State Of Washington v. Brian S. Gantt

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJune 22, 2020
Docket81373-1
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington v. Brian S. Gantt (State Of Washington v. Brian S. Gantt) 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. Brian S. Gantt, (Wash. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 81373-1-I Respondent, DIVISION ONE v. UNPUBLISHED OPINION BRIAN STEPHEN GANTT, AKA BRIAN S. GANTT,

Appellant.

SMITH, J. — Brian Gantt appeals his convictions for residential burglary,

obstructing a police officer, malicious mischief in the third degree, and two counts

of felony violation of a no-contact order. He asserts that (1) there was insufficient

evidence to convict him of malicious mischief, (2) the trial court erred by giving an

inference instruction on the malicious mischief charge, and (3) the court erred

when it denied his request for a voluntary intoxication instruction.

We conclude that a reasonable jury could have found that the State

proved the elements of malicious mischief beyond a reasonable doubt. And

because an inference of malice followed more likely than not from the evidence

presented at trial, the trial court did not err in providing the inference instruction.

Finally, because the record presents no evidence that Gantt’s intoxication

impaired his ability to form the requisite mental states for the crimes with which

he was charged, the trial court correctly denied Gantt’s request for a voluntary

intoxication instruction. Moreover, none of the additional issues that Gantt raises

Citations and pin cites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material. No. 81373-1-I/2

in his statement of additional grounds for review (SAGR) have merit. Therefore,

we affirm.

FACTS

Gantt and C.S. were in a relationship and have a three-year-old son,

C.N.S. On August 8, 2017, the Pierce County Superior Court entered a no-

contact order, which prohibited Gantt from communicating with C.S. And on

October 6, 2017, the Puyallup Municipal Court entered a similar no-contact order

prohibiting Gantt from contacting C.S. except to arrange the visitation exchange

for C.N.S. Both orders prohibited Gantt from being within 1,000 feet of C.S., or

her home, school, or place of employment. The municipal court order expired on

October 6, 2019, and the superior court order expires on August 8, 2022.

On or about May 7, 2018, before going to bed, C.S. locked the sliding

glass door to her newly constructed apartment. However, she did not try “to

open [the door] while it was locked.” Sometime early the next morning, C.S.

heard a noise in her living room. She went to her living room and saw Gantt,

“upset, distraught, practically crying, mumbling stuff that [C.S.] didn't understand.”

C.S. also believed that Gantt was intoxicated and “out of it.” C.S. told Gantt to

leave “[b]ecause [she] didn't want him to get in trouble.” In response, Gantt “took

a bottle of pills out of his pocket and swallowed them,” telling C.S. “just to let him

die.” After about 30 minutes, Gantt began to lose consciousness, and C.S.

stepped outside and called the police. She informed the operator that Gantt was

in her home, uninvited, intoxicated, and had swallowed a bottle of pills. While on

the phone, C.S. noticed that the windshield wiper on her car, which was parked

2 No. 81373-1-I/3

outside of her apartment, was broken. She informed dispatch because she

“assumed [Gantt] did it.”

Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputies Adam Pawlak and Ryan Olivarez

responded to the call and arrived at C.S.’s apartment just before 5:00 a.m. The

apartment’s front door was ajar, and the deputies announced themselves before

entering. Upon entrance, the deputies saw “a male lying on the couch” and

asked Gantt “if he was Brian.” Gantt answered no. But C.S. informed the

deputies otherwise. Gantt then ran out of the apartment through the sliding door.

The deputies chased after him, identifying themselves as police and telling Gantt

to stop. Gantt “started to put his hand towards his pocket, and . . . Deputy

Olivarez deploy[ed] his Taser.” Gantt fell, and the deputies handcuffed him. He

told Deputy Pawlak that “he took 30 Benadryl with alcohol in an attempt to kill

himself.”

Later, C.S. noticed the lock to her “sliding glass door was on the floor.”

She attempted to put the lock back into the door, but it was missing a screw.

After searching the apartment and being unable to find the screw, she put the

lock back in the door. However, without the screw, the lock did not work. C.S.

testified at trial that she believed the door “never locked properly.”

The State later charged Gantt by amended information with residential

burglary, obstructing a law enforcement officer, malicious mischief in the third

degree, and two counts of felony violation of a domestic violence court order.

At trial, the court gave the State’s requested jury instruction number 30

(malice instruction): “Malice and maliciously mean an evil intent, wish, or design

3 No. 81373-1-I/4

to vex, annoy, or injure another person. Malice may be, but is not required to be,

inferred from an act done in willful disregard of the rights of another.” But at the

conclusion of the parties’ presentation of evidence, the trial court denied Gantt’s

request for a voluntary intoxication instruction because “there was the smell of

alcohol and no other evidence of alcohol usage that would direct the State’s

attention to the fact that voluntary intoxication was going to be used as a

defense.”

The jury convicted Gantt as charged. At sentencing, the trial court

determined that Gantt “was experiencing suicidal ideation on or about” the date

of the events. The court therefore found “[s]ubstantial and compelling reasons

[to] justify an exceptional sentence below the standard range” on all counts. The

court imposed “a total sentence of 48 months.” Gantt appeals.

ANALYSIS

Sufficiency of the Evidence

Gantt contends that the State did not present sufficient evidence of

malicious mischief. We disagree.

Under RCW 9A.48.090, “[a] person is guilty of malicious mischief in the

third degree if he or she: (a) Knowingly and maliciously causes physical damage

to the property of another.” “‘Malice’ and ‘maliciously’ shall import an evil intent,

wish, or design to vex, annoy, or injure another person.” RCW 9A.04.110(12).

And “[m]alice may be inferred from an act done in willful disregard of the rights of

another.” RCW 9A.04.110(12).

Under the due process clause, the State was required to prove the

4 No. 81373-1-I/5

elements of malicious mischief “beyond a reasonable doubt.” U.S. CONST.

amend. XIV; State v. Chacon, 192 Wn.2d 545, 549, 431 P.3d 477 (2018). “When

a defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence” presented to meet this

burden, they “admit[ ] the truth of all of the State’s evidence.” State v. Cardenas-

Flores, 189 Wn.2d 243, 265, 401 P.3d 19 (2017). “In such cases, appellate

courts view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, drawing

reasonable inferences in the State’s favor.” Cardenas-Flores, 189 Wn.2d at 265-

66. And “[e]vidence[, when viewed in such a light,] is sufficient to support a guilty

verdict if any rational trier of fact . . . could find the elements of the charged crime

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