State Of Washington v. Steven Nickolas Vandesteeg

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 11, 2021
Docket79802-2
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington v. Steven Nickolas Vandesteeg (State Of Washington v. Steven Nickolas Vandesteeg) 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. Steven Nickolas Vandesteeg, (Wash. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 79802-2-I Respondent, DIVISION ONE v.

STEVEN NICKOLAS VANDESTEEG, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant.

CHUN, J. — The State charged Steven Vandesteeg with theft of a motor

vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle. The trial court severed the charges

and conducted a jury trial for the theft charge and a bench trial for the possession

charge. A jury found Vandesteeg guilty of theft, and the trial court found him

guilty of possession of a stolen vehicle. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

Early one morning in the late summer of 2018, Loi Pham discovered that a

white Acura Legend, which his father left with him, was missing from his

driveway. His wife, Kelly Pham, woke around the same time and saw a

notification from their NEST security camera on her phone. Review of the

security camera footage showed two men getting into the car and driving it away.

Pham1 reported the stolen car to the police. Bellevue Police Officer Justin

1 We refer to Loi Pham, and not Kelly Pham, as “Pham.”

Citations and pin cites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material. No. 79802-2-I/2

Cooper arrived, watched the tape, and saw that the theft occurred around

4:30 a.m.

Later the same morning, Officer Cooper received a call about another car

theft in the same neighborhood. Chang Du reported that his red Acura Integra

was missing. He last saw the car around 11:00 p.m. the night before.

As part of his investigation, Officer Cooper went to a Shell service station

close to both Pham’s and Du’s homes and asked to view their security footage.

The footage showed a white Acura and a red Honda pulling into the station at

4:36 a.m. The white Acura had the same features as the one stolen from Pham.

The two cars stopped, and the driver of the red Honda got into the passenger

seat of the white Acura; the two drivers looked like the men on the NEST camera

footage. The white Acura left the Shell station.

The Shell station footage also showed a red Acura with the same features

as the stolen one pull into the station later the same morning. Two men, who

looked like the men in the white Acura earlier that morning, got out of the red

Acura. A cashier saw the two men enter the store, and one used the Shell

station phone. Around 7:00 a.m., an American Automobile Association (AAA)

tow truck arrived and towed the red Honda away. The two men got into the red

Acura and left with the tow truck.

Bellevue Police Detective Jeffery Christiansen contacted AAA and

requested the address where the red Honda was towed. AAA gave him a Kent

address. A Bellevue Police Special Operations Group went to the address the

same afternoon. A red Honda was parked at the address when the officers

2 No. 79802-2-I/3

arrived. The two suspects drove up in the red Acura. Officers later identified the

driver as Collin O’Neill and the passenger as Vandesteeg. They appeared to be

the men on the Shell station footage and the NEST camera footage. The red

Acura no longer had a license plate on the outside; instead it had a temporary

trip permit affixed to the window.

The officers arrested the suspects and conducted a search incident to

arrest; on Vandesteeg they found a key ring of shaved keys, commonly used by

tow truck drivers to unlock and start cars. A detective sergeant recovered the

white Acura the same day in Newport Hills.

B. Procedural History

The State charged Vandesteeg with theft of a motor vehicle for the white

Acura and possession of a stolen vehicle for the red Acura. The trial court

severed the charges. Vandesteeg chose a jury trial on the theft charge and a

bench trial on the possession charge. The trial court excluded evidence of the

red Acura during the jury trial.

1. The jury trial

Before the jury trial, Vandesteeg moved in limine to exclude evidence of

the shaved keys found in his possession. The trial court denied the motion but

ruled that the State could not offer testimony that the keys were used to steal the

white Acura.

During trial, the State introduced the NEST security camera footage of

Pham’s driveway, which depicted two men matching O’Neill’s and Vandesteeg’s

appearance taking the white Acura out of the driveway. The State introduced the

3 No. 79802-2-I/4

Shell station footage showing a man—who looked similar to one of the men on

the NEST footage and similar to Vandesteeg—driving the white Acura. The

footage also showed a man—who looked similar to the other man from the NEST

footage and similar to O’Neill—getting into the white Acura. The State also

introduced a photograph of Vandesteeg on the day of his arrest, depicting the

similarities in his appearance to the driver of the white Acura on the Shell station

footage.

While testifying, both Detective Daniel Finan and Officer Cooper

mentioned the existence of another stolen vehicle. Vandesteeg moved for a

mistrial both times, claiming a violation of the trial court’s order and that this

testimony prejudicially suggested that he was involved in more than one theft.

The court denied the motions but instructed the jury to disregard the comments.

Also, Detective Jeffrey Christiansen testified that O’Neill had “suspected

methamphetamine” on him at the time of arrest. Vandesteeg moved for a mistrial

for a third time, which motion the trial court denied, noting that O’Neill’s

possession of drugs did not prejudice Vandesteeg. A jury found Vandesteeg

guilty of theft of a motor vehicle.

2. The bench trial

Before the bench trial, while Vandesteeg was in jail, the State moved to

obtain his fingerprints to compare them to ones found on the temporary trip

permit from the red Acura. The trial court granted the motion over Vandesteeg’s

objection. Vandesteeg moved again to exclude the shaved keys, which motion

the trial court denied.

4 No. 79802-2-I/5

During trial, the State introduced the Shell station footage showing two

men who looked similar to the men in the white Acura earlier that morning,

getting out of the red Acura. An officer testified that O’Neill and Vandesteeg

drove up to the Kent address in the stolen red Acura. Also, Bellevue Police

forensic technician, Aleah Moe, testified that she processed the temporary trip

permit from the red Acura and identified fingerprints and palm-prints matching

Vandesteeg’s. The court found Vandesteeg guilty of possession of a stolen

motor vehicle.

Vandesteeg appeals both convictions.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Admission of Shaved Keys

Vandesteeg says that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of the

shaved keys in his possession. He contends that they constitute improper

propensity evidence under ER 404(b) and should have been excluded. And he

asserts that the trial court failed to conduct an ER 404(b) analysis on the record.

The State counters that the shaved keys were “inextricably linked” to the charges

and thus possession of the keys was not a prior bad act under ER 404(b). We

conclude that any error was harmless.

If the trial court improperly admitted evidence, we analyze whether the

error was harmless. State v. Dillon, 12 Wn. App.

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