State Of Washington v. Larrin J. Breitsprecher

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedNovember 13, 2019
Docket51346-3
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington v. Larrin J. Breitsprecher (State Of Washington v. Larrin J. Breitsprecher) 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. Larrin J. Breitsprecher, (Wash. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

Filed Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two

November 13, 2019

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 51346-3-II

Respondent,

v.

LARRIN JOSEPH BREITSPRECHER, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant.

SUTTON, J. — Larrin J. Breitsprecher appeals his convictions for third degree possession

of stolen property, commercial fishing using unlawful fishing gear, and first degree unlawful

interference with fishing gear. Breitsprecher argues that (1) there is insufficient evidence to

support these convictions, (2) the trial court erred by failing to give an accomplice liability

instruction for the commercial fishing using unlawful fishing gear and the first degree unlawful

interference with fishing gear charges, and (3) the trial court erred by denying his motion to dismiss

and motion to arrest judgment. We affirm.

FACTS

I. BACKGROUND

The State of Washington through the Department of Fish and Wildlife regulates the

commercial crabbing industry in Washington.1 RCW 77.04.012. A commercial crabber must

label their crab pots and buoys to identify the owner. RCW 77.15.520. When the commercial

1 Title 77 RCW—Fish and Wildlife Code of the State of Washington. No. 51346-3-II

crabbing season is closed, Fish and Wildlife issues permits to retrieve derelict crabbing gear from

the ocean. RCW 77.70.500. The person with the permit making the recovery can possess and

own a recovered crab pot. RCW 77.70.500(4)(b).

Breitsprecher was the captain, owner, and operator of a commercial fishing vessel, the

Shearwater II, which he operated offshore of Westport, Washington. Kory Kerzman, a former

crewmember of the Shearwater II, met with Fish and Wildlife agents and told them that

Breitsprecher taught him how to steal other people’s commercial crab pots and ordered him to

steal a number of commercial crab pots during the 2016 commercial crabbing season.

Breitsprecher stored his pots and gear at the Westport gear yard at the Port of Grays Harbor.

After an investigation, Fish and Wildlife agents obtained and executed a search warrant for the

Shearwater II and Breitsprecher’s gear pile at the Westport gear yard. The search warrant

authorized Fish and Wildlife agents to search for and seize from the Shearwater II and

Breitsprecher’s gear pile any stolen crab pots, along with the vessel’s global positioning system

(GPS), chart plotter, and a red grinder that was used to grind off identification markings on crab

pots. Kerzman helped Fish and Wildlife agents by identifying which pots, pot tags, and buoys in

Breitsprecher’s gear pile were stolen. Pursuant to the warrant, Fish and Wildlife agents seized 32

crab pots from Breitsprecher’s gear pile identified by Kerzman as having been stolen during the

2016 commercial crab season. Agents also seized the GPS, chart plotter, and red grinder from the

Shearwater II.

2 No. 51346-3-II

II. CHARGES AND TRIAL

The State charged Breitsprecher with second degree theft, second degree possession of

stolen property, commercial fishing using unlawful gear, and first degree unlawful interference

with fishing gear.

At trial, the primary factual disputes were whether Kerzman had, at Breitsprecher’s

direction, pulled commercial crab pots and buoys aboard the Shearwater II that belonged to other

commercial fishermen, and whether those pots and buoys remained part of Breitsprecher’s

commercial fishing gear. The primary legal issues were whether the crab pots without an

identifying buoy in the ocean were abandoned property, and whether the original owner still had

a possessory interest in those pots.

Kerzman testified that when he worked for Breitsprecher, he was instructed to pull up

commercial crab pots that belonged to other commercial fisherpersons who owned and operated

crab boats offshore of Westport during the 2016 commercial crab season. Kerzman testified that

during the 2016 commercial crab season, he pulled anywhere from two to twenty crab pots that

did not belong to Breitsprecher each time they took the Shearwater II out. Kerzman testified that

he was instructed to pull up buoys attached to the pots that were different colors than the orange

and red buoys Breitsprecher owned. Sometimes the crew pulled up additional pots in a single pull

because the lines were tangled in a “wrap-around.”2 Verbatim Report of Proceedings (VRP) (Oct.

2 A “wrap-around” occurs when the line attached to one crab pot that is sitting in the water gets tangled with another line attached to a different crab pot that is also sitting in the water. Verbatim Report of Proceedings (Oct. 17, 2017) at 55-56. A “wrap-around” becomes problematic when one pulls up their own crab pot and, in doing so, also pulls up someone else’s crab pot due to the tangled lines.

3 No. 51346-3-II

18, 2017) at 220. Kerzman and the other crew members knew when to pull pots that did not belong

to Breitsprecher because Breitsprecher would, “rev [the boat’s] motor” as a sign to grab the buoy

and pull the attached pot. VRP (Oct. 18, 2017) at 291.

After a crab pot that did not belong to Breitsprecher was brought on board, Kerzman

inspected the crab pot to determine, “How easy it would be to make it ours.” VRP (Oct. 18, 2017)

at 224. If Kerzman determined that the pot was worth keeping, he would then manipulate the pot

to make it look like Breitsprecher’s other pots. Kerzman and other crew members would strip the

pot and buoy to make it look like Breitsprecher’s property by removing the buoy tags, changing

the lines and bait containers, and at times, using a red grinder to grind down the weight bars on the

pots to remove the name of the proper crab pot owner. Sometimes, Kerzman would put the buoys

into the pots and sink the whole bundle. Kerzman further testified that Breitsprecher taught him

these practices and that Breitsprecher knew what he [Kerzman] was doing.

Kenneth Rausch, the operations manager for the Port of Grays Harbor at Westport, and

Cole Miller, one of Breitsprecher’s former employees, testified as to the layout and accessibility

of the stacks of crab pots at the Westport gear yard and that the stacks of crab pots searched by

Fish and Wildlife agents belonged to Breitsprecher. Rausch testified that the gear yard was fenced,

but accessible at all hours. He also testified that either fish processing companies or individual

fishermen, including Breitsprecher, rented space to store crabbing gear.

The State sought to admit at trial five of the thirty-two pots seized by Fish and Wildlife

agents. The trial court admitted all five crab pots and they bore either Shearwater II pot tags or

buoys. Christine Winn, owner of the fishing vessel Qualaysquallum, described how commercial

fisherpersons recognize their fishing gear, even without crab pot tags and buoys, by using unique

4 No. 51346-3-II

identifiers that are personal to the owner. Winn identified one of the five pots as hers because she

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

Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
City of Bremerton v. Corbett
723 P.2d 1135 (Washington Supreme Court, 1986)
State v. Thompson
558 P.2d 202 (Washington Supreme Court, 1977)
State v. Green
616 P.2d 628 (Washington Supreme Court, 1980)
Commonwealth v. Maritime Underwater Surveys, Inc.
531 N.E.2d 549 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1988)
State v. Hermann
158 P.3d 96 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2007)
In Re Tortorelli
66 P.3d 606 (Washington Supreme Court, 2003)
State v. Aten
927 P.2d 210 (Washington Supreme Court, 1996)
In re the Personal Restraint of Tortorelli
149 Wash. 2d 82 (Washington Supreme Court, 2003)
State v. Brockob
150 P.3d 59 (Washington Supreme Court, 2006)
State v. O'Hara
167 Wash. 2d 91 (Washington Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Hermann
138 Wash. App. 596 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2007)
State v. Killingsworth
269 P.3d 1064 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State Of Washington v. Larrin J. Breitsprecher, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-washington-v-larrin-j-breitsprecher-washctapp-2019.