State v. Davis

138 P.3d 132
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided June 29, 2006·No. 23834-2-III, 24313-3-III·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

138 P.3d 132 (2006)
133 Wash.App. 415

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Anthony D. DAVIS, Appellant.
In re Personal Restraint of Anthony Dion Davis, Petitioner.

Nos. 23834-2-III, 24313-3-III.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3.

May 23, 2006.
Publication Ordered June 29, 2006.

*134 David L. Donnan, Nancy P. Collins, Washington Appellate Project, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Kevin M. Korsmo, Attorney at Law, Spokane, WA, for Respondent.

KATO, J.

¶ 1 Anthony Davis was convicted of harassment, unlawful imprisonment, third degree malicious mischief, two counts of fourth degree assault, and violation of a domestic violence protection order. Based on the jury's determination an aggravating factor existed, the court imposed an exceptional sentence on the unlawful imprisonment conviction. Claiming the prosecutor committed misconduct; the evidence did not support the conviction for unlawful imprisonment; and the court erred by imposing an exceptional sentence; Mr. Davis appeals. His personal restraint petition was consolidated with this appeal. We affirm the convictions and dismiss the personal restraint petition.

¶ 2 Mr. Davis lived with his girl friend, Bobbi Dewey, and her seven-year-old daughter, T.B. On May 7, 2004, the couple had argued throughout the day in a series of telephone calls and e-mails.

¶ 3 Ms. Dewey and Mr. Davis arrived home that evening at the same time. T.B. went to her room. Mr. Davis undressed and got into bed, where he ate some dinner. Ms. Dewey was doing laundry. She needed to run a quick errand and asked Mr. Davis if he could watch T.B. while she was out. He refused. Ms. Dewey told him their relationship was not working and he had to move out in two weeks.

¶ 4 Mr. Davis called Ms. Dewey back to the bedroom, where he grabbed her neck and threw her across the room into a nightstand. Mr. Davis grabbed her throat and banged her head into the wall. He threw her into the frame of their iron rod bed and banged her head against the bars.

¶ 5 T.B. heard the commotion and came into the bedroom. Ms. Dewey told her to go for help, but Mr. Davis told her not to go anywhere. T.B. asked Mr. Davis not to hurt her mom. T.B. grabbed Mr. Davis's arm and as he pulled her down, she hit the wall. He threatened them and ordered them to go in the living room. There, he broke a picture frame and threatened to hurt Ms. Dewey.

¶ 6 Mr. Davis and Ms. Dewey went back to their bedroom, where he broke a light. While picking up some glass, Ms. Dewey cut her hand. Mr. Davis realized she was hurt and helped her clean her wound. He got dressed and left.

¶ 7 Ms. Dewey called 911. Officers Tramell Taylor and Gordon Ennis responded to the apartment. Officer Taylor called Mr. Davis on his cell phone. Mr. Davis said he and Ms. Dewey had argued, but there was nothing wrong with her.

¶ 8 The State charged Mr. Davis by amended information with harassment, second degree assault, and unlawful imprisonment of Ms. Dewey as the victim. It also charged him with second degree assault and unlawful imprisonment of T.B. as the victim. Mr. Davis was charged with third degree malicious mischief and violation of a domestic violence criminal protection order as well. He was convicted of harassment, unlawful imprisonment, third degree malicious mischief, two counts of fourth degree assault (the lesser included offense to second degree assault), and violation of a domestic violence criminal protection order.

¶ 9 Along with the jury instructions, the court gave the jury a special interrogatory asking if Mr. Davis knew or should have known T.B. was particularly vulnerable and *135 incapable of resistance due to extreme youth. The jury answered yes.

¶ 10 The court imposed standard range sentences on all the convictions except the unlawful imprisonment of T.B. Based upon the jury's response to the special interrogatory, the court imposed an exceptional sentence for that conviction. This appeal follows.

¶ 11 Mr. Davis asserts the prosecutor committed misconduct while cross-examining him, thus requiring reversal. To prevail on a claim of prosecutorial misconduct, the defendant must establish the impropriety of the conduct and a substantial likelihood the misconduct affected the verdict. State v. Brett, 126 Wash.2d 136, 175, 892 P.2d 29 (1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1121, 116 S.Ct. 931, 133 L.Ed.2d 858 (1996). Reversal is not required if the defendant did not request a curative instruction that would have obviated the error. State v. Russell, 125 Wash.2d 24, 85, 882 P.2d 747 (1994), cert. denied, 514 U.S. 1129, 115 S.Ct. 2004, 131 L.Ed.2d 1005 (1995).

¶ 12 Mr. Davis did not object to any of the questions he now claims were misconduct. Failure to object to an improper remark constitutes a waiver of the error unless the remark is so flagrant and ill intentioned that it resulted in prejudice which could not have been neutralized by an instruction. Id. at 86, 882 P.2d 747. Only if there is a substantial likelihood the misconduct affected the verdict must a conviction be reversed. Id.

¶ 13 The first instance of claimed misconduct occurred when the prosecutor was cross-examining Mr. Davis about his alibi. He had testified he was at Chan's Dragon Inn at the time of the assault. The following exchange took place:

Q. And the other staff people then, you know them because you go there?
A. Certainly.
Q. And where are those people?
A. Where are they? What do you mean?
Q. The ones that waited on you that night.
A. Tonight or today?
Q. The ones that waited on you when you were at Chan's on May 7th.
A. You're saying, where are they now?
Q. Where are they today?
A. I'd imagine at work or somewhere at home. I don't know.
Q. They're not here testifying?
A. Absolutely not.
Q. Now, it's been stated and in some other testimony that you might have a drinking problem. What would you say to that?
A. Absolutely not.
Q. Now, you also said, when you went to Chan's for your dinner, not in the bar, that you talked with friends. Who were they?
A. Just people. They weren't friends. I said there were people that just was there at that time. It was sort of early is what I said, sort of early. None of the regulars were there. Like I said, I got there after 4:30 sometime, between 5 and 5:30, you know, the drive there. It wasn't people walking around.
Typically the folks that I know are going to be over in the lounge portion of it, not the restaurant.

Report of Proceedings (RP) at 465-66. Mr. Davis claims this exchange impermissibly shifted the burden of proof from the State to him.

¶ 14 A prosecutor cannot imply a defendant has a duty to present exculpatory evidence. State v. Barrow, 60 Wash.App. 869, 872, 809 P.2d 209, review denied, 118 Wash.2d 1007, 822 P.2d 288 (1991). A prosecutor may, however, argue reasonable inferences from the evidence presented and may attack a defendant's exculpatory theory.

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State v. Davis, 138 P.3d 132 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

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