State v. Baker

136 Wash. App. 878
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 30, 2007
DocketNo. 23835-1-III
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 136 Wash. App. 878 (State v. Baker) 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. Baker, 136 Wash. App. 878 (Wash. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

¶1 Whether factual findings are sufficient to support the essential elements of a crime is a question of law. Whether factual inferences from historical facts are supported by the record is also a question of law. Intent is an essential element of assault. Mr. Baker claims the State did not prove he intentionally assaulted two police officers when he deliberately drove his car into a police car and a police motorcycle. He says his ultimate goal was just to get away, and the court should have inferred this from [881]*881the evidence. We agree with the State that the evidence was sufficient to prove the elements of first and second degree assault, including intent. We therefore affirm the convictions.

Sweeney, C.J.

[881]*881FACTS

¶2 After a bench trial, the court entered written findings of fact. Mr. Baker does not challenge the court’s findings. Unchallenged findings of fact are verities on appeal. State v. Luther, 157 Wn.2d 63, 78, 134 P.3d 205, cert. denied, _U.S._, 127 S. Ct. 440 (2006). And those findings are the source of our factual recitation here.

¶3 A uniformed Spokane police officer came looking for Shappa J. Baker to investigate a reported protection order violation. Mr. Baker took off at high speed in his sports utility vehicle (SUV). Officer Robert Collins and Officer Lynette Longshore pursued in marked police cars with activated lights and sirens.

¶4 They chased Mr. Baker through the streets of Spokane. He drove at high speeds and ran stop signs and red lights. Officer Collins tried nudging the SUV into a spin, which sometimes stops the engine. Mr. Baker’s engine did not stall. Mr. Baker then reversed, accelerated, and slammed into Officer Collins’s car. The police car’s front driver’s and passenger’s windows shattered, the side was dented, and the front tire and rim were damaged. The impact pushed the car up over a deep curb and into a yard. Officer Collins was thrown sideways to the center of the front seat. His body and gun hit the radio hard enough to disable it.

¶5 Mr. Baker then accelerated toward Officer Longshore’s car and forced her to take evasive action. Mr. Baker then “flipped off” the officer, laughed, and sped off.

¶6 A third officer joined in, and an extended chase ensued at speeds up to 80 mph (miles per hour) in posted 30 mph zones. Mr. Baker crossed into the oncoming lanes and again ran stop signs and red lights. Police placed spike [882]*882strips in Mr. Baker’s path. He turned into a small empty lot to avoid the spikes.

¶7 Officer Kenneth Applewaite was parked at the far end of the lot on his police motorcycle. Mr. Baker accelerated across the lot directly toward the motorcycle. Officer Applewaite jumped off the bike and ran with seconds to spare. Mr. Baker veered away from the motorcycle at the last second, but he, nonetheless, struck the front end of the bike.

¶8 The judge found that Mr. Baker intentionally assaulted Officer Collins with a deadly weapon, a motor vehicle capable of causing death or substantial bodily harm under the circumstances. And the court found that he intended to inflict great bodily harm. The court concluded these findings satisfied the elements of first degree assault. The court also concluded that Mr. Baker intentionally assaulted Officer Applewaite with a deadly weapon, a vehicle, and concluded that this was second degree assault.

DISCUSSION

¶9 Mr. Baker’s assignments of error are a bit ambiguous. He assigns no error to any of the court’s findings of fact. He argues instead that the court drew the wrong inferences (factual inferences) from those historical facts (facts set out as findings of fact). Specifically, he urges us to second-guess the trial court’s factual inference that Mr. Baker intended to escape rather than assault the police officers. Of course, the logical inferences drawn from the facts of any case are a matter for the finder of fact, here the trial court, not us. State v. Bencivenga, 137 Wn.2d 703, 709, 974 P.2d 832 (1999) (“Nothing forbids a jury, or a judge, from logically inferring intent from proven facts, so long as it is satisfied the state has proved that intent beyond a reasonable doubt.”). So a question before us is whether a reasonable trier of fact could have inferred from Mr. Baker’s conduct that he intended to strike these officers or the vehicles they were in or near. To ask the question here is to answer it: of course the judge could.

[883]*883¶10 Mr. Baker saw police in uniforms and clearly marked police vehicles (a squad car and a police motorcycle). He appeared to deliberately try to strike the police vehicles. He “flipped off” an officer and laughed. These historical facts easily support a factual inference that Mr. Baker intended to strike these officers. These essential, elemental facts include the “critical question” of state of mind. When findings of fact are mislabeled as conclusions of law, we review them for substantial evidence, not de novo as conclusions of law. State v. Evans, 80 Wn. App. 806, 820 n.35, 911 P.2d 1344 (1996).

¶11 Mr. Baker also argues that the court’s unchallenged findings do not support the court’s legal conclusion— assault.

¶12 “A person is guilty of assault in the first degree if he or she, with intent to inflict great bodily harm: (a) Assaults another with. .. any deadly weapon or by any force or means likely to produce great bodily harm or death.” RCW 9A.36.011(1). “A person is guilty of assault in the second degree if he or she, under circumstances not amounting to assault in the first degree: . . . (c) Assaults another with a deadly weapon.” RCW 9A.36.021(1).

¶13 Washington recognizes three definitions of assault derived from the common law: (1) an attempt to inflict bodily injury upon another with unlawful force, (2) an unlawful touching with criminal intent, and (3) putting a person in apprehension of harm with or without the intent or present ability to inflict harm. Clark v. Baines, 150 Wn.2d 905, 908 n.3, 84 P.3d 245 (2004).

¶14 To prove assault based solely on an attempt to injure, the State must show that the defendant specifically intended to cause bodily injury. State v. Eastmond, 129 Wn.2d 497, 500, 919 P.2d 577 (1996). But the State need not prove specific intent—either to inflict substantial bodily harm or to cause apprehension—if unlawful physical contact occurs. That is an actual battery. State v. Daniels, 87 Wn. App. 149, 155, 940 P.2d 690 (1997). Assault by actual battery consists of an intentional touching or striking, [884]*884whether or not any physical injury results. Therefore, the State need show only the intention to touch or strike, not the intent to injure. State v. Hall, 104 Wn. App. 56, 62, 14 P.3d 884 (2000).

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136 Wash. App. 878, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-baker-washctapp-2007.