State v. Brooks

107 Wash. App. 925
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedAugust 20, 2001
DocketNo. 46874-0-I
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 107 Wash. App. 925 (State v. Brooks) 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. Brooks, 107 Wash. App. 925 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Appelwick, J.

Darrin Brooks appeals his conviction and sentence for attempted residential burglary. The jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Brooks intended to commit a crime inside the apartment that he attempted to enter, from all of the circumstances surrounding Brooks’ actions. Thus, we affirm the conviction. But the trial court erred in imposing a Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (DOSA) sentence by miscalculating the standard range of Brooks’ sentence. Under RCW 9.94A.420, the high end of the standard range of Brooks’ sentence cannot exceed the statutory maximum for the crime. Therefore, we reverse the sentence and remand for entry of a DOSA sentence based on a standard sentence range that is capped at 60 months, the statutory maximum for the crime.

FACTS

The Charbonau apartment complex in Seattle is secured with a fence around the entire perimeter. In order to enter the complex, one must have a key to the main entrance or must contact a resident or the management office through an intercom system to request entry. On February 18, 2000, between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m., Michel Amrone, the apartment manager, was in the management office. Amrone observed Darrin Brooks trying to stick a screwdriver into the lock of the door to the main entrance of the apartment complex. Brooks spent approximately two minutes trying to open the door with the screwdriver. When he was ultimately unsuccessful, he walked away from the door.

Amrone immediately went outside the entrance to look for Brooks. About two minutes later, Amrone found Brooks standing in the patio of one of the apartments, trying to [928]*928open the apartment door with the screwdriver. Amrone noticed fresh marks on the door related to Brooks’ use of the screwdriver.

Amrone asked Brooks what he was doing, and Brooks responded that he wanted to use the rest room. Amrone approached Brooks, who then swung at him. Amrone called for his assistant, and the two men tackled Brooks to the ground. Amrone called the police.

The police arrived and arrested Brooks and read him his Miranda rights. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966). Brooks yelled, “You didn’t see me inside the building!” When a police officer asked Brooks about the screwdriver, Brooks replied, “I didn’t try to open the door with the screwdriver.”

Meanwhile, another police officer examined the marks on the door to the apartment. The officer noticed that the marks were about the width of a screwdriver. The paint appeared to have chipped and some of the wood had splintered at the location of the markings.

The State charged Brooks with one count of attempted residential burglary. A jury found Brooks guilty as charged. At sentencing, the trial court sentenced Brooks pursuant to the Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative and imposed 27.5625 months of confinement and 27 months of community custody. The court calculated Brooks’ DOSA incarceration time based on a standard range of 47.25 to 63 months. Brooks appeals both his conviction and his sentence.

ANALYSIS

A. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Brooks argues that the evidence failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of attempted residential burglary. The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Green, 94 Wn.2d 216, 221, 616 P.2d 628 (1980). Additionally, all reasonable infer[929]*929enees from the evidence must be drawn in favor of the State and interpreted against the defendant. State v. Bryant, 89 Wn. App. 857, 869, 950 P.2d 1004 (1998).

To prove the essential elements of the crime of attempted residential burglary, the State was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Brooks intended to commit residential burglary and that he took a substantial step toward committing residential burglary. RCW 9A.28.020(1). A person commits residential burglary when he “enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling other than a vehicle” with the intent to commit a crime in that dwelling. RCW 9A.52.025(1).

Brooks concedes that, based on the facts the State presented at trial, the jury could reasonably have inferred that Brooks intended to enter a dwelling. But, he argues there was insufficient evidence to draw the additional inference that he intended to commit a crime inside the dwelling.

Criminal intent may be inferred from all the facts and circumstances surrounding the commission of an act. State v. Lewis, 69 Wn.2d 120, 123, 417 P.2d 618 (1966). “Although intent may not be inferred from conduct that is patently equivocal, it may be inferred from conduct that plainly indicates such intent as a matter of logical probability.” State v. Bergeron, 105 Wn.2d 1, 20, 711 P.2d 1000 (1985).

Here, the jury could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt from the circumstances surrounding Brooks’ actions, that Brooks intended to commit a crime inside the apartment. First, despite the fact that there was an intercom system in the complex, Brooks chose to use a screwdriver to attempt to enter the complex. Second, when his initial attempt to enter the complex with a screwdriver failed, Brooks entered the complex through a gate and quickly arrived on the patio of one of the apartments. Once there, he again attempted to use a screwdriver to open the apartment door. There was no evidence that Brooks made an effort to knock on the windows or the doors to that apartment in order to notify any potential occupants of his [930]*930presence. The use of the screwdriver rather than conventional methods to seek entry further illustrates that Brooks sought to enter the apartment for illegal reasons.

Brooks’ explanation to Amrone that he needed to use the bathroom was illogical: he could have used the rest room at Virginia Mason Medical Center, located two blocks away. Brooks had not used the intercom to ask the office manager if he could use the office rest room. The jury could reasonably have inferred from Brooks’ statement to Amrone that Brooks was trying to hide his intent to commit a crime.

Brooks argues that the jury must have inferred that he meant to commit a crime inside the apartment merely because he attempted to enter the apartment. Brooks relies on State v. Jackson for his contention that such an inference is inappropriate. 112 Wn.2d 867, 774 P.2d 1211 (1989). As in the present case, the defendant in Jackson was convicted of attempted burglary. He had been observed taking short running kicks at the Plexiglas window area of a door to a building. The question in

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
107 Wash. App. 925, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-brooks-washctapp-2001.