State Of Washington v. Jeffery Boatright

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedNovember 21, 2017
Docket49218-1
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington v. Jeffery Boatright (State Of Washington v. Jeffery Boatright) 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. Jeffery Boatright, (Wash. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Filed Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two

November 21, 2017 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 49218-1-II

Respondent, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

v.

JEFFERY ALLEN BOATRIGHT,

Appellant.

BJORGEN, C.J. — Jeffery Boatright appeals his conviction of felony vehicle prowling in

the second degree. Boatright argues that by requiring him to wear a leg brace restraint, the trial

court deprived him of (1) his right to due process, (2) his right to testify under the Fifth, Sixth,

and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and article I, section 22 of the

Washington Constitution, (3) his right to counsel under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments,

and (4) the presumption of innocence. He also objects to appellate costs and raises additional

contentions in his statement of additional grounds (SAG).

We hold that the trial court abused its discretion when it required Boatright to wear a leg

brace restraint because the circumstances were not extraordinary as required by governing case

law. Nevertheless, the error was harmless because there was not a substantial or injurious effect

or influence on the jury’s verdict. Additionally, we decline to reach the issue of appellate costs

and deem the SAG claims meritless. Accordingly, we affirm.

FACTS

In the early morning of January 17, 2015, Philip Kelley woke in his home and noticed an

unexpected light in one of his vehicles parked in his driveway. Someone was methodically No. 49218-1-II

moving through the vehicle. Because Kelley did not know the person, he contacted 911 and

reported the suspected vehicle prowler. When the suspect exited the vehicle, Kelley provided a

description to the 911 operator. Kelley described the suspect’s distinctive clothes (i.e., “slick”

sweatpants, a blue coat with white trim, and a baseball cap) and informed the 911 operator that

the suspect had a computer bag in his possession. Verbatim Report of Proceedings (VRP) (June

28, 2016) at 177-79.

At that point, the suspect left the property, and Kelley followed him. Kelley observed the

suspect enter his neighbor Greg Hilchey’s vehicle and begin working through it in the same

manner as his own. After the suspect had finished searching that neighbor’s vehicle, the suspect

moved to his neighbor Thomas Beardsley’s vehicle in an adjacent driveway.

Officer Jeffrey Davis, a police officer with the city of Olympia, and Deputy Tyson

Shenkel, with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Department, simultaneously arrived on scene. As

both officers approached the area on foot, they observed a man walk out into the street. Officer

Davis observed that the man “appeared to pause and crouch down as to make their stature a little

bit smaller, and almost as if [he was] in a panicked manner like [he was] pausing.” VRP (June

27, 2016) at 52. When the police identified themselves and ordered the suspect to stop, the

suspect began to run. The officers pursued the suspect on foot, and Officer Davis found him

hiding partially underneath a parked vehicle with a computer bag within arm’s reach. The man

identified himself as Boatright.

Officer Davis took note of Boatright’s clothing, which matched Kelley’s description.

The bag in Boatright’s possession was found to contain not only Kelley’s property, but also the

property of Kelley’s neighbors. One neighbor, Hilchey, advised Officer Davis that he owned the

2 No. 49218-1-II

laptop and computer bag in Boatright’s possession, which was returned to him. The other

property was taken as evidence. Kelley also identified Boatright at the scene as the man who

was in Kelley’s vehicle.

The State charged Boatright with felony vehicle prowling in the second degree. On June

27, 2016, the morning of trial, the State moved to allow the use of a leg brace restraint on

Boatright during the trial. After hearing from counsel, the trial court concluded as follows:

As the attorneys have both indicated, it’s the State’s burden to show that restraints are appropriately imposed on a defendant during the course of trial. The presumption is that restraints will not be imposed and that a defendant has the right to be free of restraints in the courtroom during a trial. The court by case law is required to take a look and balance that right of the defendant with other factors the court has to consider in maintaining not just the dignity and the efficiency of the proceedings but the safety of the people in the courtroom. Mr. Powers [State] I think rightly noted that the courtroom here is pretty small. The – all the courtrooms, frankly, except for one in this building, are pretty small, but in this particular courtroom the setup where the defendant is sitting right now is closest to the jury box. It’s very close to where the jury is going to be sitting as a pool during voir dire. Mr. Boatright has a long history of criminal convictions. Significantly [sic] to the court is a pattern, and I do believe it’s a pattern as Mr. Powers just outlined, of failure to comply with the court’s orders, which gives the court concern about how he may or may not be behaving in the courtroom. Additionally, if convicted, Mr. Boatright is facing a lengthy prison sentence, and it’s a sentence that the court has no discretion about imposing. Given his history, if he’s convicted the sentence will be 60 months in custody. The proposal for the restraints at issue are very minimal. The State has attached to its memorandum Appendix A[1] that shows what the restraint is. It’s

1 Appendix A provides the seller’s product description of the leg brace restraint as follows: A unique alternative worn inside or outside of the defendant’s pants. The mechanical leg restraint uses three nylon straps with velcro which secure around the defendant’s leg and one leather strap that locks at the individual’s ankle. There is a me[t]al bar that hinges at the defendant’s knee which can be operated by the defendant for full range of motion. Allows a restrained person to sit or walk but impedes their running or kicking ability. The mechanical leg restraint is the least restrictive of all routine devices (i.e. handcuffs, shackles, bandit). It causes no injury to the defendant and little or no

3 No. 49218-1-II

on one leg, and it is on Mr. Boatright at this time. I just want to indicate for the record I haven’t been able to see it. I don’t see it now. I did notice that Mr. Boatright walked a little slowly when he came out of the jury box to have a seat with Mr. Shackleton at counsel table, and I can assure everybody that the court will not be allowing the jury or the pool to watch Mr. Boatright walk. He will not be moving in front of them at the trial. The court is mindful that Mr. Boatright needs to be able to be in good communication with Mr. Shackleton. If at any time, Mr. Boatright or Mr. Shackleton, you feel that there’s an issue, if you could just let the court know that you’d like to take a recess, we can reassess things, but given everything I’m supposed to balance at this time I’m finding that the State has made a sufficient showing for the limited restraints that it’s requesting, and I’m going to grant the request.

VRP (June 27, 2016) at 16-18.

The jury found Boatright guilty of felony vehicle prowling in the second degree. At

sentencing, the court imposed a mandatory 60 month sentence.

Boatright appeals.

ANALYSIS

I. RESTRAINT

Boatright argues that the trial court’s imposition of a leg brace restraint violated his

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