State Of Washington v. Dranoel Brown

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided February 12, 2018·No. 75627-3·Unpublished

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 75627-3-1

Respondent,

DIVISION ONE

V.

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

DRANOEL ENAJ BROWN,

Appellant. ) FILED: February 12, 2018 )

LEACH, J. — A jury convicted Dranoel Brown of two counts of felony

violation of a no-contact order. Brown makes several challenges to his conviction and sentence. He asserts that his counsel was ineffective, that insufficient evidence supports the jury's verdict on count 2, and that the prosecutor committed misconduct. But these claims lack merit, so we affirm Brown's conviction.

We agree, however, with Brown's contention that insufficient evidence supports the domestic violence designation on count 2. In addition, the trial court abused its discretion when it imposed no-contact orders without adequately considering their impact on Brown's fundamental parental rights. Thus, we remand for the trial court to reconsider the no-contact orders and amend the judgment and sentence consistent with this opinion.

No. 75627-3-1 /2

FACTS

Melody Sykes and her husband, Dranoel Brown, had three children together, including a daughter, E.S., who was six years old in 2015. In September 2015, no-contact orders prevented Brown from contacting Sykes or E.S. or from coming within 500 feet of their residence.

On September 17, 2015, several King County sheriffs deputies, believing that Brown was at Sykes's residence, went to the residence. The deputies knocked on the front door. After receiving no immediate answer, they walked the perimeter of the house. All the windows that the deputies observed were closed. Eventually, Sykes answered the door and let the deputies into the house.

Inside the house, Deputy Jaron Smith encountered a locked bedroom door. He heard noises that sounded like a window being slammed open and someone jumping out of it. Deputy Smith forced the door open. He saw no one in the room but did see men's shoes and clothing on the bed and a wide open window. The deputies had seen the same window closed during their perimeter search.

The police dispatched a helicopter and a K-9 tracking unit. The K-9 dog tracked Brown's scent from outside the open bedroom window to some thick sticker bushes. With a thermal-detecting device, the helicopter confirmed a heat signature in those bushes. Deputies found Brown in those thick sticker bushes.

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They took him into custody. Brown had cuts all over him and had no shoes on.

The State charged Brown with two counts of felony violation of a court order, count 1 for violating the no-contact order for Sykes and count 2 for violating the no-contact order for E.S. The jury convicted Brown of both counts. The jury found that the crime charged in count 1 was an aggravated domestic violence offense that was part of an ongoing pattern of abuse. The jury also found that both Sykes and E.S. were members of the same family or household as Brown.

The court sentenced Brown to 60 months' confinement on count 1 and 0 days' confinement and 12 months' community custody on count 2. Because of the domestic violence aggravator, the court imposed an exceptional sentence and ordered the sentences to be served consecutively) The court also ordered Brown to have no contact with Sykes or E.S. for 10 years.

Brown appeals his conviction and sentence and challenges the no-contact orders.

ANALYSIS

Ineffective Assistance

First, Brown claims he received ineffective assistance of counsel. To prove a felony violation of a no-contact order, the State must establish that the

I See RCW 9.94A.535(2).

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defendant has two prior convictions for violating the provisions of a court order.2 Defendants often stipulate to two prior convictions to avoid any prejudice from introducing the details of those convictions.3 The United States Supreme Court held in Old Chief v. United States4 that a trial court must accept a defendant's offer to stipulate to the existence of a prior conviction when evidence of the prior conviction is unduly prejudicial. Brown claims defense counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to stipulate to Brown's prior convictions Claims of ineffective assistance present mixed questions of law and fact that this court reviews de novo.5 We examine the entire record to decide whether the appellant received effective representation and a fair tria1.6 To succeed on his ineffective assistance claim, Brown must show that his attorney's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that this deficient performance prejudiced him.7 If Brown fails to establish either prong of this test, we need not consider the other.5

2 RCW 26.50.110(5).

3 State v. Case, 187 Wn.2d 85, 87, 384 P.3d 1140(2016).

4 519 U.S. 172, 191, 117 S. Ct. 644, 136 L. Ed. 2d 574 (1997); see also State v. Johnson, 90 Wn. App. 54, 62-63, 950 P.2d 981 (1998).

5 In re Pers. Restraint of Fleming, 142 Wn.2d 853, 865, 16 P.3d 610 (2001).

6 State v. Hicks, 163 Wn.2d 477, 486, 181 P.3d 831 (2008)(quoting State v. Ciskie, 110 Wn.2d 263, 284, 751 P.2d 1165 (1988)).

7 Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 80 L. Ed.

2d 674 (1984).

8 State v. Hendrickson, 129 Wn.2d 61, 78, 917 P.2d 563(1996).

No. 75627-3-1/ 5

On review, we give defense counsel's performance a great deal of deference and employ a strong presumption of reasonableness.9 The reasonableness inquiry requires the defendant to show the absence of legitimate strategic or tactical reasons for the challenged conduct.1° We first note that Old Chief does not require the defense to stipulate to prior convictions.11 And, as we have previously observed, a defendant may have a strategic reason for deciding not to stipulate.12 Here, the record shows that defense counsel intended to use the judgment and sentence (J&S) documents as part of the defense strategy. Brown was charged with felony violations of no-contact orders issued in 2014. To convict Brown of these offenses, the State had to prove that Brown knew about a no-contact order and knowingly violated a provision of the order.13 To show two prior convictions of a court order, the State offered the J&S documents for 2012 and 2015 convictions for a domestic felony violence of a no-contact order. The court admitted redacted versions of the J&S documents. At defense counsel's request, the court did not redact a portion of the 2015 J&S about Brown's contact

9 State v. Grier, 171 Wn.2d 17, 33, 246 P.3d 1260 (2011).

19 State v. McFarland, 127 Wn.2d 322, 336, 899 P.2d 1251 (1995).

11 See State v. Humphries, 181 Wn.2d 708, 717, 336 P.3d 1121 (2014)

(stating that Old Chief holds "that a trial court abuses its discretion when it fails to accept a stipulation to a prior conviction upon defense counsel's request" (emphasis omitted)).

12 State v. Streepv, 199 Wn. App. 487, 502-04, 400 P.3d 339, review denied, 189 Wn.2d 1025(2017).

13 RCW 10.99.040(4); RCW 26.50.110(5).

No. 75627-3-1/6

with Sykes. Defense counsel claimed that part of the 2015 J&S document was relevant to the State's burden to show that Brown knowingly violated a provision of a court order. The issuing court had crossed out part of the judgment that stated that Brown should have no contact with Sykes for five years and, in a corresponding appendix, stated, "Defendant shall have no contact with: Melody Sykes" without specifying a time limit for the prohibition. Trial counsel indicated that this was relevant to Brown's knowledge of the scope of the prohibition. Counsel argued that the confusing nature of the most recent no-contact order created reasonable doubt as to what Brown understood of the conditions of the 2014 no-contact orders. Trial counsel could not have made this argument without introducing the 2015 J&S. Thus, introducing this document was a part of a defense strategy.

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