State Of Washington, Resp/cross-app v. Bradley Michael Martin, App/cross-resp

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedDecember 16, 2019
Docket77908-7
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington, Resp/cross-app v. Bradley Michael Martin, App/cross-resp (State Of Washington, Resp/cross-app v. Bradley Michael Martin, App/cross-resp) 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
State Of Washington, Resp/cross-app v. Bradley Michael Martin, App/cross-resp, (Wash. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 77908-7-I Respondent, DIVISION ONE V. UNPUBLISHED OPINION BRADLEY MICHAEL MARTIN,

Appellant FILED: December 16, 2019

APPELWIcK, C.J. — Martin appeals his burglary conviction, his sentence,

and the imposition of certain LFOs. He argues that the State presented insufficient

evidence that he was an accomplice to the burglary. He further argues that the

trial court impermissibly commented on the evidence in the accomplice liability jury

instruction. He argues that the State committed prosecutorial misconduct by

mischaracterizing the law and shifting the burden of proof during closing argument.

He also argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his

lawyer improperly included three foreign convictions in calculating his offender

score. Last, he argues that the trial court erred in ordering him to pay a DNA fee,

criminal filing fee, victim assessment fee, and interest on those fees. We affirm

his conviction and sentence, but remand to the trial court to: strike the DNA fee,

criminal filing fee, and interest on the LFOs and to add language indicating the

victim assessment fee may not be enforced against his SSI income. No. 77908-7-1/2

FACTS

At 4:00 am. on April 28, 2016, a motion detector in Janet Anderson’s

driveway alerted her neighbor, Douglas Dahi, to movement on the property. Dahi

went to investigate the disturbance. He heard what he believed to be the sound

of items being put in the bed of a truck. Upon hearing this, he retreated to his

property to call 911 and report a burglary in progress. After the call, Dahl again

moved close to Anderson’s property. After about five minutes, Dahl witnessed a

truck exiting Anderson’s property. He was unable to see the license plate, but was

able to get to his car and pursue the truck. He caught up with the truck about 900

feet down the street. It had been pulled over by sheriff’s deputies.

Sheriff’s deputies discovered three people in the truck: Trevor Bush,

Bradley Martin, and Gabriel Vogan. Bush was driving the truck. Vogan was in the

passenger seat. Martin was sitting in the back seat behind Vogan, at an angle

facing towards the driver seat.

Police recovered a flashlight from Bush. They recovered a headlamp from

the driver’s seat. And, they recovered a headlamp from Vogan. There were gloves

and other equipment in the cab of the truck. There was a pair of gloves in the

center console. Clothing and multiple pairs of gloves were strewn on the driver’s

side in the back seat. On the floor on passenger side where Martin had been

sitting was a pair of gloves and an asp. An asp is an extendable baton most

commonly used as an impact weapon.

The bed of the truck contained several items that Anderson identified as

having come from her shop. Anderson had not given anyone permission to take

2 No. 77908-7-113

the items from the shop. The items included a rototiller, a saw sharpener, and a

box of her son’s personal belongings. The rototiller weighed about 250 pounds.

The saw sharpener was very tall and had most of the weight distributed at the top.

It took multiple sheriff’s deputies to lift these machines out of the truck.

Deputy Jacob Navarro took photos of the truck, and impounded it and its

contents. A sheriff’s deputy also accompanied Anderson to her property and took

several photos of the shop where the break-in had occurred. They did not attempt

to collect fingerprint or DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evidence from the truck or

shop. Deputy Jonathan Krajcar testified that they did not believe that usable

fingerprints could be gathered from the shop. He further testified that their policy

is not to conduct DNA testing for property crimes due to cost.

The State charged Martin with one count of second degree burglary. The

State’s theory of the case was that Martin was present and ready to assist with the

burglary. The State attempted to illustrate this point in closing argument by saying,

“Some people should still be held accountable when they’re present and they see

a crime happen and those people are distinguishable because they are ready to

assist by their presence in aiding the commission of the crime.”

Also during closing, the prosecutor asserted that conducting DNA testing under

these circumstances would not be reasonable. Specifically, she stated, “There

wasn’t a single expert witness that said that’s a reasonable thing to do or that any

valuable information could have been gleaned from that. DNA on a glove doesn’t

put an individual person inside the shop. Nothing could.”

3 No. 77908-7-1/4

The to convict instruction listed elements that the jury must find beyond a

reasonable doubt in order to return a guilty verdict. The first element stated, “That

on or about the 28~” day of April, 2016, the defendant or a person to whom the

defendant was an accomplice entered or remained unlawfully in a building.”

A jury found Martin guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced Martin to

63 months of confinement. This sentence was based on an offender score of 10.

The court included three foreign convictions in Martin’s offender score. The court

also ordered Martin to pay a $500 victim assessment, $200 criminal filing, and

$100 DNA fee, despite finding Martin was indigent.

Martin appeals.

DISCUSSION

Martin raises essentially six issues on appeal. First, he contends that the

State failed to present sufficient evidence to support his conviction. Second, he

argues that the court impermissibly commented on the evidence in the to convict

instruction. Third, he asserts that the prosecutor impermissibly shifted the burden

of proof in her closing arguments. Fourth, he contends that the prosecutor

impermissibly mischaracterized the law in her closing arguments. Fifth, he asserts

that the court improperly calculated his offender score by including three foreign

convictions that were not comparable to Washington offenses. Last, he argues

that the court should strike all legal financial obligations (LFOs) and interest from

his sentence due to his indigency.

4 No. 77908-7-1/5

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Martin argues that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to support

his conviction.

Sufficiency of the evidence is a question of constitutional law that this court

reviews de novo. State v. Rich, 184 Wn.2d 897, 903, 365 P.3d 746 (2016). The

State is required to prove all elements of the charged offense beyond a reasonable

doubt. Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 477, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 L. Ed.

2d 435 (2000). Evidence is sufficient to support a conviction if “after viewing the

evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact

could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”

State v. Green, 94 Wn.2d 216, 221, 616 P.2d 628 (1980) (emphasis omitted). In

reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, all reasonable inferences from the

evidence must be drawn in favor of the State and interpreted most strongly against

the defendant. State v. Salinas, 119 Wn.2d 192, 201,

Related

Apprendi v. New Jersey
530 U.S. 466 (Supreme Court, 2000)
DeHeer v. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
372 P.2d 193 (Washington Supreme Court, 1962)
State v. Russell
882 P.2d 747 (Washington Supreme Court, 1994)
State v. Green
616 P.2d 628 (Washington Supreme Court, 1980)
State v. Salinas
829 P.2d 1068 (Washington Supreme Court, 1992)
State v. Rotunno
631 P.2d 951 (Washington Supreme Court, 1981)
State v. Truong
277 P.3d 74 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2012)
State v. Emery
278 P.3d 653 (Washington Supreme Court, 2012)
In Re Personal Restraint of Lavery
111 P.3d 837 (Washington Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Teal
73 P.3d 402 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2003)
State v. Goodman
83 P.3d 410 (Washington Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Levy
132 P.3d 1076 (Washington Supreme Court, 2006)
State of Washington v. Jason Michael Catling
413 P.3d 27 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2018)
State Of Washington v. Tommie Lee Davis
418 P.3d 199 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2018)
State v. Ramirez
426 P.3d 714 (Washington Supreme Court, 2018)
State v. Johnson
180 Wash. 2d 295 (Washington Supreme Court, 2014)
State v. Olsen
325 P.3d 187 (Washington Supreme Court, 2014)
State v. Ford
973 P.2d 452 (Washington Supreme Court, 1999)
State v. Goodman
150 Wash. 2d 774 (Washington Supreme Court, 2004)
In re the Personal Restraint of Lavery
154 Wash. 2d 249 (Washington Supreme Court, 2005)

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