State Of Washington v. Joseph Roberts

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided April 30, 2018·No. 75872-1·Unpublished

Opinion

FILED

C,OURT OF APPEALS OW I

STATE OF WASHINGTON

2018 APR 30 Ali 8:29

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, )

) DIVISION ONE

Respondent, )

) No. 75872-1-1

V. )

) UNPUBLISHED OPINION JOSEPH JW ROBERTS, JR. )

)

Appellant. ) FILED: April 30, 2018 )

DWYER, J. — Following a bench trial, Joseph Roberts, Jr. was convicted of domestic violence felony violation of a court order, assault in the third degree domestic violence, tampering with a witness, and five counts of domestic violence misdemeanor violation of a court order. On appeal, Roberts contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney failed to pursue a diminished capacity defense. Roberts also contends that the trial court erred by (1) denying his request for an exceptional sentence downward,(2) failing to vacate his conviction for assault in the third degree, claiming that it merges into his conviction for felony violation of a no-contact order,(3) imposing consecutive sentences on two offenses that constituted the same criminal conduct, and (4) incorrectly calculating his offender score. Roberts also submits a pro se statement of additional grounds.

We remand for correction of certain clerical errors in the judgment and sentence but affirm in all other respects.

Joseph Roberts, Jr. and Katrina Wooldridge began a dating relationship sometime in 2013 or 2014. Together they have one child, who was born in April 2015.1 In August 2015,following a domestic violence incident, the Bothell Municipal Court issued a pretrial domestic violence no-contact order protecting Wooldridge. In November 2015, Roberts rented a room in a house in Bellevue. Days later, Wooldridge and her son moved in with Roberts in violation of the no- contact order.

On November 19, 2015, Wooldridge called 911. Wooldridge told the emergency operator that Roberts was pointing a BB gun at his own face. Roberts could be heard in the background saying that Wooldridge had hit him and that he was bleeding. Wooldridge told the emergency operator that she could not leave because her son was in the house. Wooldridge then said that Roberts had put down the gun and was throwing her things out of the house while she was putting her son in the car.

Wooldridge began to argue with Roberts while on the telephone with the emergency operator.

WOOLDRIDGE: Why did you just fucking do that? What the fuck?

OPERATOR: Ma'am.

WOOLDRIDGE: Oh my God.

OPERATOR: Hello?

WOOLDRIDGE: Get the fuck away from me and my fuckin' son.

He's in the fuckin' car.

1 Wooldridge was 17 years old when she began dating Roberts, who was 26 years old at the time.

.. •

WOOLDRIDGE: Get the fuck away from me.

Jonnie Jones, who rented a room in the same house as Roberts, could be heard in the background telling Roberts "Don't touch that girl no god damn more."

Wooldridge asked the emergency operator for help. The call then abruptly ended. The call soon resumed. Wooldridge told the emergency operator that Roberts "just broke a broom over me" and that he "came to me and brought a broom and started hitting my car with my son." Wooldridge said that Roberts had been hitting her with a broom for about 20 minutes and that she had welts all over her body. Wooldridge said that her son was still with her. Roberts left before the police arrived.

Bellevue Police Officer Curtis McIvor responded to the emergency call.

Upon arriving at the residence, McIvor noticed that there was a vehicle in the driveway with the door partially open and the light on inside. The vehicle's windshield had been smashed and there were glass particles inside of the vehicle. McIvor also observed that there were various items strewn about the front yard. McIvor went inside the house and spoke with Wooldridge. Wooldridge was sobbing and had a large welt-12 to 15 inches long—on the right side of her shoulder. Wooldridge was too upset to answer any questions.

Wooldridge was treated at the scene by Joshua Holthenrichs, a firefighter medic. Wooldridge told Holthenrichs that she was in a domestic violence dispute and that she was in extreme pain. Wooldridge stated that she was hit with a broom repeatedly, knocked to the ground, kicked in the stomach, and "stomped" on the head. Wooldridge stated that the assault lasted about 20 minutes.

Dr. Marc Bellis treated Wooldridge at the hospital. Wooldridge told Dr.

Bellis that she was assaulted by her ex-boyfriend. Wooldridge stated that Roberts kicked her several times in the abdomen and head and hit her with a broomstick. Dr. Bellis reported that Wooldridge was lucid and did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Wooldridge saw her mother—Lisa Davis—at the hospital that night. Davis testified that Wooldridge was crying and had bruises all over her body. Wooldridge told her mother that Roberts had almost killed her and had been hurting their child. Roberts had sent text messages to Davis earlier that day, stating that he had really hurt Wooldridge and that she was in the hospital. Roberts told Davis that "1 could have killed her. You know she is, how she makes me."

Police arrested Roberts the next day. Roberts initially told the arresting officer that he was injured. Roberts changed his mind after the officer offered to take pictures of the injuries. Following his arrest, Roberts began calling Wooldridge from jail.

On December 15, 2015, the King County Superior Court issued a no-

contact order protecting Wooldridge based on the current charges against Roberts. Nevertheless, Roberts called Wooldridge from jail at least two times in January in violation of the no-contact order. Roberts called Wooldridge repeatedly from December 1, 2015 through August 5, 2016.2 Roberts directed

2 The trial court noted that Roberts had called Wooldridge over 800 times while in jail.

Wooldridge to contact the prosecutor's office and the judge and tell them that she had lied about the assault.

At trial, Wooldridge recanted her report of the assault. Wooldridge testified that she was injured after getting in a fight with another person earlier in the day and that her vehicle windshield was broken weeks earlier. Wooldridge testified that she was intoxicated on the day of the assault. Wooldridge testified that she started to argue with Roberts and began trying to pull him out of the house. Wooldridge testified that the only time that Roberts touched her was when he was trying to stop her from pulling him. Wooldridge admitted that she had received telephone calls from Roberts while he was in jail, but testified that it was her idea to pretend to be other women during the calls.

During closing argument, defense counsel argued that Wooldridge had fabricated the entire assault. Defense counsel argued that Wooldridge was mad at Roberts and manufactured her screaming on the 911 call in order to get Roberts in trouble. Defense counsel also argued a theory of self-defense. Defense counsel argued that Wooldridge was the initial aggressor and that, if Roberts did injure Wooldridge, it was because he was defending himself from further harm.

The trial court found Roberts guilty of domestic violence felony violation of a court order, assault in the third degree domestic violence, tampering with a witness, and five counts of domestic violence misdemeanor violation of a court order. The trial court found that the assault occurred within the sight and sound of the parties' minor child. The trial court imposed exceptional sentences on the

felony violation of a court order and assault in the third degree convictions, ordering that those sentences run consecutively. Roberts appeals.

II

Roberts first contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.

This is so, he asserts, because his attorney failed to present a diminished capacity defense at trial. We disagree.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State Of Washington v. Joseph Roberts, (Wash. Ct. App. 2018).

State Of Washington v. Joseph Roberts (State Of Washington v. Joseph Roberts) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Victor Eugene Rios v. Teresa Rocha, Warden
299 F.3d 796 (Ninth Circuit, 2002)
State v. Hendrickson
917 P.2d 563 (Washington Supreme Court, 1996)
State v. Rempel
785 P.2d 1134 (Washington Supreme Court, 1990)
State v. Warden
947 P.2d 708 (Washington Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Smith
864 P.2d 1371 (Washington Supreme Court, 1993)
State v. Coates
735 P.2d 64 (Washington Supreme Court, 1987)
State v. Garcia-Martinez
944 P.2d 1104 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1997)
State v. Worl
955 P.2d 814 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1998)
State v. Warden
909 P.2d 941 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1996)
State v. Tili
985 P.2d 365 (Washington Supreme Court, 1999)
State v. McFarland
899 P.2d 1251 (Washington Supreme Court, 1995)
State v. Mail
854 P.2d 1042 (Washington Supreme Court, 1993)
State v. Reichenbach
101 P.3d 80 (Washington Supreme Court, 2004)
In Re Davis
101 P.3d 1 (Washington Supreme Court, 2004)
Allstate Ins. Co. v. Raynor
21 P.3d 707 (Washington Supreme Court, 2001)
State v. Tili
60 P.3d 1192 (Washington Supreme Court, 2003)
State v. Fleming
228 P.3d 804 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2010)
State v. Garnica
20 P.3d 1069 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2001)
State v. Freeman
108 P.3d 753 (Washington Supreme Court, 2005)