State v. Friederick

663 P.2d 122, 34 Wash. App. 537, 1983 Wash. App. LEXIS 2393
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMarch 14, 1983
Docket10950-2-I
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 663 P.2d 122 (State v. Friederick) 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. Friederick, 663 P.2d 122, 34 Wash. App. 537, 1983 Wash. App. LEXIS 2393 (Wash. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

Ringold, J.

The defendant, Joseph Arthur Friederick, appeals the judgment and sentence entered upon his conviction by a jury of one count of kidnapping in the first degree (RCW 9A.40.020) while armed with a deadly weapon (RCW 9.95.040) and one count of robbery in the first degree (RCW 9A.56.200) while armed with a deadly weapon (RCW 9.95.040). We find no error in the rulings of the judges who presided at the CrR 3.5 hearing and at trial, and the evidence was sufficient to support the robbery conviction. We therefore affirm.

On May 1, 1981, the victim, Ms. R., left work in downtown Seattle and headed for her car, which was parked in the Olympic Hotel garage. A man boarded the elevator with her and pushed the button for the top floor. When she left the elevator at the "J" level the man got out behind her, held a knife to her neck, and told her to keep quiet. He then pulled her into a stairwell at the end of the garage. She later testified that "he was indecisive in what he was going to do," and that she told him, "Here. I don't know what you want. I've got money. I will give you my money. I've got change. I will give you the change. I will give that even. Just let me go. I don't want anything to happen to me." He said, "Okay. Give me your money," and she complied. He then told her that they would go to her car and she would throw the keys underneath it to give him time to get away.

When they got to the car the man put on a pair of blue *539 ski gloves and told Ms. R. that the gloves were for his protection, to prevent fingerprints. He ordered her to take him to Northgate Mall and he would then let her go. She agreed, but jumped out of the car at the garage exit. Her assailant fled on foot. Ms. R. described him as tall, with blond hair, wearing blue jeans and tennis shoes.

On May 16, 1981, another woman, Ms. S., was raped at knifepoint in a stairwell on the 24th floor of the Park Hilton Hotel in downtown Seattle. She described the rapist as approximately 6 feet tall and strongly built, with blond hair, wearing blue ski gloves, blue tennis shoes, blue jeans, and a ski coat. This incident was reported to police and to Hilton Hotel security.

The next day Michael Cole, a Hilton Hotels security guard who had interviewed the rape victim on May 16, was on his rounds walking between the Park Hilton and the Seattle Hilton a block away. He noticed the defendant, Joseph Friederick, a tall blond man in blue tennis shoes who had what looked like bulky gloves tucked in under his shirt enter the Park Hilton. Cole followed Friederick into the lobby, where he noticed him "just looking around, but he also directed his attention towards two women in general. Watching women get on the elevators, not just, you know anyone." When a woman got on an elevator alone, Friederick "immediately got on the elevator with her." Cole got on as well, and saw that Friederick had pushed 24 while the woman had pushed 7. Cole pushed 26. Friederick got off at the 25th floor, but was gone by the time Cole walked down the stairs from 26. Cole returned to the lobby.

Approximately 10 minutes later Cole saw Friederick reenter the hotel lobby from the outside and begin watching the elevators again. When two women got on the elevator, Friederick got on with them and pushed 25. Cole got on another elevator and took it directly to 25, but Friederick never arrived. Upon returning to the lobby, Cole saw Friederick exit from an elevator and leave the hotel. Cole followed him.

Outside the hotel Cole met another security guard, Wil *540 liam Jensen, and told him he was following a suspect in the May 16 rape. Friederick returned to the Park Hilton. The two guards followed him into the lobby and notified the Seattle Police. When Friederick left the hotel, Cole and Jensen followed.

On the street, the guards flagged down a passing Seattle Police cruiser and informed Officer Palacol of their suspicions and the reasons therefor. Palacol confronted Friederick at a bus stop, saying "Stop. I want to talk to you." Friederick ran, and Officer Palacol radioed to other police units, advising them he was on a chase. Officer Wabschall, who observed the suspect run away and drop something, intercepted the defendant two blocks away, drew his revolver, and ordered him to halt. Jensen and Officers Guillen and McMahon then arrived and Officer Guillen frisked Friederick. A pair of blue ski gloves fell on the ground from under Friederick's shirt. About a minute later, a pedestrian approached and gave the police officer a 4-inch paring knife which Friederick had dropped during the chase.

After being advised of his rights, Friederick admitted having sexual intercourse with a woman in a hotel stairwell the previous day, but he claimed the woman was a prostitute and the intercourse was consensual. He said he had worn ski gloves because he was cold. He was subsequently identified as the assailant in the May 1 incident by Ms. R. and two eyewitnesses.

Friederick was charged by second amended information with one count of first degree kidnapping while armed with a deadly weapon, with intent to facilitate the commission of robbery or rape or the flight therefrom, and one count of robbery in the first degree, while armed with a deadly weapon, all arising out of the May 1 incident. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on both counts, with a special finding that Friederick abducted Ms. R. with intent to rape and not with intent to facilitate robbery or flight therefrom. The jury also found that Friederick was armed with a deadly weapon with respect to both counts.

*541 Fourth Amendment Issues

Friederick first contends that his arrest was illegal for lack of probable cause, and that all statements and evidence taken from him incident to the arrest should have been suppressed. He argues that he was under arrest from the time that Officer Palacol ordered him to "Stop. I want to talk to you," and that probable cause to arrest was lacking at that time.

A Fourth Amendment seizure occurs when the individual's freedom of movement is restrained by a show of force or authority, such that "in view of all of the circumstances ... a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave." State v. Stroud, 30 Wn. App. 392, 395, 634 P.2d 316 (1981). A reasonable person would not flee a police officer's order to stop, so Officer Palacol's statement resulted in a seizure for purposes of the Fourth Amendment.

Not every such seizure, however, is an arrest requiring probable cause. A narrow exception to the probable cause requirement provides that "police may briefly detain and question an individual", although probable cause is lacking, "if they have a well founded suspicion based on objective facts that he is connected to actual or potential criminal activity." State v. Sieler,

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Bluebook (online)
663 P.2d 122, 34 Wash. App. 537, 1983 Wash. App. LEXIS 2393, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-friederick-washctapp-1983.