State Of Washington v. Sergio Stuardo Monroy

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided January 21, 2020·No. 78597-4·Unpublished

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 78597-4-I Respondent, DIVISION ONE V.

SERGIO STUARDO MONROY, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant. FILED: January 21, 2020

SMITH, J. — Sergio Monroy appeals his conviction for rape in the second degree

of 34-year-old H.B., a resident at the apartment complex where Monroy worked as a

maintenance man. He contends the State failed to prove H.B. was incapable of consent

because of mental incapacity. Given overwhelming evidence of H.B.’s intoxication,

sufficient evidence supports the conviction. We also reject Mon roy’s claims that the trial

court erred by preventing him from cross-examining H.B. about her alcohol history, by

admitting statements he made prior to receiving Miranda1 warnings, and by failing to

give a unanimity instruction. And we reject Monroy’s argument in his statement of

additional grounds that the court erred in imposing an indeterminate sentence with a

maximum term of life. However, we agree that the sentencing court exceeded its

I Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966). No. 78597-4-1/2

authority by ordering Monroy to submit to urinalysis and breath analysis monitoring as a

condition of community custody. Accordingly, we affirm Monroy’s conviction but remand

to the trial court with instructions to strike the challenged condition.

FACTS

On the evening of January 22, 2016, H.B. invited her friend Serenity Larson to go

out for a drink at the Seven Star, a bar located in the downtown area of Mercer Island.

H.B. and Larson were neighbors at an apartment complex on Mercer Island, and they

often went out drinking together. They arrived at the Seven Star around 6:30 or 7:00

p.m. There, a man named Terrence Stephens invited H.B. and Larson to attend a “hat

party” at a nearby apartment complex. After having one drink each, H.B. and Larson

went home to pick up hats, then H.B. drove them to the party.

The hat party featured a buffet table with bottles of alcohol and mixers so guests

could make their own drinks. Over a period of a couple hours, H.B. poured herself

“quite a few” drinks consisting of approximately 75 percent whiskey and 25 percent

ginger ale. She recalled “drinking the whole time we were there.” When the party

started winding down, a group of people including H.B. and Larson returned to the

Seven Star. H.B. testified that she was “definitely” feeling “pretty buzzed” by then but

decided she was able to drive.

H.B. and Larson arrived at the Seven Star around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. Larson

testified that H.B. started drinking beer when they arrived. Larson soon noticed that

H.B. was becoming “loud,” “obnoxious,” “a little clumsy,” and “towards me kind of not

nice,” behaviors that to her indicated H.B. was “getting drunk.” Shortly before leaving,

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Larson ordered shots for herself and H.B. The bartender agreed to pour a shot for

Larson and a watered down shot for H.B. Larson “knew [H.B.] couldn’t drive,” so she

called an Uber and asked H.B. to leave with her. H.B. refused to leave, so Larson left

alone around 12:30 a.m.

Stephens socialized with H.B. at the hat party and at the bar. Stephens testified

that H.B. began to display signs of intoxication at the bar, such as “erratic

communication,” having “glossy eyes,” and being “a little wobbly.” He also recalled that

H.B. continued drinking at the bar. Stephens said H.B. became flirtatious and asked

him for a kiss. Eventually, H.B. became “very loud” and “confrontational with the

bartender.” The bartender encouraged H.B. to call a cab, but H.B. refused. Stephens

asked H.B. if she needed someone to call her a cab, but H.B. got in her car and asked

Stephens to come with her. Stephens declined, and H.B. got angry and drove away.

H.B. recalled drinking beer at the bar but could not say how many “[be]cause

that’s pretty much where I started to not really remember the night.” She did not recall

asking Stephens for a kiss or Larson leaving the bar. She did recall getting into her car

and driving away despite Stephens telling her not to.

The next thing H.B. remembered was hearing a male voice tell her to “get out of

my car and go somewhere else.” She testified that she “wasn’t seeing anything. It was

like I was blacked out, but I could still hear things a little bit.” Next, she found herself

lying on her side on hard ground with her legs pushed up and a man on top of her,

penetrating her. H.B. did not know the man’s name but recognized him as a

maintenance man at her apartment complex. She testified that she was unable to

3 No. 78597-4-114

speak or move while the attack was happening. She did not know where she was, but

she could see a bright amber-colored fluorescent light shining through a window behind

the man. Detectives later discovered such a light outside the apartment complex

maintenance room a few hundred yards from where H.B. left her car.

H.B. next remembered waking up in the bedroom of her apartment, wearing

pajama bottoms and the shirt she had on the night before. Her vagina and anus were

sore. H.B. felt “shameful” and did not know what to do. She spent the day watching

movies with Larson but did not reveal what had happened. The next day, H.B. went to

the street where she usually parked her car and discovered that the front end was

smashed and a tire was deflated. She then made the decision to go to Harborview

Medical Center for a rape exam. There, H.B. told the medical social worker and the

sexual assault nurse that she went out drinking and had only “spotty” memories or

“vague recollections” of what happened when she got back to her apartment complex,

including being on the ground while the maintenance man vaginally and anally

penetrated her.

Mercer Island Police Detectives Joe Morris and David Canter went to H.B.’s

apartment complex seeking to interview the individual H.B. identified as the

maintenance man who had repaired her microwave a few days prior. The manager at

the leasing office told them the person who repaired R. B.’s microwave was Monroy.

The detectives asked the manager to have Monroy come to the leasing office so they

could speak with him. When asked his whereabouts during the relevant time period,

Monroy claimed that he got off work at 8:30 or 9:00 p.m., drove straight home, and

4 No. 78597-4-1/5

returned to work the next morning. He confirmed that he knew who H.B. was but

denied ever having sex with her. The detectives asked Monroy for permission to collect

a DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) sample to rule him out as a suspect, and Monroy agreed

to provide one.

The rape exam results showed the presence of spermatozoa on the vaginal and

perineal swabs. DNA testing of these swabs showed a mixed sample, with the female

profile matching H.B. and the male profile matching Monroy. The anal swabs tested

positive for a protein called P30, a substance present in elevated levels in semen.

The State charged Monroy with rape in the second degree, pursuant to

RCW 9A.44.050(1)(b). The first trial ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict.

Upon retrial, the jury convicted Monroy as charged. The trial court imposed a midrange

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