State Of Washington, V. Derante Cook

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 30, 2024
Docket58288-1
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington, V. Derante Cook (State Of Washington, V. Derante Cook) 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. Derante Cook, (Wash. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

Filed Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two

April 30, 2024

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 58288-1-II

Respondent,

v.

DERANTE RASHAWN COOK, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant.

GLASGOW, J.—After entering JK’s apartment at night through an unlocked door, Cook

pulled JK from her bed, choked her with a blanket or pillow, and raped her. JK was unable to see

Cook. Several years later, after DNA evidence identified Cook, the State charged him with first

degree rape and first degree burglary.

At trial, JK testified about the incident. Cook testified that JK had let him into her apartment

and consented to intercourse with him. The jury found Cook guilty as charged.

Cook appeals, arguing that insufficient evidence supports his convictions, that the use of

the terms “rape kit” and “sexual assault kit” by the prosecutors1 and State witnesses violated his

right to a fair trial, and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.

We affirm.

1 Two prosecutors represented the State at trial. No. 58288-1-II

FACTS

I. BACKGROUND

In 2018, JK lived in a ground floor apartment with her husband, her two-year-old son, and

her seven-year-old daughter. One night, while JK’s husband was away, a stranger entered her

apartment through an unlocked patio door and raped her while her son slept nearby. After the

stranger left, JK called her husband and then reported the incident to law enforcement. A

responding law enforcement officer recommended that JK go to a hospital for a sexual assault

exam.

At the hospital, a sexual assault nurse examiner took swabs from JK’s body. A forensic

scientist used one of the swabs to generate a DNA profile of the perpetrator and entered it into the

Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the combined state and federal police DNA databases.

Initially, CODIS did not match the perpetrator’s DNA profile to any individual. But almost

three years after the incident, CODIS matched the profile to Derante Cook. The State charged

Cook with first degree rape and first degree burglary with sexual motivation.

II. TRIAL

A. Use of the Terms “Rape Kit” and “Sexual Assault Kit”

During voir dire, the State asked a prospective juror what evidence they might want to see

in a sexual assault case. The prospective juror said they would want to see a “rape kit.” Verbatim

Rep. of Proc. (VRP) at 517. The State then asked all the prospective jurors whether they would

“expect to see a rape kit.” VRP at 518. A second prospective juror said, “I’m not sure what a rape

kit is,” and a third prospective juror briefly explained before the State moved on to a different

subject. Id.

2 No. 58288-1-II

Throughout the trial, both the prosecutors and the State’s witnesses used the terms “rape

kit” and “sexual assault kit” when referring to the kit used to collect biological evidence from JK.2

For example, during the State’s opening, one of the prosecutors said JK had a “rape kit done right

after the incident.” VRP at 589. Additionally, a forensic scientist testified that she “[examined] a

sexual assault kit” while working on this case. VRP at 666. Defense counsel did not object to the

use of these terms. However, defense counsel successfully objected at least twice when the State

referred to the incident as a sexual assault.

B. State Witnesses

1. Testimony about the assault

JK testified for the State. She said that in 2018, she was 5’2” tall and weighed about 110

pounds. On the night of the incident, she left her apartment’s patio door unlocked. She put her

daughter to bed in her daughter’s bedroom, put her son to bed in her own bedroom, and went to

sleep.

Later that night, the light in the bathroom attached to JK’s bedroom came on and off.

Thinking her husband had returned, JK intended to fall back asleep, but she “felt something

underneath [her] feet.” VRP at 619. Cook, who was hiding under her bed, pulled her to the floor.

He pinned her down and choked her with a pillow or blanket.

JK said she had a difficult time breathing, so she turned her face to “have some type of

airway.” VRP at 622. Defense counsel cross-examined JK about her account of being choked: “I

2 In his opening brief, Cook notes that the prosecutors and State witnesses used the terms “rape kit” and “sexual assault kit” more than 40 times, citing VRP at 517-19, 587-89, 659-60, 666-68, 682, 689, 728, 755, 780-81, 836, 866, 1008-09, 1014, 1041.

3 No. 58288-1-II

think you had told [a detective] this went on for 5 or 10 minutes? You’re not sure?” VRP at 880.

JK replied, “That was per my recollection, but I have no way to prove it.” Id.

JK testified that after she turned her face so she could breathe, Cook covered her mouth

with his hand. JK said she noticed a “unique type of lotion or perfume smell that’s usually used by

[B]lack people.” VRP at 622. Defense counsel cross-examined JK about this statement:

Q: And last week you testified that you suspected that this man was African- American because of the cologne that he wore?

A: It wasn’t any particular cologne smell. I was referring to the smell from the body itself. It was not necessarily from the body either. It was not from a body lotion or a cologne, but kind of a smell there.

Q: So the man smelled in a way that made you think that he was [B]lack?

A: Yes.

VRP at 887-88.

JK testified that while Cook pinned her down, she said, “‘Please don’t kill me,’” and Cook

reacted by choking her harder. VRP at 623. He removed her pants and underwear and dragged her

to the bathroom, where he touched her vagina. Cook then dragged her back to the bedroom, put

her on the floor, and choked her again with a pillow or blanket. JK said, “[H]e was choking harder

and harder, so I thought I was going to be killed if I resist more . . . I was afraid for my son who

was sleeping in the bed . . . so I gave up resisting.” VRP at 635. Cook then had sexual intercourse

with JK for about 30 seconds before he suddenly stopped, rolled JK toward a closet, and threw her

in.

During the incident, JK was not wearing her glasses, and the only light came from a

nightlight in the bathroom. JK could not see what Cook looked like. She testified that she did not

4 No. 58288-1-II

leave the patio door unlocked for Cook, invite Cook into her home, or consent to having sex with

him.

2. Testimony about the investigation

After Cook left, JK called her husband and told him someone had entered the apartment

and sexually assaulted her. JK’s husband testified that JK was crying. He told her to contact the

police.

An officer who responded to JK’s 911 call testified that when he spoke with JK, she

appeared “nervous” and “fearful.” VRP at 707. He said JK told him that when the assault began,

she felt a hand around her neck. The responding officer did not observe any injuries. He

recommended that JK “[g]o to the hospital to have an assault exam completed.” VRP at 727-28.

The sexual assault nurse examiner who met with JK testified that she does “a head-to-toe

assessment on every patient.” VRP at 790. When asked if she saw bruising on various parts of

JK’s body, the nurse either responded, “No” or “Not that I noted in my documentation.” VRP at

790-91.

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