State v. EJY

55 P.3d 673
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedOctober 14, 2002
Docket48674-8-I
StatusPublished

This text of 55 P.3d 673 (State v. EJY) 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. EJY, 55 P.3d 673 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

55 P.3d 673 (2002)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
E.J.Y., Dob: 4/21/87, Appellant.

No. 48674-8-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

October 14, 2002.

*675 George Yeannakis, Betsy Hollingsworth, Jason McGill, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Stephen Hobbs, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

*674 BAKER, J.

E.J.Y. was adjudicated guilty in juvenile court of felony harassment based on threatening statements he made to a school employee. E.J.Y.'s principal argument on appeal is that the criminal harassment statute, RCW 9A.46.020, is unconstitutionally overbroad and vague under both the federal and state constitutions. We disagree because the statute as written proscribes only true threats, which are unprotected speech. E.J.Y. also argues that he was unconstitutionally restrained during trial. Because this was a bench trial, there was no risk of juror prejudice from viewing the restraints. Thus, even though the record does not contain the required factual showing to support the use of restraints, we conclude that the error was harmless, and affirm.

I

Fourteen-year-old E.J.Y. attended middle school. He was placed in a special education services classroom for the first two periods of his school day because of his learning and behavioral disabilities. One morning, the school was administering standardized tests. Because he was not participating in the tests, he was required to return to the special education class for his third period. This upset him and he left the class to complain to the school counselor, Darin Greer. He told Greer that he was not going to return to class and would rather go home.

E.J.Y. then left Greer's office and walked down the hall toward the main office where he came into contact with Ezella Rosier, an attendance specialist. When he was about five feet away from her she heard him say, "I think I should go get my gun and do like Columbine...." Rosier told E.J.Y., "I heard what [you] said [and] you should not be saying those kinds of things." Greer then approached the two and heard E.J.Y. chanting Columbine, "Columbine, Columbine." E.J.Y. then said, "You're going to have another Columbine around here, you guys better watch out. It's not just white boys that go off, I might do it, too."

E.J.Y. then left the office area and Greer followed him until he left the school grounds. Later, Greer wrote a report of the incident and gave it to the vice-principal. Rosier followed with a written report of her own.

E.J.Y. was subsequently charged with the offense of felony harassment in violation of RCW 9A.46.020. When the case was called, E.J.Y.'s defense counsel raised an issue before the court regarding the fact that E.J.Y. was being held in restraints, both leg and arm shackles. The trial judge then called upon two detention officers to give unsworn testimony as to the reason E.J.Y. had been brought to court in shackles. They explained to the court that an incident had occurred approximately three weeks earlier when E.J.Y. was being returned from a school program. In that incident E.J.Y. had bitten a staff person and attempted to escape out of a car.

Upon hearing the concerns expressed by the staff, the trial judge indicated that she could not substitute her judgment for that of the security officer. The judge did order removal of the leg restraints but not the arm restraints, and expressly informed defense counsel that if needed, extra time would be provided for attorney-client communication.

At the fact finding hearing, both Greer and Rosier testified that the statements made by E.J.Y. frightened them. E.J.Y. was subsequently *676 found guilty as charged and received a standard range sentence. He now appeals.

II

E.J.Y. contends that the criminal harassment statute violates both the First Amendment and article I, section 5 of the state constitution because it proscribes protected speech. We begin by addressing E.J.Y's argument that the Washington Constitution provides greater protection than the First Amendment for threatening speech.

In State v. Gunwall,[1] the Washington Supreme Court enumerated several nonexclusive criteria which a court should consider to determine whether it is appropriate to resort to the Washington Constitution for separate and independent state grounds of decision.[2] The same factors have been analyzed to determine whether the state constitution ultimately provides greater protection than its corresponding federal provision.[3] As noted in State v. Reece,[4] "[t]he question to be asked here is not whether the concept of free speech is interpreted more broadly under the state constitution than under the federal constitution. This court has already answered this question in the affirmative."[5] Instead, the inquiry must focus on the specific context in which the state constitutional challenge is raised. Even where a state constitutional provision has been subject to independent interpretation and found to be more protective in a particular context, it does not follow that greater protection is provided in all contexts.[6]

The first factor to consider in the Gunwall inquiry is the text of the state constitution. Article I, section 5 reads, "Freedom of Speech. Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right." The text of the First Amendment reads. "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech...." Because of its broad language, article I, section 5 has been interpreted to offer greater protection than the First Amendment in the context of pure noncommercial speech in a traditional public forum.[7] Additionally, unlike its federal counterpart, article I, section 5 more strictly prohibits prior restraints on free speech.[8] But the second clause of article I, section 5 makes clear that freedom of speech may be abused and that each person may be held accountable for abusing that right.

The second factor to consider is the difference in the texts of the federal and state constitutions. A comparison of the language in the First Amendment and article I, section 5 does not dictate adoption of a more protective state doctrine for determining overbreadth.[9]

The third factor to consider is constitutional history. The State Constitutional Convention adopted the most protective of three proposed free speech provisions. But this fact does not shed light on whether the drafters intended more protection in the context of threatening speech.[10]

The fourth factor in a Gunwall analysis is preexisting state law. "State cases and statutes from the time of the constitution's ratification, rather than recent case law, are more persuasive in determining whether the state *677 constitution gives enhanced protection in a particular area."[11] The Washington Code of 1881, section 822 specifically criminalized verbal or written communication that threatens injury to person or property with the intent to extort money. Section 909 criminalized threats when used to intimidate electors. Further, section 1230 of the Code criminalized libel, and section 6294 made it a crime to make false statements about candidates running for office.

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55 P.3d 673, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ejy-washctapp-2002.