State of Washington v. Raymond Lapeer Bell

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedAugust 24, 2023
Docket38671-6
StatusUnpublished

This text of State of Washington v. Raymond Lapeer Bell (State of Washington v. Raymond Lapeer Bell) 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. Raymond Lapeer Bell, (Wash. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

FILED AUGUST 24, 2023 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STATE OF WASHINGTON, ) ) No. 38671-6-III Respondent, ) ) v. ) ) RAYMOND LAPEER BELL, ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION ) Appellant. )

SIDDOWAY, J.P.T. — Raymond Bell appeals his conviction for first degree assault

with a deadly weapon, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and alleging a

violation of his right to a fair and impartial jury, evidentiary error, and an abuse of

discretion in denying his request for an exceptional mitigated sentence. The evidence

was sufficient, his standard range sentence is not appealable, and he fails to identify any

error or abuse of discretion. For those reasons, and because he raises no meritorious

issues in a statement of additional grounds, we affirm his judgment and sentence other

than to grant his request for relief from the victim penalty assessment based on a

recently-effective change in the law.

 Judge Laurel H. Siddoway was a member of the Court of Appeals at the time argument was held on this matter. She is now serving as a judge pro tempore of the court pursuant to RCW 2.06.150. No. 38671-6-III State v. Bell

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On an evening in March 2019, a woman who identified herself as “Shanna” called

911 to report that she had just been assaulted. The call was transferred by the 911

operator to a Spokane police dispatcher. Shanna had just begun speaking to the

dispatcher when she abruptly told the dispatcher that her attacker had come back into the

apartment. She ceased responding to questions. All the dispatcher could hear were

muffled voices. Spokane police responded to the address provided to the 911 operator

and found Shanna Delcambre in an upstairs apartment with a deep head wound and her

right hand almost completely severed. She told police that Raymond Bell had repeatedly

attacked her with a machete.

Mr. Bell was located in a first-floor hallway of the apartment building and was

taken into custody. The State charged him with first degree assault with a deadly

weapon, later amending the information to add a charge of attempted first degree murder.

The case proceeded to trial in October 2021. Among Mr. Bell’s pretrial motions

in limine were several related to the then-ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

pandemic. He moved for two additional alternate jurors, the explanation being, “There

should be additional alternates on the jury due to the risk of COVID-19 Delta infection.”

Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 18. He requested “additional time to investigate juror biases and

strike jurors for cause,” including “for those who indicate they will be distracted by the

surrounding issues with the COVID[-]19 pandemic.” Id. at 19 (boldface omitted). He

2 No. 38671-6-III State v. Bell

submitted that “[j]urors who concede that their ability to focus on the testimony is

impaired by the pandemic must be stricken for cause.” Id. at 22.

He objected to witnesses wearing masks while testifying as violating his right of

confrontation. Finally, he objected to jurors wearing N95 or other face masks during voir

dire, asking that they wear face shields instead.

It was the practice of the superior court at the time for witnesses not to wear face

masks when testifying. For jurors and prospective jurors, the practice was for them to

wear face masks. When the parties’ motions in limine were heard, Mr. Bell’s request that

the jurors not wear face masks was his only COVID-related request that was not

accommodated or resolved with defense agreement. The court explained:

The record should reflect that—so sad I had to update this because it was the fourth wa[ve], now it’s the fifth wa[ve], our community is currently in what’s been characterized as the fifth [wave] of a global pandemic caused by the deadly Corona virus, which has killed—and back then it was over a half million, but I know that we are at 700-and-something-thousand U.S. citizens and infected millions more. Spokane County Health Department figures reflect, and this was yesterday’s numbers, so I’m sure that, or I would not be surprised if it did clear 67,000 cases because as of yesterday evening, it was 66,988 cases with 4,219 overall hospitalizations. Less than half of Spokane County is vaccinated. While the defendant has a right to a timely jury trial, I also have to weigh the safety of the citizens that the court is compelling to attend jury service. CDC[1] face shield provided sufficient protection while advising N95 mask with social distancing provides the best protection against transmission, particularly important with the even more contagious Delta

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

3 No. 38671-6-III State v. Bell

variant. And in addition to that, Governor Inslee has instituted an indoor mask mandate. For those reasons, I am going to deny defense number 9. I can’t tell you how much I wish we weren’t in this position still, but, unfortunately, we are.

1 Rep. of Proc. (1 RP) at 26-27 (emphasis added).2

In jury selection the next week, the court began by talking to prospective jurors

about the pandemic-related safety protocols in place. Face masks were provided, and

jurors were told by the court that “[f]ace coverings are required for protection in the

courtroom.” 1 RP at 59-60. The court added, “I will not have my face covering on while

I’m talking during voir dire, and counsel will be allowed to remove their face covering

while speaking.” Id. at 60. When the time came for jurors to answer questions, the court

said, “[W]e’ll start with Juror No. 1. If you could lower your face covering while you’re

speaking. It will help with the court reporting.” Id. at 67. During the questioning,

prospective jurors were periodically reminded or requested to lower their face coverings

when speaking. See, e.g., 1 RP at 78, 81, 97, 109.

After the jury was selected, three days of testimony ensued. There had been three

witnesses to the assault: the victim, Shanna Delcambre; the defendant, Mr. Bell; and

2 Our record on appeal includes three separately paginated reports of proceedings. We refer to the volume that includes the hearing on the parties’ motions in limine and the first day of trial (reported by Rebecca J. Weeks) as “1 RP.” We refer to the volume that includes the remainder of trial, the sentencing hearing, and a couple of early pretrial hearings (reported by Terri Rosadovelazquez) as “2 RP.” We refer to the volume that includes other hearings discussed in addressing Mr. Bell’s statement of additional grounds (reported by Korina C. Cox) as “3 RP.”

4 No. 38671-6-III State v. Bell

Dorothea George, Mr. Bell’s longtime girlfriend and his roommate at the time of the

assault. Ms. George and Ms. Delcambre were called as witnesses in the State’s case.

Dorothea George testimony

Of the witnesses to the assault, Ms. George testified first. She testified that on the

day of the assault, Mr. Bell had been awake and upset for days, following a suspension

from work. For four days, he had been drinking and smoking crack cocaine. She

testified she had finally gotten Mr. Bell to sleep when, late in the afternoon, she heard an

altercation in a parking area below their upstairs apartment. She looked out a window

and saw Ms. Delcambre, who she recognized; she, Ms. Delcambre, and Mr. Bell had

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