State of Washington v. Ramon Garcia Morales

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided November 5, 2013·No. 30036-6·Unpublished

Opinion

FILED

NOV 5, 2013

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. 30036-6-111 Respondent, )

)

v. )

)

RAMON GARCIA MORALES, ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION )

Appellant. )

KORSMO, C.J. - Idaho authorities arrested Ramon Garcia Morales on a valid Washington first degree murder warrant after allegedly illegally determining where he was located. We conclude that Mr. Morales's subsequent confession to Washington authorities was too attenuated to be the fruit of an illegal search. We also conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that Mr. Morales was competent to stand trial despite his refusal to assist counsel, nor did it do so by denying a motion to change venue. The convictions for first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and two counts of second degree assault are affirmed.

FACTS

Mr. Morales and his brother, Jose Garcia Morales, went to the home of Alfredo Garcia, the reputed "onion kingpin" of an area farm on December 10, 2008. Mr. Morales was upset that Mr. Garcia was not allowing him to work in the onion fields. Armed with

No. 30036-6-111 State v. Morales

handguns, the two Morales brothers contacted Garcia with the hope of either gaining work for Ramon Morales or money. An argument ensued and Ramon Morales shot Alfredo Garcia six times, killing him. Mr. Garcia's wife, Maria Beatris Ramirez­ deGarcia, was shot four times, including once in her head, when she attempted to place a telephone call for aid. She survived her wounds and identified Ramon Morales at trial as the shooter.

Attracted by the noise, the two Garcia daughters came to their parents' aid. Mr.

Morales pointed his gun at both of them before he and his brother fled. The daughters told responding officers who the assailants were. Charges of first degree murder and attempted first degree murder were filed the next day. I Arrest warrants were issued for both brothers at that time.

Detective William Parramore of the Pasco Police Department knew the cell phone numbers for the Morales brothers; he contacted Sprint to obtain the current location of the phones. Sprint sent the detective an "exigency form," which he filled out and returned to the company. Sprint attempted to locate the telephones, but initially they were turned off. Sprint later determined that the phones were in Idaho and provided latitude and longitude coordinates to the detective. Thereafter, the detective regularly contacted Sprint (roughly every 15 minutes) for the current location of the telephone. Sprint would "ping" the

I Prior to trial, the charges were amended to add two counts of second degree assault of the two daughters and firearm enhancements for each ofthe four counts.

No. 30036-6-111 State v. Morales

phones by sending a signal that the phone would return to the nearest cell tower. Eventually the detective was able to direct authorities in Elmore County, Idaho, to the location of the car containing the two brothers. Both were arrested and placed in a local jail. Ramon declined to talk to the arresting officer.

Detective Kirk Nebeker traveled to Elmore County with another detective and took custody of the two brothers. He interviewed Ramon Morales in Spanish after obtaining a waiver of his Miranda 2 rights. Mr. Morales told the detective that Mr. Garcia had excluded him from work and that he went to the house with the intention of obtaining money that he should have received or killing Mr. Garcia. However, after a long conversation, Mr. and Mrs. Garcia started striking the two Morales men, causing Ramon Morales to shoot both of the Garcias in self-defense. He denied pointing his gun at the daughters. He and his brother left and headed for California. After telling this story to the detective, Mr. Morales then wrote it out in his own words.

After returning to Franklin County, Mr. Morales entered not guilty pleas and the matter very slowly progressed toward trial. Defense counsel became concerned over lack of cooperation and called Mr. Morales's competency to stand trial into question. The trial court on May 18,2009, ordered a competency evaluation. Dr. Nathan Henry of Eastern State Hospital travelled to the Franklin County Jail to evaluate Mr. Morales. An

2 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436,86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966).

No.30036-6-II1 State v. Morales

interpreter was used for the evaluation. Dr. Henry did not believe Mr. Morales was putting forth much effort and diagnosed him as a malingerer. The doctor could not assess Mr. Morales for competency or mental illness in light of the malingering.

Dr. Tedd Judd, a neuropsychologist, performed the defense evaluation on August 3. He determined that Mr. Morales, who cooperated with the evaluation, had mild mental retardation and was not competent to stand trial. Dr. Judd also thought there was possible psychosis and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Judd opined that the behavior Dr. Henry considered malingering was common among Mexicans suffering from mental illness.

Dr. Henry attempted a second evaluation on January 7, 2010. He again terminated the evaluation early because of malingering. Mr. Morales was withdrawn and uncooperative. Dr. Henry noted Dr. Judd's diagnoses but discounted the conditions as potential causes for Mr. Morales's withdrawn state.

The court ordered an inpatient evaluation as well as a developmental disability examination. These evaluations were conducted at Eastern State Hospital by Dr. Henry and Dr. A very Nelson, a psychiatrist. Staff at the hospital observed that Mr. Morales did not speak, slept through meals, attempted to eat a salad dressing packet, required assistance with personal hygiene, did not interact with staff or patients, and appeared depressed and withdrawn. Dr. Nelson provided a rule out diagnosis of psychosis NOS and prescribed lithium to treat the symptoms of depression and catatonic withdrawal. In his interview with Dr. Henry, Mr. Morales was quieter and less responsive than ever,

No.30036-6-II1 State v. Morales

causing Dr. Henry to again terminate the evaluation early. Without a firm diagnosis of mental illness and without an opportunity to perform a full evaluation, Dr. Henry deferred to his previous findings of malingering and incompetency.

The trial court conducted a competency hearing on August 18, 2010 and determined that Mr. Morales was competent to stand trial. The following month defense counsel twice filed motions for appointment ofa guardian ad litem due to Mr. Morales's inability to assist in his own defense. The motions were denied October 12,2010. Counsel subsequently was twice denied permission to withdraw from representation due to lack of communication with Mr. Morales.

Dr. Henry reevaluated Mr. Morales on March 9, 2011. Mr. Morales presented even less responsive and more disheveled than ever. Again, Dr. Henry deferred to his initial August 3,2009 report and its findings of malingering and incompetency because he believed that Mr. Morales's "lack of communication is best attributed to elective mutism (choosing not to speak)." However, Dr. Henry did recommend a nonforensic mental health evaluation under chapter 71.05 RCW because of "concerns regarding possible suicidality."

The trial court held another competency hearing on April 26, 2011. Dr. Henry testified at that hearing and explained that his opinion that Mr. Morales was feigning competency related impairment was "a qualified, yes." Dr. Henry explained that Mr. Morales was not actively feigning during the interview nor was he feigning his

No.30036-6-III State v. Morales

deteriorating physical condition. However, Dr. Henry stood by his original competency opinion in light of the only evidence he had. The trial court again found Mr. Morales competent to stand trial.

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