State v. Allen

110 P.3d 849
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided April 25, 2005·No. 52388-1-I·Published·Cited by 36 cases

Opinion

110 P.3d 849 (2005)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Joel Dan ALLEN, Appellant.

No. 52388-1-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

April 25, 2005.

*850 Dana Nelson, Nielsen Broman & Koch, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Erin Becker, King County Prosecutor Office, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

ELLINGTON, A.C.J.

¶ 1 Joel Allen walked into three Seattle buildings that were partially open to the public, intruded into private areas, and took items belonging to employees. A jury found Allen guilty of burglary, theft, and possession of stolen property. On appeal, Allen contends, among other things, that his right to a unanimous jury was violated because the State did not present sufficient evidence to establish both the "entered unlawfully" and "remained unlawfully" means of committing burglary.

¶ 2 Under certain circumstances, the distinction between entering and remaining unlawfully may be critical. In common factual situations, however, a jury instruction requiring the State to prove the defendant entered or remained unlawfully in a building raises no unanimity concerns, even if there is no evidence to support one of the alternative means. To the extent that our opinion in State v. Klimes[1] is inconsistent with this proposition, we disapprove it. In this case, the distinction would not have raised unanimity concerns. But because the deputy prosecutor mischaracterized long-established Washington law governing burglary during closing argument, we cannot be confident the jury was unanimous. We therefore reverse Allen's convictions for three counts of burglary.

FACTS

¶ 3 Joel Allen was charged with three counts of second degree burglary, one count of second degree robbery, one count of second degree theft, and one count of second degree possession of stolen property. The charges arose from unrelated incidents at three downtown Seattle locations: the Airborne Express building at 3101 Western Avenue; the U.S. Bank branch at 1420 Fifth Avenue; and the Edwards & Sorenson Law Firm at 1201 Third Avenue.

¶ 4 Airborne Express. On the afternoon of October 16, 2000, Gretchen Bryant returned to her cubicle on the fourth floor of the Airborne Express building on Western Avenue and encountered a man, later identified as Allen, carrying her wallet. Upon seeing Bryant, Allen dropped the wallet and attempted to flee. Two of Bryant's co-workers caught Allen in a stairwell and held him until the police arrived. Allen was not wearing a visitor's badge.

¶ 5 Airborne Express occupies all eight floors of the building. The main entrance is located on the first floor and is unlocked during business hours. Just past the entrance are two opposing elevator banks; a sign next to each set of elevators directs visitors to check in with the receptionist for a visitor's identification badge. The reception area is located just beyond the elevators, behind glass doors. The elevators and an adjacent stairwell are not secured. According *851 to Airborne Express policy, visitors are supposed to obtain a visitor's badge and employees are to supposed to escort visitors to the private areas of the building.

¶ 6 U.S. Bank. On May 15, 2001, Sean Cummings was the assistant manager of the U.S. Bank branch located on the first floor of the City Center Building at the corner of Fifth and Pike in Seattle. Cummings was standing at the top of a stairway when he noticed a man, later identified as Allen, walk out of his office. Cummings approached Allen and asked him what he was doing in the office. Allen replied that he was looking for a cash machine. Cummings then pointed out the nearest ATM, which was located just outside one of the entrances. Concerned, Cummings returned to his office and discovered that his wallet was missing from his coat pocket. Cummings immediately went outside after Allen, but could not find him.

¶ 7 A short time later, while seated in his office, Cummings saw Allen walk by across the street and ran outside. As Cummings approached, Allen looked surprised and said, "I don't have it."[2] At this point, Cummings noticed that Allen was holding some credit cards in his hand and saw his photo on the card on top. Cummings then began struggling with Allen, who threw the cards down on the ground. Cummings, joined by a co-worker, held Allen on the ground until police arrived. Cummings recovered his credit cards from the sidewalk. Police also recovered additional credit cards and licenses that belonged to other people.

¶ 8 Sorenson & Edwards. On the morning of January 14, 2002, attorney Bruce Edwards was working in his office in the Washington Mutual Tower. Edwards' firm, Sorenson & Edwards, rented office space from the Karr, Tuttle, Campbell law firm in the northwest corner of the 28th floor.

¶ 9 At about 10:30 a.m., Edwards left his office to deliver a check to the Karr Tuttle accounting office. In order to do this, he walked down a short hallway from his office and then turned into one of the main corridors on the floor. On the way, Edwards saw a man, later identified as Allen, waiting by the elevator. Edwards, who was familiar with his own clients and many of the Karr Tuttle clients, did not recognize the man. Edwards continued on to the accounting office, dropped off the check, and walked back toward his office.

¶ 10 As he returned, Edwards again encountered Allen, who was leaving the hallway to Edwards' office. Allen said, "I get so lost in here; where are the elevators again?"[3] In response, Edwards pointed out the way and returned to his office, where he discovered that his wallet was missing from his coat pocket. Edwards ran to the elevator, but could not find Allen. Later that day, Allen used one of Edwards' credit cards to buy a platinum chain at a store in Bellevue.

¶ 11 Karr Tuttle occupied floors 27 through 29 of the building. The 27th and 28th floors are secured and can be reached directly by elevator only with a key card. The building's stairwell doors are also locked. In order to reach these floors, visitors must take the elevator to the Karr Tuttle reception area on the 29th floor and check in with the receptionist. The receptionist then contacts the appropriate person to permit further access to the office. Just past the reception desk is an internal stairway to the 28th floor.

¶ 12 The jury acquitted Allen of the robbery charge, but found him guilty as charged on the remaining counts. At sentencing, the court determined that Allen's criminal history, which included 17 prior felonies, resulted in an offender score of 27 for the burglaries and 21 on the theft and possession of stolen property counts. Concluding that the multiple offense policy resulted in a presumptive sentence that was clearly too lenient, the court imposed an exceptional sentence of consecutive 68-month terms on two burglary counts, with the remaining terms to be served concurrently, for a total term of confinement of 136 months. Allen's primary contention on appeal is that he was denied his constitutional right to jury unanimity on all three burglary counts.

*852 DECISION

¶ 13 In some circumstances, the constitutional right to jury unanimity includes unanimity as to the means of committing the charged offense.[4] If the evidence is sufficient to support each alternative means sub

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State v. Allen, 110 P.3d 849 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).

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