State v. Goble

126 P.3d 821
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 24, 2006
Docket32647-7-II
StatusPublished

This text of 126 P.3d 821 (State v. Goble) 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. Goble, 126 P.3d 821 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

126 P.3d 821 (2005)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Kenneth Lloyd GOBLE, Appellant.

No. 32647-7-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

December 28, 2005.
Publication Ordered January 24, 2006.

Jodi R. Backlund, Manek R. Mistry, Backlund & Mistry, Olympia, WA, for Appellant.

*822 J. Andrew Toynbee, Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Chehalis, WA, for Respondent.

ARMSTRONG, J.

¶ 1 Kenneth Lloyd Goble appeals his jury conviction of third degree assault, arguing sufficiency of the evidence and instructional error. We conclude that although the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict, the instruction defining knowledge was confusing and allowed the jury to convict without finding all the necessary elements required. We further conclude that the instructional error was not harmless. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

FACTS

¶ 2 The State charged Goble with third degree assault, alleging that on August 13, 2004, he assaulted Deputy Daniel Riordan while Riordan was performing his official duties.

¶ 3 At trial, Officer Jeremy Stamper of the Mossyrock Police Department and Deputy Riordan of the Lewis County Sheriff's Office testified that on the night of the incident they were working a special detail covering the annual Logger's Jubilee in Morton, Washington. Both officers were in uniform and both were carrying taser guns.

¶ 4 At approximately 11:15 p.m., they were dispatched to Shotgun Freddy's, a bar located on Morton's Main Avenue. When they arrived, they spoke to an enforcement officer from the Washington State Liquor Control Board, who reported that two men preparing to leave on a motorcycle had been involved in a dispute at the bar. The person driving the motorcycle was Goble, the passenger was his grandson.

¶ 5 The officers testified that when Stamper contacted the men and told them he needed to talk to them, Goble's grandson got off the motorcycle and ran "aggressively" toward him, screaming obscenities and threats. Report of Proceedings (RP) at 33. He continued to approach Stamper even though Stamper identified himself as a police officer and told him to stop several times. When Goble's grandson was about four feet from Stamper, Stamper attempted to deploy his taser, but Riordan, who was behind the man, deployed his taser first; the man fell to the ground.

¶ 6 As Stamper moved forward to help Riordan handcuff the man, he looked up and saw Goble reach up and grab Riordan in "somewhat of a clothesline type headlock." RP at 35. Riordan testified that as he passed the motorcycle, someone reached out and grabbed him by the throat. RP at 76. The two men struggled and Stamper shot Goble in the back with his taser.

¶ 7 Other officers then arrived, and Goble was handcuffed and transported to the Morton Police Department a few blocks away. Riordan testified that they quickly moved Goble and his grandson to the police station because the crowd was threatening. Stamper testified that the entire incident occurred in a matter of six to ten seconds.

¶ 8 Stamper also testified that while they were at the police station, Goble told him that his grandson was intoxicated and distraught after finding out that a friend of his had just been killed in an accident and that "they shouldn't have acted the way they did and they were sorry." RP at 39. He then told Stamper that he was just trying to "protect his grandson from being tased by Deputy Riordan." RP at 39.

¶ 9 But Riordan testified that when he was returning some property to Goble a few days later, Goble told him he had not realized who Riordan was when he grabbed him and he was only trying to stop someone from the crowd from going after his grandson, who was apparently not well liked. During this conversation, Goble did not deny putting him in a headlock.

¶ 10 The defense presented testimony from two women who had watched the incident from across the street. They testified that before the officers arrived, Goble's grandson had been fighting with others in front of the bar. They watched as Goble calmed his grandson and testified that the two men were attempting to leave when the officers arrived.

¶ 11 They stated that they did not see Riordan, but they watched as Stamper told *823 Goble's grandson to get off the motorcycle with his hands up. When he attempted to comply, he stumbled, steadied himself, and then said something like "what are you gonna do?" to Stamper. RP at 79. He was then hit with a taser and fell to the ground. The witnesses testified that Stamper was the one who fired the taser.

¶ 12 They further testified that when Goble started to get off the motorcycle to check on his grandson, they saw a person run out of the crowd and Goble put up his hand to try to stop that person. The next thing they knew, Goble was also on the ground. One of the witnesses described the person who ran out of the crowd as wearing green from head to toe, something like a jumpsuit, but she did not recognize him as a law enforcement officer at the time. Neither witness was aware that there was more than one officer present when the incident occurred and neither saw Goble put anyone in a headlock or struggle with Riordan.

¶ 13 One of the witnesses also testified that Goble's grandson had a bad reputation and that it would not have surprised her if someone from the crowd had tried to take advantage of the situation and attempt to harm him. She concluded that it was likely that Goble was just trying to protect his grandson.

¶ 14 The defense then called Dawn Tozer, the enforcement officer with Washington State Liquor Control Board who had talked to Stamper. Although Tozer testified that Goble's grandson got off the motorcycle aggressively and headed toward the officers before he was tased, she also testified that she did not observe a struggle between Goble and the officer and that she believed that the officers shot Goble with the taser because he refused to follow their orders to stay where he was. But she also admitted that during the incident she and her partner were busy dealing with a man who was trying to incite the crowd that had gathered at the scene.

¶ 15 Goble testified that his grandson "bailed off the bike" with his hands up, took two steps toward Stamper and said, "What are you gonna do, Jeremy Stamper?" RP at 109. At that point, he noticed someone "coming out of the side." RP at 109. Fearing that someone from the crowd was going to harm his grandson, he turned around and put his hands up and the man ran into him. The next thing he recalled was waking up on the ground. He denied fighting with or intending to assault Riordan. He also denied telling Stamper that he was trying to prevent Riordan from shooting his grandson with the taser.

¶ 16 After an off-the-record discussion of the jury instructions, the trial court presented its instructions.[1] The only discussion in the record concerning the jury instructions was as follows:

THE COURT: All right. Counsel, you do have my intended instructions. I recognize you may not have had much time to look at them, but do you have objections or exceptions, or do you want more time to look through them?
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I'm looking right now, Your Honor.
[PROSECUTOR]: I don't have any objections or exceptions, Your Honor.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Is there a knowledge instruction there, Your Honor?
THE COURT: Yes, there is.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Okay. I think we got them all then.

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Bluebook (online)
126 P.3d 821, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-goble-washctapp-2006.