State Of Washington v. Cleve Goheen-rengo

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 24, 2018
Docket76424-1
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington v. Cleve Goheen-rengo (State Of Washington v. Cleve Goheen-rengo) 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. Cleve Goheen-rengo, (Wash. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, ) No. 76424-1-1 ) Respondent, ) DIVISION ONE ) v. ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION ) CLEVE GOHEEN-RENGO, ) ) Appellant. ) ) FILED: September 24, 2018

ANDRUS, J. — A jury convicted Cleve Goheen-Rengo of unlawfully

imprisoning two Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families1

(Department) social workers at the conclusion of a supervised visit with Goheen-

Rengo's children. Goheen-Rengo appeals, contending the State presented

insufficient evidence to prove he substantially interfered with the social workers'

liberty. He also challenges the trial court's rulings on the admissibility of evidence

of his prior misconduct toward the social workers and the propriety of statements

the prosecutor made in closing argument. We affirm.

1 At the time of the incident and when the matter was tried, the entity was known as the Department of Social and Health Services Children's Administration. See LAWS OF 2017, 3d Spec. Sess., ch. 6(creating Department of Children, Youth, and Families). No. 76424-1-1/2

FACTS

In late 2014, the Department filed a dependency petition involving Goheen-

Rengo's family. Goheen-Rengo's three young children, a two-year-old son and

21-month-old twins, remained in Department custody in June 2016.

Following the incident on June 10, 2016, Goheen-Rengo was charged with

two counts of unlawful imprisonment in violation of RCW 9A.40.040. The affidavit

of probable cause alleged that Goheen-Rengo had a history of cursing, swearing

at, and demeaning social workers assigned to his family's case. There was also

an indication in Goheen-Rengo's trial brief that he had a history of domestic

violence involving the children's mother, had previously stalked and harassed the

children's foster families, had failed to comply with court orders entered in the

dependency case, and had previously threatened Department social workers.

At trial, Department social workers Angela Paull and Emilie Regan testified

that because of safety concerns with Goheen-Rengo, the Department imposed

rules for his visits, including requiring that two or more social workers supervise

each visit and that visits be held at the Whatcom County Courthouse, where

Goheen-Rengo had to go through a security screening. The Department social

workers testified that these safety precautions were atypical, even for supervised

visits, and that they reflected the serious safety concerns the social workers and

the Department had in this case.

Paull and Regan also testified there were other limitations placed on

Goheen-Rengo's visits, the majority of which were court ordered. First, Goheen-

Rengo could not talk to the children about coming back home or make negative

2 No. 76424-1-1/3

statements about the social workers. Additionally, he was not allowed to bring a

camera or cell phone, and he could not bring junk food for the children. Lastly, he

had to stay at the visit location for at least 15 minutes after the social workers and

children left the visit location.

On June 10, 2016, Goheen-Rengo attended a scheduled visit with his

children on the second floor of the courthouse, where he was supervised by Paull

and Regan. Both Paull and Regan testified that this visit did not go well. Paull

testified that during the visit, Goheen-Rengo glared at her, postured toward her,

and verbally intimidated her. Regan described Goheen-Rengo's demeanor as

combative, defensive, argumentative, and mean. Paull stated she was afraid,

nervous, and scared of Goheen-Rengo during the visit. Likewise, Regan testified

that she never really knew what to expect from the father and was uneasy when

he arrived for the June 10 visit.

Throughout the visit, Paull intervened to prevent Goheen-Rengo from

engaging in unsafe behavior with the children. For example, Paull and Regan each

testified that Goheen-Rengo gave his children small items to play with that

presented choking hazards. Additionally, Goheen-Rengo refused to follow the

social workers' instructions for properly feeding the twins, both of whom had

feeding problems that required them to sit upright while eating to avoid choking.

Paull had to remind Goheen-Rengo several times that the children could only be

bottle fed while seated upright. Those reminders enraged Goheen-Rengo, and he

accused the social workers of treating his children like dogs and argued that Paull

was not a parent and did not know what his children needed.

3 No. 76424-1-1/4

Paull testified that after those remarks, she warned Goheen-Rengo that if

he spoke to her again in that manner, she and Regan would end the visit. Shortly

thereafter, one of the children said something about an upcoming birthday, and

according to Paull, Goheen-Rengo said they would celebrate birthdays when "they

were altogether again as a family." Because this comment violated the rule against

talking about the children returning home, and Paull had given repeated warnings

to Goheen-Rengo about his other misconduct, she ended the visit before its

scheduled time.

When Paull ended the visit early, Goheen-Rengo became angry, called

Paull a bitch, and began ranting that she was dammed and would go to hell and

that she would be judged for tearing apart his family. Regan confirmed Goheen-

Rengo's verbal abuse toward Paull. As he began to escalate, Paull and Regan

carried the children to the courthouse elevators and Goheen-Rengo followed.

When Paull and Regan entered the elevator with the children, Goheen-

Rengo deliberately put his foot between the elevator doors to prevent them from

closing, and he stood in the middle of the entrance so that no one could get out of

the car. Paull testified that there was no way she could safely get around him to

exit the elevator. Regan concurred. Both Paull and Regan testified that Goheen-

Rengo said he would not let them leave until the children smiled at him. Regan

had previously handled difficult parents in her role with the Department, but she

testified that this situation was unique because they were trapped and had

nowhere to go and no way to get out.

4 No. 76424-1-1/5

Paull testified that she repeatedly asked Goheen-Rengo to move his foot

and to let them leave, but Goheen-Rengo refused to move even when the

elevator's alarm began to sound because the doors had been open too long. When

Paull pulled out her cell phone and threatened to call courthouse security, Goheen-

Rengo finally stepped back, let the doors close, and told Paull "this isn't over."

Both social workers left the courthouse, trembling and terrified by Goheen-Rengo's

aggression toward them.

During his testimony, Goheen-Rengo gave a very different account of

events. He denied talking about reunification with the children; he claimed that

before Paull ended the visit, he merely told his children they would be back home

soon, which could have meant back home with their foster family. He did not

remember telling Paull that she was damned and going to hell for breaking up his

family. He testified that he carried the twins to the elevator, kept the elevator open

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