State v. Avila

10 P.3d 486
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedOctober 12, 2000
Docket18515-0-III
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 10 P.3d 486 (State v. Avila) 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 v. Avila, 10 P.3d 486 (Wash. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

10 P.3d 486 (2000)
102 Wash.App. 882

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Wilson AVILA, Appellant.

No. 18515-0-III.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3, Panel Five.

October 12, 2000.

*488 Jeffrey C. Barker, Wenatchee, for Appellant.

Nancy A. Harmon, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Waterville, for Respondent.

*487 BROWN, J.

Juvenile Wilson Avila was convicted of intimidating his teacher, violating RCW 28A.635.100. We decide an implied element of the charge is intent to make a threat, not intent that the threat be conveyed. However, because of the language of the statute, we decide further that the threat must actually intimidate the victim. Although we decide the evidence is sufficient to support and affirm Mr. Avila's conviction, pursuant to controlling case law, we vacate the sentence and remand for entry of the necessary ultimate findings and resentencing.

*489 FACTS

Fifteen-year-old Wilson Avila attended public school in Waterville. In January 1999, Mr. Avila left a derogatory note on the desk of his teacher, Kenneth Kimes. In response, Mr. Kimes wrote a referral slip reporting Mr. Avila's misconduct. Another student, Jami Riddell, escorted Mr. Avila to the principal's office with the referral.

On the way, Mr. Avila told Ms. Riddell that if the referral was for him, saying he was not doing his "f_____g" work, he was going to "blow off Mr. Kimes' f_____g head." After leaving Mr. Avila at the principal's office, Ms. Riddell told Mr. Kimes what Mr. Avila said. Later in the day, Mr. Avila made a similar statement to another classmate, Starrla Scharpp. Ms. Scharpp told Mr. Avila she was going to tell Mr. Kimes. Mr. Avila replied he did not care. Ms. Scharpp then told Mr. Kimes. Mr. Kimes reported the incident to the school administrator and to law enforcement. Mr. Kimes was concerned whether Mr. Avila "was going to do what he said he was going to do." The day after the incident, Mr. Avila admitted making the statements when questioned by Douglas County Deputy Sheriff Michael Robins. Mr. Kimes also sought a restraining order against Mr. Avila.

The State charged Mr. Avila with one count of intimidating a school administrator or teacher, RCW 28A.635.100. Following a bench trial, the juvenile court commissioner found Mr. Avila guilty. The juvenile court sentenced Mr. Avila to 6 months of community supervision and 24 months of community service. But before it imposed sentence, it appears the trial court failed to give Mr. Avila an opportunity to speak.

Mr. Avila appealed.

ANALYSIS

A. Elements

The issues are whether the trial court erred in concluding it was unnecessary for the State to establish that Mr. Avila intended to convey his threats to Mr. Kimes and then deciding the evidence was sufficient to support each element of intimidating Mr. Kimes under RCW 28A.635.100.

The first issue turns on the correct interpretation of RCW 28A.635.100. The standard of review is de novo. State v. Azpitarte, 140 Wash.2d 138, 140-41, 995 P.2d 31 (2000). It appears no appellate court has discussed this statute, or its former version codified as RCW 28A.87.231.

RCW 28A.635.100 states:

It shall be unlawful for any person, singly or in concert with others, to intimidate by threat of force or violence any administrator, teacher, classified employee, or student of any common school who is in the peaceful discharge or conduct of his or her duties or studies.

Violation of RCW 28A.635.100 is a gross misdemeanor subject to a fine of not more than $500, or imprisonment of not more than six months, or both. RCW 28A.635.120.

When interpreting a statute, the reviewing court strives to give effect to the Legislature's intent. Hubbard v. Dep't of Labor & Indus., 140 Wash.2d 35, 43, 992 P.2d 1002 (2000). The appellate court reads each provision of the statute in relation to each other and construes the statute as a whole. Id. at 43, 992 P.2d 1002. And unless there is ambiguity, this court derives the meaning of the statute from its language alone. Azpitarte, 140 Wash.2d at 142, 995 P.2d 31.

Mr. Avila contends RCW 28A.635.100 is ambiguous as to the intent requirement because it uses the words "to intimidate." We agree. A statute is ambiguous if susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation. Western Telepage, Inc. v. City of Tacoma, 140 Wash.2d 599, 608, 998 P.2d 884 (2000).

The statute does not define "intimidate." The common meaning of intimidate is "to make timid or fearful: inspire or affect with fear: FRIGHTEN." Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1184 (1993). The term "intimidate" is somewhat ambiguous; it "suggests a display or application (as of force or learning) so as to cause fear or a sense of inferiority and a consequent submission." Webster's, supra, 1184 (emphasis added). Consequently, according to the common meaning of the term, an intimidated teacher *490 or administrator need not necessarily feel threatened in the physical sense; a feeling of inferiority or timidness could constitute intimidation.

RCW 28A.635.100 also uses the term "threat." A threat could be either "an indication of something impending and usu[ally] undesirable or unpleasant," or an "expression of an intention to inflict loss or harm on another by illegal means and esp. by means involving coercion or duress of the person threatened[.]" Webster's, supra, 2382. The statute qualifies threat by requiring the threat be one "of force or violence."

"Violence" includes numerous definitions. Webster's, supra, 2554. "Force" also elicits too many disparate meanings to list here, but they run the gamut from "power, violence, compulsion, or constraint exerted upon or against a person or thing" to "the quality of conveying impressions intensely in writing or speech." Webster's, supra, 887.

Read broadly, the statute could apply to a student who intimidates his or her teacher by threatening to openly ridicule the teacher's professional qualifications.

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10 P.3d 486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-avila-washctapp-2000.