State Of Washington v. Keith Ian Dow

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 15, 2015
Docket45673-7
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington v. Keith Ian Dow (State Of Washington v. Keith Ian Dow) 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. Keith Ian Dow, (Wash. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Filed Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two

September 15, 2015

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 45673-7-II

Respondent,

v.

KEITH IAN DOW, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant.

LEE, J. — A jury found Keith Ian Dow guilty of first degree child molestation. Dow

appeals, arguing that (1) the trial court erred by accepting the State’s affidavit of prejudice and (2)

the trial court erred by admitting an audio recording of a telephone call he made to the victim’s

mother from jail. Dow also argues in his Statement of Additional Grounds (SAG)1 that his

conviction is barred by double jeopardy.

We hold that the trial court did not err by accepting the State’s affidavit of prejudice and

Dow’s conviction is not barred by double jeopardy. However, we reverse Dow’s conviction

because the trial court erred by admitting the audio recording in its entirety and remand for further

proceedings.2

1 RAP 10.10. 2 Dow also argues that (1) defense counsel was ineffective by failing to object to the audio recording, (2) the trial court abused its discretion by excluding Dr. Yuille’s expert testimony, (3) the trial court violated his right to present a defense by excluding Dr. Yuille’s testimony, (4) reversal is required because of cumulative error, and (5) the trial court erred by imposing plethysmograph testing as a condition of community custody. He also raises a number of No. 45673-7-II

FACTS

In 2005, Dow was living with his girlfriend, Cecilia Walde, and her three-year-old

daughter, K.W.3 In September 2005, Walde reported to law enforcement that Dow had molested

K.W.

A. 2005 CASE

In 2005, following an investigation, the State charged Dow with first degree child

molestation. In 2006, Judge Warning found that K.W. was not competent to testify and dismissed

the case without prejudice based on the corpus delicti doctrine.

The State appealed the dismissal, and the Supreme Court ultimately affirmed the trial

court’s dismissal without prejudice of the State’s case.4

B. 2010 CASE

In 2010, the State charged Dow with first degree child molestation under a new cause

number. The State filed an affidavit of prejudice under RCW 4.12.050 against Judge Warning,

requesting a different judge; and a new judge was assigned to the case. Dow moved to vacate the

affidavit of prejudice because Judge Warning had issued a discretionary ruling in the 2005 case.

additional issues in his SAG. Because we reverse Dow’s conviction based on the audio recording, we do not reach these claims.

3 We use the victim’s initials, K.W., to protect her privacy. See General Order 2011-1 of Division II, In re The Use of Initials or Pseudonyms for Child Witnesses in Sex Crime Cases (Wash. Ct. App.), available at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts/ 4 State v. Dow, 168 Wn.2d 243, 255, 227 P.3d 1278 (2010).

2 No. 45673-7-II

The trial court denied Dow’s motion to vacate, finding that State v. Torres5 was “factually very,

very close,” and under Torres, filing a new information following a dismissal without prejudice

was a new case for purposes of RCW 4.12.050.

Dow moved to dismiss based on double jeopardy. The trial court denied Dow’s motion,

finding that double jeopardy does not apply because Dow’s earlier case was dismissed “prior to

empanelling of the jury, [and] also the language of the original trial dismissal which indicated on

its face that it was without prejudice. Since the Supreme Court affirmed that decision, without

comment, it is assumed that their dismissal was also without prejudice.” Clerk’s Papers at 242-

43.

Dow also moved to exclude an audio recording of a phone call made by Dow from jail to

Walde, K.W.’s mother.6 Among other things in the recorded phone call, Walde makes statements

about her conversation with Dow’s ex-wife, Mary. Dow argued that the recording was irrelevant,

prejudicial, and contained hearsay. The State noted that although it could not redact the specific

portions of the recording that Dow argued were inadmissible hearsay, it did not intend on asking

questions about those specific statements.

The trial court denied Dow’s motion to exclude the recording. Specifically regarding

Walde’s statements involving her conversation with Dow’s ex-wife, the trial court found that there

5 85 Wn. App. 231, 232-33, 932 P.2d 186, review denied, 132 Wn.2d 1012 (1997). 6 See page 9 for excerpts of the audio recording.

3 No. 45673-7-II

was not “any prejudice by it being in there.” 5A Verbatim Report of Proceedings (VRP) at 895.

The trial court also found even if the statements could be redacted, “the blanks in a consistent flow

of a conversation in many ways create more speculation than something that seems so minor—

appears to be so minor and it doesn’t go to any of the issues before the Court.” 5A VRP at 895.

At trial, the State played the entire audio recording.

During the State’s direct examination of Walde, the State played the audio recording in its

entirety and distributed a transcript to the jury as a listening aid. The trial court instructed the jury

that the transcript may only be considered as a listening aid and not as “evidence to prove the

contents of the audio.” 5A VRP at 1018. The trial court did not give any limiting instruction

regarding Walde’s statements.

The jury found Dow guilty of first degree child molestation. Dow appeals.

ANALYSIS

A. AFFIDAVIT OF PREJUDICE

Dow argues that the trial court erred by accepting the State’s affidavit of prejudice.

Specifically, Dow argues that his charge was part of the same case as the case that was dismissed

in 2006, and therefore, under RCW 4.12.050, the State’s affidavit of prejudice was untimely

because the judge had already made a discretionary ruling. We disagree because the information

filed in 2010 was not the same case that was dismissed without prejudice in 2006.

RCW 4.12.040(1) provides that “[n]o judge of a superior court of the state of Washington

shall sit to hear or try any action or proceeding when . . . said judge is prejudiced against any party

or attorney, or the interest of any party or attorney appearing in such cause.” “[A]ny party may

establish prejudice by filing a motion and a supporting affidavit alleging that the judge before

4 No. 45673-7-II

whom an action is pending is prejudiced against that party or the interests of that party.” State v.

Hawkins, 164 Wn. App. 705, 712, 265 P.3d 185 (2011), review denied, 173 Wn.2d 1025 (2012);

RCW 4.12.050(1). Once a party timely files an affidavit of prejudice, the judge no longer has

authority to proceed into the merits of the action. Hawkins, 164 Wn. App. at 713. An affidavit of

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