State of Washington v. Julia Gaye Newberry

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedNovember 25, 2025
Docket58893-5
StatusUnpublished

This text of State of Washington v. Julia Gaye Newberry (State of Washington v. Julia Gaye Newberry) 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. Julia Gaye Newberry, (Wash. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Filed Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two

November 25, 2025

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 58893-5-II

Respondent,

v.

JULIA GAYE NEWBERRY, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant.

MAXA, P.J. – Julia Newberry appeals her conviction of unlawful possession of a stolen

motor vehicle following a bench trial. The conviction arose from an incident in which a law

enforcement officer observed Newberry in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle without license

plates. The officer recorded the vehicle’s identification number (VIN). A rental car company

had made a stolen vehicle report for a vehicle similar to the one in which Newberry was seated.

The day before trial, the State produced screenshot of a “313 screen” from the rental car

company that contained the VIN of the vehicle it had reported as stolen. Newberry objected to

the late disclosure and the trial court excluded the document from evidence. However, at trial

the court allowed the prosecutor to use the document to refresh the rental car company

representative’s memory regarding the VIN. No. 58893-5-II

In its written findings, the court explicitly referenced testimony from the investigating

officer that previously had been excluded. The court also found that a reasonable person would

have known that the vehicle was stolen.

We hold that (1) the trial court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the prosecutor to

use the late-disclosed document to refresh a witness’s memory; (2) the trial court did not abuse

its discretion in allowing the prosecutor to refresh the witness’s recollection with the 313 screen;

(3) even though the trial court referenced excluded hearsay evidence in its findings, the court did

not rely on that inadmissible evidence to find Newberry guilty; (4) even though the trial court

stated in its findings that a reasonable person should have known that the vehicle was stolen, the

court applied the correct actual knowledge standard for unlawful possession of a stolen motor

vehicle; and (5) community custody condition 10, which allows home visits by the Department

of Corrections (DOC), must be stricken or modified to include a reasonable suspicion

requirement.

Accordingly, we affirm Newberry’s conviction for unlawful possession of a stolen motor

vehicle, but we remand for the trial court to strike or amend community custody condition 10.

FACTS

Background

In January 2023, Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Gonzalez observed Newberry in

the driver’s seat of a white Toyota SUV in a store parking lot. The vehicle had no license plates

and a broken-out driver’s side rear window that appeared to be covered with plastic. Gonzalez

approached the vehicle and introduced himself. Before he asked any questions, Newberry stated

that the car was not hers and that she was not driving. Gonzalez noticed that Newberry appeared

unusually nervous, with beads of sweat running down her face and shaking hands. He attempted

2 No. 58893-5-II

to look at the vehicle’s VIN, but the front dash was cluttered with trash and a piece of paper

slipped under the dash obstructed the VIN. Newberry consented to Gonzalez looking at the VIN

on the interior door of the car. When Gonzalez reported the VIN to law enforcement dispatch,

dispatch advised Gonzalez that the vehicle had been reported stolen out of Hillsboro, Oregon in

August 2022.

Gonzalez arrested Newberry and interviewed her. Newberry initially stated that she had

the vehicle for four days, but later said that she had probably had the vehicle for six days.

Newberry stated that the car belonged to a friend, she gave her friend $200 to rent the car from

her, and she planned to give the car back to her friend after a week. But Newberry did not know

her friend’s address or phone number and claimed that she only reached her friend through

Facebook messaging. When Gonzalez asked her to show him those Facebook messages,

Newberry stated that the conversation she had with her friend actually was in person. Newberry

did not know the details of how or when her friend had acquired the car. Newberry stated that

the vehicle’s broken window was caused by her two dogs fighting.

A rental car company in Beaverton, Oregon rented out a 2020 white Toyota C-HR in

August 2022, and reported it stolen in October 2022 after it was not returned. The company

never authorized Newberry to rent or possess a vehicle.

The State charged Newberry with one count of possession of a stolen motor vehicle. At

the omnibus hearing, the trial court set March 10, 2023 as the deadline for the State to disclose

discovery. Trial was scheduled for April 20, 2023. Newberry waived her right to a jury trial.

Late Disclosure

On the day of trial, defense counsel told the trial court that the previous afternoon the

State had sent him an email containing two documents. One of the documents later was

3 No. 58893-5-II

described as a screenshot of the rental car company’s 313 screen. Defense counsel requested that

the court exclude the documents because they were produced in violation of the discovery rules

and the omnibus order.

The prosecutor stated that he had received these documents from the rental car company

on April 18, two days before trial, after talking to a company representative. The prosecutor

stated that he did not anticipate seeking to admit either document into evidence, but he might use

the 313 screen to refresh the rental car company representative’s recollection.

The trial court found a discovery violation: “The documents are a surprise. They were

discovered way too late. They should have been discovered a long time ago, and they weren’t.”

Rep. of Proc. (RP) at 40. The court ruled that the late-disclosed documents would not be

admitted into evidence and could not be used to refresh recollection.

Later, the State asked the trial court to reserve ruling on the use of one of the excluded

documents to refresh a witness’s recollection. The court responded, “All right.” RP at 80.

Trial Testimony

On the first day of trial, Gonzalez testified at a CrR 3.5 hearing to the facts stated above.

He also stated that he gave the vehicle’s VIN to police dispatch, who informed him that the

vehicle had been reported as stolen. Newberry agreed that the trial court could consider

Gonzalez’s CrR 3.5 testimony at trial except for the statement that dispatch told him that the

vehicle had been reported as stolen. The court stated that it would not consider in its

determination the statement from dispatch that the vehicle had been reported as stolen.

Raia Peavy was the assistant manager of the rental car company in Beaverton. In

October 2022, she reported that a white Toyota SUV had been stolen from the company.

4 No. 58893-5-II

When the prosecutor started to ask Peavy about the VIN for the stolen vehicle, Newberry

objected and asked to voir dire the witness. On voir dire, Peavy testified that she did not know

the VIN of the stolen vehicle when it was rented out. And she did not know the VIN by memory

when she had sent certain information to Deputy Gonzalez a few months earlier. After

completing voir dire, Newberry stated, “Your Honor, that’s the base [sic] of my objection. She

doesn’t know the VIN. She didn’t know the VIN when she emailed the deputy.” RP at 129. The

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State v. Read
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State v. Little
358 P.2d 120 (Washington Supreme Court, 1961)
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