidavit.

As to the second prong of the Casal test, the statements challenged by O'Cain are not the sole basis for probable cause to issue the search warrant. The detective's affidavit details how he and other detectives observed O'Cain selling drugs to a confidential informant on four separate occasions. These drug sales, rather than the type of car driven by O'Cain, were the basis for probable cause to issue the search warrant.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY

On appeal, O'Cain makes two double jeopardy arguments. He first argues that all six of his convictions for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver constitute a single "unit of prosecution" based on the to-convict jury instructions. Alternatively, he argues it is a double jeopardy violation to convict him twice for possessing the same drug at the same time and place. Whether a criminal defendant is placed in double jeopardy in a particular circumstance is a question of law that we review de novo. State v. Womac, 160 Wn.2d 643, 649, 160 P.3d 40 (2007).

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