State Of Washington v. Austin John Parks

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 20, 2020
Docket78036-1
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington v. Austin John Parks (State Of Washington v. Austin John Parks) 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 v. Austin John Parks, (Wash. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

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

STATE OF WASHINGTON, ) No. 78036-1-I ) Respondent, ) ) v. ) ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION PARKS, AUSTIN JOHN, ) DOB: 10/19/1988, ) ) Appellant. )

BOWMAN, J. — Austin John Parks appeals his jury convictions of two

counts of third degree assault. Parks contends that (1) the trial court abused its

discretion by denying his motion for new counsel, (2) the State improperly

commented on his prearrest silence, (3) the prosecutor engaged in misconduct

by misstating the law of self-defense, (4) he received ineffective assistance of

counsel at trial, (5) cumulative error deprived him of a fair trial, and (6) we should

strike certain legal financial obligations from his judgment and sentence. We

affirm the convictions but remand to the trial court to strike the criminal filing fee,

DNA1 collection fee, and nonrestitution interest from his judgment and sentence.

1 Deoxyribonucleic acid.

Citations and pin cites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material. No. 78036-1-I/2

FACTS

On the evening of December 17, 2015, Lisa Driscoll and her adult son

George Miller drove to the Marysville Papa John’s to pick up a pizza. While

waiting for their order, Miller walked to a neighboring smoke shop. After picking

up their food, Driscoll left Papa John’s and drove partway into the “only parking

spot available” in front of the smoke shop to wait for Miller. She did not “pull all

the way into” the parking spot.

Parks and his girlfriend Tonya Morgan2 drove into the crowded lot looking

for a parking space. They stopped behind Driscoll’s car and Morgan reached

over from the passenger seat to honk the horn. Driscoll saw the car “immediately

behind me” and Morgan standing outside of Parks’ car. She heard Morgan

“screaming” at her. Driscoll conveyed3 that she was not ready to leave the

parking space. The two women “briefly” argued and Morgan went back to the

passenger side of Parks’ car.

Driscoll “couldn’t pull forward because of the island” and “couldn’t back up

because of [Parks’] car,” so she started to get out of her car to “see how close

they were to the bumper” of her car. Parks got out of his car “angry and yelling”

at Driscoll to move her car. The two began to argue near the rear of Driscoll’s

car. While Driscoll and Parks were arguing, Miller returned from the smoke shop.

He stood at the passenger door of Driscoll’s car and started to argue with Parks

while Driscoll “immediately went to the driver’s side” of her car to leave.

2 Tonya Morgan and Parks later married. We refer to Morgan by her maiden name for clarity and intend no disrespect by doing so. 3 Driscoll claims she told Morgan, “You can’t have it right now.” Morgan testified that Driscoll “started screaming profanities” and “flipped me off.”

2 No. 78036-1-I/3

Amy Ebert, a customer in the smoke shop who was in the checkout line

behind Miller, walked out of the store “a minute or less” after Miller. She saw the

argument. According to Ebert, Driscoll “was not out of her car” at that time and

Parks “has the [driver’s side] door open and is outside [his] car.” Ebert testified

that while Miller was “standing at the passenger side of [Driscoll’s] car,” she

heard “elevated voices” and saw Driscoll then get “out of her vehicle as well[,]

asking what I presume is her son to get back into the car because they’re

leaving.” Ebert testified that she heard a “lot of swear words . . . from both sides.

You know, do you want to go? I’ll kick your ass. Things of that nature going

back and forth between [Parks and Miller].” Ebert testified that the verbal

argument escalated but she did not see any physical touching.4 She said that

everyone stayed “in the same spot”—Parks stood just outside his open driver’s

side door, Miller remained at the passenger side of Driscoll’s car, and Driscoll

stood “outside of her car on the driver’s side” telling Miller that “we’re leaving.”

Ebert then saw Parks “duck into his car” and pull out a can of pepper

spray “very quickly.” Ebert testified that Parks “instantly” sprayed Driscoll for

several seconds “at a very close range” from her head to her knees. Miller

started to move around the back of Driscoll’s car and Parks sprayed him as well.

Ebert watched as Parks immediately “gets in his car, backs up, and pulls out of

the parking lot.”

All of the witnesses described the entire incident as “quick.” Ebert testified

that the “whole thing lasted probably less than 25 seconds all together.” On

4 Ebert testified, “There — you know, there was banter going on back and forth between the two males, but physical, like touching or anything, no.”

3 No. 78036-1-I/4

cross-examination, Ebert clarified that the time from Parks and Miller arguing to

when Parks pepper sprayed Driscoll was “a little bit longer than 25 seconds, but I

think the whole incident was under three minutes.”

Driscoll had her cell phone in her hand during the entire altercation and

“was already on the phone with [911].” She gave the police the license plate

number of the car Parks was driving. Parks also called 911. Parks reported that

“he had sprayed somebody with pepper spray” but hung up before giving any

details.

Morgan testified that Parks acted in self-defense and pepper sprayed

Miller first. She claimed Miller “kept coming towards” Parks in an aggressive

manner, “hollering” and “screaming,” prompting Parks to reach for the pepper

spray. She said that Parks warned Miller to stop before Parks sprayed him in the

eyes for “[j]ust a second.” She testified that Parks then sprayed Driscoll because

she assaulted Parks as he sprayed Miller. According to Morgan, Parks “kept

telling her to get off me” before he pepper sprayed Driscoll.

Morgan testified that because Parks got some of the pepper spray in his

eyes, she “got [him] into the back seat" and drove away. Morgan said she called

911 from Parks’ phone using the “speaker phone” function so that they were both

on the call with the 911 dispatcher. Morgan did not remember ending the 911

call. It was her “understanding [that] a police officer was supposed to contact us

by phone.”

Police later tried to contact Parks as part of their investigation. They left

messages at the phone number Parks used to call 911 and with Parks’ mother.

4 No. 78036-1-I/5

Parks did not respond. After several unsuccessful attempts to reach Parks, the

police referred the case to the prosecutor’s office.

The State charged Parks with one count of assault of Driscoll in the third

degree and one count of assault of Miller in the third degree. Before trial, Parks

made a motion to discharge his court-appointed attorney. The court denied his

motion.

A jury convicted Parks of both charges. The court sentenced Parks within

the standard range and imposed restitution, a $200 criminal filing fee, a $500

victim assessment, and a $100 DNA collection fee. Parks appeals.

ANALYSIS

Motion To Discharge Counsel

Parks argues that the court abused its discretion by denying his motion to

discharge his court-appointed attorney before trial. We disagree.

We review a trial court’s decision not to appoint new counsel for abuse of

discretion. State v. Varga, 151 Wn.2d 179, 200, 86 P.3d 139 (2004). A court

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State Of Washington v. Austin John Parks, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-washington-v-austin-john-parks-washctapp-2020.