State of Washington v. Nikolas F. Campbell

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided September 9, 2014·No. 30166-4·Unpublished

Opinion

FILED

SEPT. 9,2014

In the Office of the Clerk of Court W A State Court of Appeals, Division III

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION THREE

STATE OF WASHINGTON, ) No. 30166-4-III )

Respondent, )

)

v. ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION )

NIKOLAS FRANCIS GLENN )

CAMPBELL, )

)

Appellant. )

LAWRENCE-BERREY, J. Nikolas Campbell and another man allegedly entered a woman's apartment, took some items, and left in her vehicle. The State charged Mr. Campbell with one count of fIrst degree robbery with a deadly weapon enhancement, one count oftheft of a motor vehicle, and one count of fIrst degree burglary with a deadly weapon enhancement. Mr. Campbell was convicted by a jury, sentenced, and he then appealed.

Among other errors, he contends that (I) the charging information impermissibly varied from the jury instructions, (2) the State failed to prove the deadly weapon element of fIrst degree robbery, fIrst degree burglary, and the deadly weapon enhancements, and

No. 30166-4-111 State v. Campbell

(3) the trial court erred, for sentencing purposes, in not considering the first degree robbery and the first degree burglary as encompassing the same criminal conduct. We determine that the charging document, as a whole, provided fair notice to Mr. Campbell of the allegations he faced, and reject Mr. Campbell's first argument. We also determine that the undisputed evidence showed that either Mr. Campbell or his accomplice was armed with a firearm, which is a deadly weapon and, therefore, reject Mr. Campbell's second argument. We also determine that the burglary anti-merger statute, among other reasons, supports the trial court's decision of treating the offenses separate for sentencing purposes. We therefore affirm the convictions and the sentence and remand for correction of a scrivener's error.

FACTS

On April 7, 2010, two men kicked open the door of Debra Vargas's apartment.

Ms. Vargas was home at the time. Also in the apartment was Ms. Vargas's son, James Stethem, who was sleeping in a separate room. Mr. Stethem awoke to find one of the men carrying items out of the apartment. Mr. Stethem saw that both men were masked, and that one of the men was carrying a gun. The man with the gun told Mr. Stethem to tum away. The man without the gun took Mr. Stethem's portable DVD player and his

No. 30166-4-111 State v. Campbell

mom's laptop. The men drove away in Ms. Vargas's van. Ms. Vargas called 911. According to her, one man had a gun and the other had a pipe.

In the same apartment complex lived Ms. Vargas's niece, Christina Morales. The night before the robbery, Mr. Campbell, Michael Rice, and Cecelia Circo were visiting Jerami Wilson at Ms. Morales's apartment. Mr. Campbell told Mr. Wilson that he had a gun. Mr. Wilson saw a black handle in Mr. Campbell's waistline and saw something shaking in Mr. CampbeH's pants that he suspected was a gun. Mr. Wilson saw a pipe in Mr. Rice's back pocket. Mr. Rice asked if Mr. Wilson was interested in helping "get back" at Ms. Morales's aunt. Report of Proceedings (RP) at 139-40. Mr. Wilson remembered a laptop being mentioned in the conversation and that it could be worth the same amount of money that Ms. Vargas owed Ms. Morales.

Eventually, Mr. Wilson went to bed. He did not see the group leave. He awoke to find law enforcement in Ms. Morales's apartment. The apartment was in disarray. Law enforcement asked Mr. Wilson ifhe knew the apartment was robbed. Missing from the apartment was Ms. Morales's collection of three Chuckyl dolls as well as other items. During the police investigation of the incident, Mr. Wilson was shown a photograph of

I "Chucky" is a fictional character from the 1988 horror movie "Child's Play."

http://www.imdb.com/tltle/tt0094862/ .

No.30166-4-III State v. Campbell

the pipe found in Ms. Vargas's apartment and identified the pipe as the same pipe carried by Mr. Rice.

Law enforcement found a Chucky doll outside Ms. Vargas's apartment. Ms.

Morales identified the doll as one from her collection. Law enforcement concluded that someone broke into Ms. Vargas's apartment, based on a footprint outside Ms. Vargas's door and damage to the door frame and door. Ms. Vargas's landlord saw Mr. Campbell and Mr. Rice going between the apartments of Ms. Vargas and Ms. Morales on the night of the incident.

Ms. Circo remembered that on the night of the incident, Mr. Campbell and Mr.

Rice were in Ms. Morales's apartment. Mr. Campbell had a silver gun. She did not see Mr. Rice with a pipe. Ms. Circo fell asleep at the apartment. She awoke to find Mr. Campbell pointing a gun at her, telling her to get into a van. Ms. Circo complied, and Mr. Rice drove to Portland. While in the van, Ms. Circo noticed a Chucky doll tied to Mr. Campbell. The van was recovered by law enforcement in Portland.

The State charged Mr. Campbell with one count of first degree robbery with a deadly weapon enhancement, one count of theft of a motor vehicle, and one count of first degree burglary with a deadly weapon enhancement. As to the first degree robbery charge, the victim named in the information was Debra Vargas. As to the first degree

No. 30 166-4-III State v. Campbell

burglary charge, the victim named in the information was Debra Vargas and/or James Stethem.

Mr. Campbell and Mr. Rice were codefendants at trial. The jury was given to-

convict instructions for each crime. Pertinent here, for first degree robbery, the court instructed the jury that it needed to find that Mr. Campbell or an accomplice was "armed with a deadly weapon" in the commission of the crime. Clerk's Papers (CP) at 88-89 (emphasis added). This instruction differed from the information that charged Mr. Campbell of "display[ing] what appeared to be a firearm or other deadly weapon, to wit: a pipe and/or a firearm." CP at 73 (emphasis added).

For first degree burglary, the court instructed the jury that it needed to find that Mr.

Campbell was "armed with a deadly weapon." CP at 100 (emphasis added). This language was consistent with the information that alleged Mr. Campbell was "armed with a pipe or firearm, a deadly weapon." CP at 73 (emphasis added).

For the jury to decide the deadly weapon enhancements, the court instructed the jury that it needed to find Mr. Campbell or an accomplice was "armed with a deadly weapon at the time of the commission of the crimes of Robbery in the First Degree and/or Burglary in the First Degree ... even if only one deadly weapon [was] involved." CP at 111. The instruction further provided that "[a]ny metal pipe or bar used or intended to be

No. 30166-4-III State v. Campbell

used as a club is a deadly weapon. A pistol, revolver or any other firearm is also a deadly weapon whether loaded or unloaded." CP at 111. This weapon enhancement instruction differed from the enhancement notice in the information. The enhancement notice alleged that Mr. Campbell "was armed with a deadly weapon and/or a weapon was easily accessible ... to-wit: A PIPE." CP at 73 (emphasis added). In short, the enhancement instruction referenced a pipe or a firearm, but the enhancement notice in the information referenced only a pipe.

Mr. Campbell did not object or take exception to the jury instructions at trial. A jury found Mr. Campbell guilty on all charges, and found that Mr. Campbell (or his accomplice)2 was armed with a deadly weapon during the commission of the crimes.

The trial court imposed consecutive sentences on Mr. Campbell's first degree robbery and first degree burglary convictions. In addition, the trial court increased the criminal history score for first degree robbery to include the current felony conviction for first degree burglary. In doing so, the court found that the convictions did not constitute the same criminal conduct because (a) differing victims in the two crimes, (b) differing

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