State v. Chapple

145 Wash. 2d 310
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 27, 2001
DocketNo. 70637-9
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 145 Wash. 2d 310 (State v. Chapple) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Chapple, 145 Wash. 2d 310 (Wash. 2001).

Opinion

Bridge, J.

During his trial for second degree rape of a fellow prisoner, Damon Chappie was removed from the courtroom because of his disruptive and dangerous conduct. Chappie asserts that his exclusion violated his federal and state constitutional rights to be present at trial and his right to testify.

We hold that the trial court did not violate Chappie’s constitutional rights to testify and be present at trial when it removed him from the courtroom. In so holding, we reiterate our prior decisions that in such circumstances great deference is to be given the trial court, which is in the best position to assess the relative threat and disruptiveness of the defendant within the limitations of the respective courthouse. The decision of the Court of Appeals is herein affirmed.

FACTS

Damon Chappie has been incarcerated since 1989, serving a 125-year sentence for beating to death a drug dealer, beating and stabbing to death one woman, and robbing and raping another. In 1997, he was charged with second degree rape following an assault on a fellow prisoner. During a pretrial hearing for the rape and assault charges, Chappie was removed from the courtroom for interrupting the proceeding, swearing at the judge, and threatening to kill someone. It appears that Chappie was present for the trial, however, which ended with a hung jury.

At his second trial, Chappie spoke out several times, sometimes with the jury present and sometimes without. [314]*314Although Chappie’s interaction with the judge began respectfully, he became increasingly hostile as the trial progressed. Initially, Chappie raised objections without the jury present and the trial judge assured him that they were noted on the record. Later, Chappie became more emphatic and used offensive language.1

On the second day of the trial, before the jury entered the courtroom, Chappie interrupted his attorney and used a pejorative term for the jury.2 As the jury entered the courtroom, the following discussion ensued:

THE DEFENDANT: Sure be glad when you get this Klu (sic) Klux KLan meeting over with; I’m getting tired.
THE COURT: Take the jury out.
THE DEFENDANT: For what?
(In the absence of the jury.)
THE DEFENDANT: Shit; for what? Let the motherfuckers stay anyway.
THE COURT: Mr. Chappie, we’re not going to have the trial—
THE DEFENDANT: Fuck the jury; fuck the trial; fuck all you motherfuckers. I don’t give a fuck about you or this trial or this jury.
THE COURT: If you don’t want to participate in the trial, we’ll go on without you; that’s the only choice you have.
THE COURT: You have been here and you have been participating fine up to this point and I hope you would continue to do that and we can get through the trial but if you make statements in front of the jury like that—
THE DEFENDANT: Am I a liar or something?
THE COURT: Will you not do that again?
[315]*315THE DEFENDANT: Am I lying? Did I lie or something?
THE COURT: I am not saying anything about that but disruption in front of the jury cannot take place. Can we try again?
THE DEFENDANT: Continue.[3]
The jury returned. Soon after, during examination of a witness, the defendant interjected:
THE DEFENDANT: He didn’t testify for me in the trial, did you, and I got a hung jury so why would I have asked you to do anything for me. You didn’t testify in the last trial, did you; shit. I let them know. Take me back to Clallum [sic] Bay if you want to. I wouldn’t give a fuck.
THE COURT: Let’s take a recess.
THE DEFENDANT: Let’s take a recess on me. He didn’t testify on the last trial when I got a hung jury 8 to 4 in my favor, so why would it make a difference for you to testify against me, motherfucking—
(The jury left the courtroom.)
THE COURT: We’ll take him downstairs.
THE DEFENDANT: I’m the motherfucking man. I have 125 years; I don’t give a fuck. Nothing you can do to me. I own the system.
(The defendant left the courtroom.)[4]

After Chappie’s removal, the judge expressed concern that Chappie might be attempting to create a mistrial or pollute the jury with information about his first trial. The court then took suggestions from counsel that would permit Chappie to still participate in his trial. The prosecutor raised several options, including binding and gagging the defendant in the courtroom, removing him from the rest of the trial, and placing him in another room with a television system, bound and gagged if necessary. Defense counsel expressed doubts as to his ability to control Chappie’s behavior, but suggested that he be allowed to discuss with [316]*316the defendant the consequences of his removal from the trial.

The judge then heard testimony from Sergeant Reno, a corrections officer, regarding courtroom security if Chappie were allowed to return. Reno testified that Chappie had previously been convicted for several violent crimes and chronicled Chappie’s extensive list of prison infractions including threats, possession of a weapon, and assault. Reno also testified to the defendant’s size and extraordinary physical strength, reporting that Chappie could break handcuffs and had once pulled a cell door from a concrete wall. Chappie’s threats of violence were taken very seriously; at least four security officers would attend his court appearances and he was required to wear a taser belt.5 Reno also reported that Chappie had planned to disrupt the trial and had boasted that he would make the news that day. Sergeant Reno concluded that Chappie was a threat to court personnel, even when bound to a chair, gagged, wearing a taser belt and guarded. Another officer testified that as Chappie left the courtroom, he was adamant that he would not cooperate, he would continue to disrupt the proceedings if allowed back into the courtroom, and, because he already had a 125-year sentence, there was nothing more that could be done to punish him.

Thus the judge determined that were Chappie allowed to return, even if bound, gagged, and guarded, he would still present a danger to staff and jury members. The courtroom was not equipped to shackle Chappie to the floor or any other stable structure. Although Chappie could view the trial through closed circuit television from the holding room next door, he might yell and scream or destroy the television. The judge ruled that the best option was to exclude the defendant from the remainder of the trial.

Defense counsel inquired whether the defendant would be allowed to testify. The court reiterated safety concerns and noted that transcripts of the defendant’s previous trial [317]*317testimony were available. The judge believed that Chappie had waived both his right to be present and his right to testify.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
145 Wash. 2d 310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-chapple-wash-2001.