State Of Washington v. James W. Clark

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 5, 2021
Docket53255-7
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington v. James W. Clark (State Of Washington v. James W. Clark) 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. James W. Clark, (Wash. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two

January 5, 2021 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 53255-7-II

Respondent,

v.

JAMES WALTER CLARK, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant.

GLASGOW, J.—Officers executed two search warrants involving James Walter Clark. At

his home and in his car, officers found various evidence that Clark was selling methamphetamine,

including texts on a cell phone. Clark was tried on charges of possession with intent to deliver

methamphetamine, second degree possession of stolen property, and bail jumping. The jury found

Clark guilty of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and bail jumping, but not

possession of stolen property.

Clark appeals his convictions. He argues that the trial court abused its discretion by

admitting text messages without sufficient authentication. He also contends that the to convict jury

instruction for bail jumping was insufficient and violated his right to due process. Finally, Clark

claims the trial court erroneously excluded evidence that he appeared for a hearing subsequent to

his failure to appear.

We conclude that the State presented sufficient evidence to authenticate the admitted text

messages. Any error in the jury instruction was harmless, and the trial court did not err by

excluding evidence of Clark’s subsequent court appearance. No. 53255-7-II

Clark filed a statement of additional grounds (SAG), but none of the arguments raised in

Clark’s SAG merits reversal.

We affirm Clark’s convictions.

FACTS

I. INVESTIGATION AND SEARCH WARRANTS

Officers from the Vancouver Police Department obtained a warrant to search Clark’s home

and person for evidence of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and heroin. The

affidavit in support of the warrant identified Clark as “James ‘Jim’ Walter Clark.” Clerk’s Papers

(CP) at 35.

While officers were watching Clark’s home, they saw a person who appeared to be Clark

leave in a car with two or three other people. Officers stopped the car for speeding and because

the warrant authorized a search of Clark’s person. Clark was driving, and he told officers that the

car belonged to him. Officers saw a bag of “white substance” in the front driver-side door, and a

trained K-9 alerted in that area. CP at 48. Officers then seized the car pending an application for a

warrant to search it. A cellular phone remained on the front passenger seat. Clark’s son, Zachary

Haedike, had been in the vehicle and asked to retrieve the phone, but officers denied this request.

Haedike identified the cell phone as his father’s.

The officers and Clark then returned to Clark’s home, and officers conducted an extensive

search of the property. They recovered methamphetamine, multiple scales, baggies, and other drug

paraphernalia. During the search, officers retrieved a safe from an upstairs bedroom closet. When

Detective Zachary Ripp showed the safe to Clark, Clark said he “couldn’t remember where the

key was.” 1 Verbatim Report of Proceedings (VRP) at 175. So, detectives used a pry bar to open

2 No. 53255-7-II

the safe. Ripp later explained, “Our first procedure is to try to open [the safe] without damaging

something and because there was no key, we had to damage it to open it up.” 1 VRP at 176. The

safe contained methamphetamine and documents with Clark’s name on them.

Officers then obtained a warrant to search Clark’s car. The affidavit in support of the

warrant requested a search of the vehicle for evidence of possession of controlled substances,

related contraband, and any fruits of crime. This included cellular phones and text messages.

Officers recovered a bag with “crystal like substance,” a “glass smoking device,” and the cell

phone that had been left on the front passenger seat. 2 VRP at 239.

The State originally charged Clark with possession with intent to deliver

methamphetamine, possession of heroin, second degree possession of stolen property, and third

degree possession of stolen property. Before trial, the State dismissed the charges of possession of

heroin and third degree possession of stolen property.

II. FAILURE TO APPEAR

An omnibus hearing was scheduled for May 15, 2018. Clark was present in the courtroom

on April 19, 2018 when the trial court scheduled the omnibus hearing, and he left the courtroom

with a scheduling order in his hand. The scheduling order listed all upcoming required court

appearances, including the omnibus hearing on May 15, 2018.

Clark’s required court appearances were not listed chronologically on the court’s

scheduling order. Although the omnibus hearing was Clark’s next required appearance, it was

listed third on the order that Clark received.

3 No. 53255-7-II

It is undisputed that Clark failed to appear at the omnibus hearing on May 15, 2018. Clark

did appear at the following required court appearance, the readiness hearing on June 7, 2018. The

readiness hearing was listed first on Clark’s scheduling order.

The State filed an amended information adding a charge of bail jumping on a class B or C

felony.

III. PRETRIAL MOTIONS IN LIMINE

Clark filed a motion in limine to exclude any text messages from the cell phone that was

recovered from the front passenger seat of his car, arguing the State could not authenticate the

messages as required by ER 901. The State responded that the phone was located within Clark’s

car and Clark’s son had identified the phone as belonging to Clark. The State also argued that the

contents of the phone would support its authentication because “Facebook, Google Drive, and

Google Photo accounts on the phone were linked to ‘James Clark,’” the e-mail address on the

phone contained “jamesclark,” and “several messages on the phone [were] addressed to ‘Jim’

and the sender refers to himself as ‘Jim’ on other occasions.” CP at 31. The trial court denied

Clark’s motion, holding the State’s evidence was sufficient to present the messages to the jury and

Clark’s objection went to the weight of the text messages as evidence, rather than to their

admissibility.

The State filed a motion in limine to exclude any evidence regarding Clark’s subsequent

appearance in court after his failure to appear on May 15, 2018. The State argued this evidence

was irrelevant and inadmissible under ER 401 and 402. The State explained that it needed to prove

“the defendant had knowledge he was required to appear on May 15, 2018 and that he failed to do

so,” and Clark’s “subsequent reappearance in court does not prove or disprove any of those

4 No. 53255-7-II

elements.” CP at 57. Further, the State contended that even if the evidence of Clark’s subsequent

appearance were relevant, it was still inadmissible under ER 403 because “any remedial measures

taken by the defendant after his failure to appear can only serve the purpose of eliciting sympathy

and muddying the waters around the actual issue at trial: that he failed to appear on a specific date.”

CP at 58.

Clark’s defense to the charge of bail jumping was that the scheduling order was confusing,

the court dates were not listed chronologically, and Clark appeared on the date listed first.

Therefore, according to Clark, evidence of his later appearance showed that he did not knowingly

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State Of Washington v. James W. Clark, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-washington-v-james-w-clark-washctapp-2021.