State v. Chambers

142 P.3d 668
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 6, 2006
Docket33268-0-II
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 142 P.3d 668 (State v. Chambers) 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. Chambers, 142 P.3d 668 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

142 P.3d 668 (2006)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
William Kendall CHAMBERS, Appellant.

No. 33268-0-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

September 6, 2006.

James Lewis Reese, III, Attorney at Law, Port Orchard, WA, for Appellant.

Randall Avery Sutton, Kitsap County Prosecutor's Office, Port Orchard, WA, for Respondent.

*669 OPINION PUBLISHED IN PART

PENOYAR, J.

¶ 1 William Kendall Chambers appeals his conviction for unlawful possession of methamphetamine. Chambers argues that: (1) the trial court violated his sixth amendment[1] right to confrontation by allowing testimony about his agent's conversation with an undercover police officer; (2) the information was insufficient because it charged him only as a principal; (3) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction because he did not possess the methamphetamine; and (4) the trial court erred when it refused to give his proposed jury instruction on attempted possession. We affirm.

FACTS

I. BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On June 9, 2004, officers from the West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team (WESTNET) searched a house on Patricia Street in Port Orchard and found and seized methamphetamine. Detective Jon VanGesen, a member of the WESTNET team performing the search, answered a telephone call at the house. The caller said that he would soon arrive.

¶ 3 VanGesen suspected that the caller was coming to buy methamphetamine, so he repackaged some of the seized methamphetamine. Soon, a van pulled into the driveway and Jeremy Drouin came to the door. VanGesen asked Drouin whether he "had the money." Report of Proceedings (RP) (03/31/05) at 47. Drouin replied that he "had the money," then asked how much "it was." RP (03/31/05) at 47. VanGesen said a "teener"[2] cost $80, and Drouin walked back to the van. RP (03/31/05) at 47.

¶ 4 Drouin spoke with Chambers, who sat in the van's driver seat with the window down. RP (03/31/05) at 48. VanGesen then saw Chambers give Drouin money. Drouin returned to the front door, handed VanGesen the money, and VanGesen gave Drouin the methamphetamine. The police then arrested Drouin and Chambers.

¶ 5 Police Detective Dale Schuster, also a WESTNET member participating in the search, read Chambers his Miranda[3] rights. Chambers waived his rights and agreed to speak with the police. Schuster interviewed Chambers and learned that Chambers had a disability that confined him to a wheelchair.

¶ 6 Chambers told Schuster that he withdrew $200 from his bank account, then went to Drouin's house to ask Drouin to help him pump gas for his van and purchase a "teener" of methamphetamine. Drouin and Chambers went to the Patricia Street house, but had not called ahead.[4] Chambers said that he had not previously purchased methamphetamine from that house but that he had driven other purchasers there. Chambers also admitted that he gave Drouin money to purchase methamphetamine after Drouin returned from talking to VanGesen.

II. PROCEDURE

¶ 7 The State charged Chambers with unlawful possession of a controlled substance. The information charging him did not specify that he was charged as an accomplice, but it listed other suspects associated with the incident.

¶ 8 Before trial, Chambers moved to exclude Drouin's statements to VanGesen, arguing that the statements were inadmissible hearsay. The State countered that the statements were not hearsay because they were not offered for the truth of the matter asserted. The State also argued that Chambers and Drouin were coconspirators and that Drouin was acting as Chambers's agent.

¶ 9 The trial court admitted the statements under ER 801(d)(2), reasoning:

I think there is evidence by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Drouin *670 was acting as an agent for Mr. Chambers, that they had agreed to go to this location, that Mr. Drouin would make the contact at the door, Mr. Chambers would remain in the car, or van, and Mr. Chambers would provide the funds for the purchase of the drugs, if they were available, given that the offer of proof is that Mr. Chambers did not call this house in advance, but just went there.
Agency, as noted in Tegland, has to be proved by the acts of the principal, cannot be proved by the acts of the agent, and there's [sic] sufficient facts here by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Chambers was working with Mr. Drouin, and established him as his agent to assist him in making this sale of drugs by driving Mr. Drouin there and providing the money. I think that's sufficient to show that he was an agent, and under [ER] 801(d)(2), such statements are not hearsay, so there's not an issue under the Crawford[5] case which would apply. These were hearsay statements, since Mr. Drouin is unavailable, and I would rule these are testimonial statements, but they are not hearsay, so under the Crawford case, I don't think they would be rendered inadmissible, and would be admissible under 801(d)(2).

RP (03/30/05) at 15-16.

¶ 10 At trial, Chambers proposed a definitional instruction and a "to convict" instruction on attempted possession of methamphetamine. The trial court refused to give these instructions.

¶ 11 The jury convicted Chambers as charged. He now appeals.

ANALYSIS

I. HEARSAY AND THE CONFRONTATION CLAUSE

¶ 12 Chambers first argues that we should reverse his conviction because the trial court admitted Drouin's statements into evidence via VanGesen's testimony, even though Drouin did not testify. His argument has two components. First, he argues that the trial court violated the Evidence Rules barring hearsay when it admitted Drouin's statements. Second, he argues that, even if admissible under the Evidence Rules, the statements violate his right to confrontation under Crawford.

A. Standard of Review

¶ 13 Generally, we review the trial court's admission of evidence for abuse of discretion. State v. Pirtle, 127 Wash.2d 628, 648, 904 P.2d 245 (1995), cert. denied, 518 U.S. 1026, 116 S.Ct. 2568, 135 L.Ed.2d 1084 (1996). However, whether a rule of evidence applies in a given factual situation is a question of law that we review de novo. State v. Williams, 131 Wash.App. 488, 494, 128 P.3d 98 (2006). We also review de novo alleged Confrontation Clause violations. State v. Larry, 108 Wash.App. 894, 901, 34 P.3d 241 (2001).

B. Hearsay

¶ 14 Under the Evidence Rules, the trial court did not err by allowing Drouin's statements into evidence. Generally, hearsay is not admissible unless it fits within an exception to the general rule. ER 802. "`Hearsay' is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." ER 801(c). A statement is not hearsay, however, if "[t]he statement is offered against a party and is . . . a statement by the party's agent or servant acting within the scope of the authority to make the statement for the party." ER 801(d)(2)(iv). The agency exclusion does not require that the person who made the statement be "unavailable," as defined in the rules. See ER 801(d)(2); ER 804(a).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
142 P.3d 668, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-chambers-washctapp-2006.