State of Washington v. Nikolay Ivanovich Kalachik

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedDecember 14, 2021
Docket37346-1
StatusUnpublished

This text of State of Washington v. Nikolay Ivanovich Kalachik (State of Washington v. Nikolay Ivanovich Kalachik) 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. Nikolay Ivanovich Kalachik, (Wash. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

FILED DECEMBER 14, 2021 In the Office of the Clerk of Court WA State Court of Appeals, Division III

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

STATE OF WASHINGTON, ) No. 37346-1-III ) Respondent, ) ) v. ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION ) NIKOLAY IVANOVICH KALACHIK, ) ) Appellant. )

LAWRENCE-BERREY, J. — Nikolay Kalachik appeals his conviction for first degree

rape. He argues the admission of his nontestifying accuser’s statements to a police officer

and a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) violated his state and federal constitutional

rights to confront his accuser. He also argues the trial court abused its discretion by

admitting these hearsay statements under the rules of evidence.

We conclude that the trial court abused its discretion by applying the wrong legal

standard for the medical treatment hearsay exception and the statements through the nurse

were inadmissible. We also conclude that the admission of the accuser’s statements No. 37346-1-III State v. Kalachik

through the police officer violated Kalachik’s constitutional right to confront his accuser.

Because these errors were not harmless, we vacate Kalachik’s conviction and remand.

FACTS

Around 7:30 a.m. on April 20, 2018, a young woman approached a courthouse

security officer in Vancouver, Washington, said she had been raped and kicked out of a

car, and asked for a deputy sheriff. The courthouse deputies were not on duty until 8:00

a.m., so the security officer called 911.

Officer Suvada1

Officer Kendrick Suvada of the Vancouver Police Department responded to the

call. He approached the woman, who we refer to by her initials as S.B. Officer Suvada

asked her if she was injured, and she said she was not. S.B. spoke very rapidly in an

excited and disorganized fashion. She told Officer Suvada she was taken to a place past

the Vancouver Port and raped by a man named Nikolay. He told her to get in the back

seat and he got on top of her to have sex. When he finished, he grabbed some wipes and

told her to clean up. She discarded the wipes outside of the car.

1 The facts in this section are those considered by the trial court when deciding whether to allow Officer Suvada to testify about what S.B. told him.

2 No. 37346-1-III State v. Kalachik

Officer Suvada asked questions about Nikolay. S.B. described him as a white

Russian man, really tall and big with black hair. S.B. gave Officer Suvada the telephone

number she had for Nikolay. Law enforcement later determined the phone number

belonged to Nikolay Kalachik.

S.B. showed Officer Suvada her hands and said her fingernails had broken off and

were probably in Nikolay’s car. Officer Suvada took a picture of her hands. He then

discussed the case with a detective, including where to find the discarded wipes.

Officer Suvada asked S.B. if she was willing to participate in a “rape exam.”

Report of Proceedings (RP) at 101. She answered yes. An ambulance drove S.B. to the

hospital, and Officer Suvada followed. They arrived at the hospital around 8:30 a.m.

Once there, Officer Suvada asked S.B. additional questions while they waited two

hours for the forensic nurse. By this time, S.B. had calmed down and her answers to

Officer Suvada’s questions were organized and rational. Despite being there for two

hours, S.B. did not seek or receive any medical treatment from hospital staff.

During this delay, S.B. repeatedly told Officer Suvada she wanted to leave the

hospital because she was afraid her roommates would find out she was cooperating with

law enforcement. She said it was taking too long and she was worried Nikolay would

find out she was reporting him, but she knew she needed to do it. Officer Suvada

3 No. 37346-1-III State v. Kalachik

encouraged her to be patient and told her that they were trying to get the nurse there from

Portland as soon as possible.

Nurse Stern2

Around 10:30 a.m., SANE Cynthia Stern began S.B.’s exam. Nurse Stern works

for an agency that contracts with different area emergency departments to perform sexual

assault exams. When performing such exams, she obtains a patient history, which

includes asking what happened. This guides her exam in terms of looking for physical

injuries. In addition, she offers patients medication for sexually transmitted infections

and emergency contraception.

S.B. thoroughly described the assault to Nurse Stern. S.B. told the nurse she got

into Nikolay’s car at 5:45 that morning and he drove to the Port of Vancouver. During

this drive, he threatened to shoot or kill her, and he had her perform oral sex on him. He

then parked the car and got on top of her. She tried to protect and cover herself, but she

could not because he was too big. She did not know if Nikolay had ejaculated inside her.

Nurse Stern asked S.B. if Nikolay had threatened her. S.B. said Nikolay made a gesture

indicating he had a gun and he threatened to shoot her and blow her brains out. As she

2 The facts in this section are those considered by the trial court when deciding whether to allow Nurse Stern to testify about what S.B. told her.

4 No. 37346-1-III State v. Kalachik

described what happened, S.B. would cry at times and then calm down.

Nurse Stern saw a bruise on S.B.’s right thigh and an abrasion on her left thigh.

She swabbed S.B.’s vagina for suspect deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and noticed some

blood on the swab. S.B. said she had noticed some bleeding when she wiped herself

immediately after the assault.

That afternoon, Nurse Stern completed a 15-page report and submitted it to the

Vancouver Police Department. This report contained: (1) a detailed report of the incident

—including whether threats or force was used, and extensive quotes by S.B. describing

the assault, (2) information about where the assault occurred and the identity of the

assailant, (3) a detailed head-to-toe physical examination of S.B., (4) a description of

evidence collected (leggings, tank top, and forensic swabs), and (5) on the last page, a

section where a law enforcement officer could sign to signify who received the evidence

and at what time.

Police found wipes at the scene of the crime that tested positive for Kalachik’s

DNA. Kalachik’s DNA was also present on the swabs collected by Nurse Stern.

When police went to find Kalachik, they located him at his apartment. Police set

up a perimeter and used a loud speaker to call out to him. Kalachik ran out the back door,

5 No. 37346-1-III State v. Kalachik

but when he saw police, he turned and jumped a fence to get back into his apartment. He

soon after gave himself up. Police found a B.B. gun in the trunk of Kalachik’s car.

Case procedure

The State charged Kalachik with rape in the first degree and rape in the second

degree. As the trial date approached, the State was unable to locate S.B. It therefore filed

a motion to admit testimony from Officer Suvada and Nurse Stern about what S.B. had

told them.

The State argued S.B.’s statements to Officer Suvada were admissible hearsay

under the excited utterance exception, ER 803(a)(2), and did not violate the Sixth

Amendment to the United States Constitution because the primary purpose for obtaining

the information was to resolve an ongoing emergency. Kalachik disputed both

arguments.

The trial court mostly granted the State’s motion with respect to Officer Suvada,

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