State Of Washington, V Stephen Adam Young

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 28, 2015
Docket45582-0
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington, V Stephen Adam Young (State Of Washington, V Stephen Adam Young) 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 Stephen Adam Young, (Wash. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHING ON:5pl1,

DIVISION II

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 45582 -0 -II

Respondent,

V.

UNPUBLISHED OPINION STEPHEN ADAM YOUNG,

MAXA, J. — Stephen Young appeals his convictions for attempted first degree murder,

first and second degree assault, and witness tampering. The convictions related to an incident in

which Young fired shots at a moving vehicle and a separate incident in which he shot a friend in

the back of the head. We hold that ( 1) the trial court erred by admitting evidence that Young was

a " skinhead" and had certain white supremacist tattoos, but the error was harmless; ( 2) Young' s

counsel did not provide ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to request a limiting

instruction on the white supremacist evidence because the decision not to request a limiting

instruction may have been tactical; ( 3) sufficient evidence supported the premeditation element

of attempted murder; and ( 4) none of the issues Young raises in his statement of additional

grounds ( SAG) have merit. Accordingly, we affirm Young' s convictions.

FACTS

In the fall of 2010, Young was in a romantic relationship with Deanna Treptow. On

October 27, Treptow spent the day with an African-American man, Marlon Green. That 45582 -0 -II

evening, Treptow and Green met up with Green' s friends, Heather Martin and David Moore.

The four went to the house of another friend, Riki Perasso. While at the house, Perasso received

a phone call from an unidentified caller asking whether Treptow and Green were sleeping

together. Green took the phone from Perasso and engaged in a heated conversation with the

caller.

That same evening, Carrie Taylor -Edwards picked up Young in her car. Young asked

Taylor -Edwards to take him to Perasso' s house. Young then told her to pull over.and turn off

her headlights. Young got out of the car and engaged in a heated conversation on his mobile

phone.

Green, Treptow, Moore, and Martin eventually left Perasso' s house in a white sport

utility vehicle ( SUV), with Martin driving.. As Martin drove away, gunshots were fired at the

SUV, hitting Martin and grazing Green. Taylor -Edwards heard gunshots coming from Young' s

location outside her car and saw an SUV drive by. Young got back into Taylor -Edwards'

vehicle and told her to follow the SUV, but Taylor -Edwards refused and drove Young to a motel

where some of his friends were staying. At the.motel, Young told his friends he had just " shot at

some girls," and Taylor -Edwards confirmed that Young had shot at some people. Report of

Proceedings ( RP) at 1676.

Young began acting paranoid and brandishing a handgun. Later that night, Young left

the motel with two friends, Bryan Branch and Brandon Crowe, to go to another friend' s house.

They then left that house to drive to yet another friend' s house. Branch was driving, Crowe was

in the front passenger seat, and Young was in the backseat directly behind Branch.

2 45582- 0- 11

Young began to interrogate Branch as to why Branch was taking him to the house. He

began to insinuate that Branch somehow was involved with Green and was lying to cover up that

involvement. At one point, Young told Branch to take an abrupt turn off the main road. Branch

did so, but his car stalled as he approached a stop sign. Young then reached forward from the

back seat, put his gun up to the back of Branch' s head, and shot him. Young then shot him

again, apparently after repositioning the gun at the base of Branch' s skull. He pointed the gun at

Crowe and threatened him, and Crowe ran from the vehicle into a nearby house. Branch was

seriously injured, but survived.

Police apprehended Young and later found his handgun. Forensic evidence connected

the handgun to both shootings.

The State charged Young with one count of attempted first degree murder for his attack

on Branch; five counts of first degree assault for his attacks on Branch, Green, Martin, Moore,

and Treptow; one count of second degree assault for his threat against Crowe; two counts of

unlawful possession of a firearm; one count of witness intimidation for later threatening Taylor -

Edwards; and one count of witness tampering for later sending a letter to a friend asking him to

fabricate an alibi for the night of the shootings. The firearm possession charges were decided by

bench trial, and the trial court found Young guilty of both counts .

The remaining charges were tried to a jury in October 2012, but the trial ended in a

mistrial. A second jury trial took place in September 2013.

1 There is no indication that Young is appealing these convictions. 3 45582 -0 -II

A small part of the State' s case at the second trial involved the production of evidence

that Young was a" skinhead," was tattooed with a skinhead or white supremacist symbol, and

had tattoos of a swastika, lightning bolts, and a portrait of Adolph Hitler. According to trial

testimony, Young did not associate with African-Americans. The evidence also showed that

Young was angry that his girlfriend might be sleeping with an African-American maxi.

The jury found Young guilty of all counts except witness intimidation. Young appeals

his convictions.

ANALYSIS

A. ADMISSION OF " WHITE SUPREMACIST" EVIDENCE

Young argues that the trial court erred by admitting evidence that Young was a white

supremacist and a member of a skinhead group because that evidence was inadmissible under ER

404( b). We agree, but hold that this error was harmless.

1. Legal Principles

Under ER 404( b), "[ e] vidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove

the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith." However, this

evidence may be admissible " for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent,

preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident." ER 404( b) must be

read in conjunction with ER 403, which requires the trial to court to exercise its discretion in

weighing the probative value of the evidence against its prejudicial effect. State v. Gunderson,

181 Wn.2d 916, 923, 337 P. 3d 1090 ( 2014).

We review the trial court' s interpretation of ER 404( b) de novo as a matter of law. Id. at

922. If the trial court interprets the rule correctly, we review the decision to admit evidence

w 45582 -0 -II

under ER 404( b) for an abuse of discretion. Id. A trial court abuses its discretion when its

decision is manifestly unreasonable or based on untenable grounds. Id..

2. Admissibility Under ER 404(b)

Young argues that the trial court erred in admitting evidence suggesting that Young was a

white supremacist — specifically, evidence that Young was a skinhead and had tattoos of

skinhead or white supremacist symbols and Hitler —because its probative value was low and the

potential for undue prejudice was high. We agree.

The trial court stated that the white supremacist evidence was relevant to establish

Young' s motive for the first shooting. According to the State, the evidence was relevant because

Young' s white supremacist beliefs motivated him to shoot an African-American man who may

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