State Of Washington v. Jeffrey Lamont Randall

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided July 30, 2013·No. 41916-5·Unpublished

Opinion

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APPPALS

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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASH 0 SFII :

DIVISION II SY

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STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 41916 5 II - -

Respondent,

V.

JEFFREY LAMONT RANDALL, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant.

JOHANSON A. . Jeffrey Lamont Randall appeals his jury convictions of two counts J.

C —

of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a minor with sexual motivation and two counts of involving a minor in a drug transaction to deliver a controlled substance. Randall argues that the trial court violated his right to a unanimous verdict because the trial court did not give a Petrich instruction, and failure to do so was not harmless. He also argues that (1)insufficient

evidence supports the jury's finding of sexual motivation, ( )the jury returned inconsistent

2

verdicts, 3)the State violated his right to be free from double jeopardy by failing to allege (

specific incidents to support the involving a minor in a drug transaction and unlawful delivery '

convictions, 4) trial court gave an erroneous special verdict jury instruction that required the ( the

jury to be unanimous to answer "no"on the special verdict forms, and (5) trial court should the

have given a missing witness instruction for the victims' parents. Randall makes various other arguments in his statement of additional grounds (SAG).

1 State v. Petrieh, 101 Wn. d 566, 569, 683 P. d 173 ( 1984), 2 2 modified in part by State v.

Kitchen, 110 Wn. d 403, 756 P. d 105 (1988).

2 2

No.41916 5 II - -

We hold that (1)the failure to give a Petrich instruction was harmless, ( )sufficient

2

evidence supports the jury's sexual motivation findings, (3) the jury's verdicts were not

inconsistent, 4)

( Randall's arguments regarding double jeopardy are hypothetical and not ripe for

review, 5)the trial court's special verdict instruction was proper, and (6)a missing witness (

instruction for the victims' parents was unnecessary. Randall's remaining SAG claims are not preserved for appeal, too vague, or reliant on matters outside the record; therefore we do not further consider them. Accordingly, we affirm.

FACTS

I. RANDALL'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HT AND VN

In spring 2008, HT and VN were 15 year old female students at Tacoma high schools.

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Students, including HT and VN, commonly spent time at a particular bus stop near the school,

smoking cigarettes and marijuana. Randall, a 40- old male known as "House" and "Weed year -

Man," a reputation among the students for providing alcohol, marijuana, and transportation.

had

4 Verbatim Report of Proceedings (VRP) at 636 37, 642, 648, 5 VRP at 733, 8 VRP at 1334.

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HT and VN met Randall through friends and started regularly buying marijuana from him. HT and VN also desired to be seen with him to gain popularity at school.

From approximately March to early June 2008, Randall picked up HT and VN every day after school. They drove around Pierce County selling marijuana out of his car. But before

Randall permitted HT and VN to sell marijuana, he put them through loyalty tests. These tests included talking about themselves while naked, kissing him, and taking their shirts off for him. Eventually, he required each girl to have sexual intercourse with him. Randall knew that HT and

No. 41916 5 II - -

VN were only 15 at the time and that they did not want to engage in intercourse with him. After they passed the loyalty tests, HT and VN participated in Randall's sales by weighing the marijuana, collecting money, and taking marijuana to sell at school. They were often with Randall all afternoon and evening and would sneak out of their parents' homes to be with Randall at night.

Randall regularly gave HT and VN marijuana and alcohol for their own use and he sometimes gave them a portion of the sale proceeds as compensation. Randall called HT and

VN " ama"and "Little Mama" and made them call him "

M Papa."4 VRP 665, 5 VRP at 733,

837. When he became irritated with either HT or VN, he treated them like they were "in

trouble"and scared them by telling them about his "

goons."4 VRP at 664. HT and VN feared

Randall's goons"as dangerous men who would hurt people at his command. 4 VRP at 664, 5 "

VRP at 802.

II. INVESTIGATION AND TRIAL

In late April or early May 2008, another high school student reported to police rumors

that Randall had raped HT and VN. HT and VN initially denied knowing Randall, but they later admitted that they had lied because they feared for their safety. In June 2008, a Tacoma police

officer arrested Randall on an unrelated warrant. In jail, Detective Steven Reopelle interviewed Randall about the rape and drug allegations.

During trial, the State filed a third amended information charging Randall with four counts of third degree child rape, two counts of involving a minor in a drug transaction, and two counts of unlawful delivery with sexual motivation. The information did not include specific

2 We use initials to protect minors' identity.

No. 41916 5 II - -

dates for the offenses, stating that the offenses had occurred between March 1 and June 4, 2008. Randall acknowledged receipt of the amended information, waived formal reading, waived any objection to the amendment, and pleaded not guilty.

At trial,HT and VN testified consistently with the facts outlined above and admitted that they had lied during the initial police interviews, that they had lied to their parents, and that they could not remember specific dates or times of the events occurring nearly three years earlier. They testified that they had sold marijuana for Randall for about three months in spring 2008 and that he had separately raped them each twice. Randall called one witness, the house manager at the group home facility where Randall lived at the time of the allegations. The house manager testified about the facility in general, that there was always staff onsite who performed room checks all hours of the day, and that Randall never caused problems for the staff. Randall did not testify.

Randall proposed a missing witness instruction for HT's and VN's parents and a Petrich unanimity jury instruction related to each charge. The trial court refused both, reasoning that a missing witness instruction was unnecessary and that the evidence established a continuing course of conduct involving an ongoing enterprise with a single objective; thus a Petrich

unanimity instruction was not needed. Regarding the sexual motivation special verdict, the trial court instructed the jury:

You will also be furnished with two special verdict forms for the crimes charged in Counts VII and VIII. If you find the defendant not guilty of these crimes, do not use the special verdict forms. If you find the defendant guilty, you.

3 The court defined sexual motivation to mean " hat one of the purposes for which the defendant

t

committed the crime was for the purpose of his or her sexual gratification." CP at 296 (Jury Instruction No. 24).

W

No.41916 5 II - -

will then use the corresponding special verdict or forms and fill in the blank with the answer "yes"or "no"according to the decision you reach. In order to answer the special verdict forms " es," must unanimously be satisfied beyond y you

a reasonable doubt that "yes"is the correct answer. If you have a reasonable doubt as to the question, you must answer " o."

n

Clerk's Papers at 304 (Jury Instruction No. 31).

During closing arguments, the State argued that the offenses occurred sometime during the charged time period and explained that the exact dates were not necessary because it was

clear that the acts occurred " ll the time."11 VRP at 1822. Randall's counsel generally denied

a

all allegations and argued that (1) and VN had picked Randall as an easy target to unfairly HT

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