State v. Hansen

850 P.2d 571, 69 Wash. App. 750
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 15, 1993
Docket29276-5-I; 31216-2-I
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 850 P.2d 571 (State v. Hansen) 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. Hansen, 850 P.2d 571, 69 Wash. App. 750 (Wash. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

*752 Agid, J.

Carl David Hansen appeals the judgment and sentence entered against him for one count of possession with intent to manufacture or deliver cocaine and one count of possession of cocaine. He argues that the trial court erred by failing to obtain from him a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of a trial by 12 jurors, refusing to give the jury an entrapment instruction, excluding the testimony of a witness, and refusing to give a missing witness instruction. We affirm. 1

Carl Hansen was charged by amended information with two counts of possession with intent to manufacture or deliver cocaine, contrary to RCW 69.50.401(a). Count 1 involved Hansen's alleged complicity in the purchase of a kilo of cocaine, and count 2 involved bindles of cocaine found in his briefcase and car. The following facts were established during Hansen's trial.

Facts Relating to the Crimes Charged

Wendell Brown, an informant for the King County Narcotics Task Force, told Detective Glen Edmondson that he knew a man named James Stegall who bought and sold cocaine. Stegall had previously been involved with Brown's "business" of selling stolen electronic equipment. The task force instructed Brown to do a "reverse buy" with Stegall, which meant that Brown would try to sell Stegall a kilo of cocaine. The police electronically wired Brown to record his meetings with Stegall.

Brown scheduled an initial meeting with Stegall on July 14,1989, in the lounge of the University Plaza Hotel. Brown asked Stegall to bring everyone who would be involved in the transaction. Stegall brought Carl Hansen. Brown understood that Hansen "was the person who was going to bring the money for [the] transaction, or . . . was the person that was going to give Mr. Stegall the money to purchase the kilo *753 of cocaine." Brown believed that Stegall would be the contact person because Brown knew Stegall.

Brown, Stegall, and Hansen sat together at a table in the lounge and talked. The transcript of their conversation was admitted as evidence at trial and played for the jury during Brown's direct examination. At one point during the July 14 conversation in the lounge, Hansen left the table and the following dialogue concerning Hansen occurred:

brown: Anyway I don't know him anyway, so what’s going on?
stegall: He's cool. Very, very cool.
stegall: He drinks a lot. He's . . . he's had a little money and he's my friend, (unintelligible) ... I used to sell to him.
brown: He's what?
stegall: I used to sell to him.
brown: Yeah.
stegall: Okay, and . . . and I used to sell to him and I'd buy from him.
brown: Okay you . . .
stegall: I'd buy from him all the time.
brown: Okay yeah well, okay.
stegall: He had stuff and we bought (unintelligible) . . . half a key.
brown: Yeah.
stegall: The other day I picked up those for him.
brown: Yeah.
stegall: And we'd sell it together. You know, partners. I have beepers and we got beepers together and everything.
brown: Okay 'cause I don't know him, you know, and I'll, and what . . . alright, alright. 'Cause I . . .
stegall: Trust me.
stegall: Don't worry about it. Just ask Bill about Carl and stuff. We uh buy all our stuff together. He's, Carl's okay.
stegall: He needs, I was wondering how much a kilogram.
brown: Well, if it's . . . whenever I. . . get a key from them . . . • it's right around eighteen five . . .
stegall: We can get that price.

Hansen then returned to the table. After some small talk, Stegall and Brown began discussing the terms of the cocaine sale. As Brown described the cocaine, Hansen said, "Okay we'll get the one and try it and see what that looks like." *754 Stegall said, "15 ain't bad. It's cheaper than . . . Jesse's . . . there's no hassles with it." After Brown discussed how his source operated, Hansen asked him, "Now we're only going through you, right?" When Hansen later asked, "Okay, what can you do for 32?", this conversation followed:

brown: I can give you . . . two [kilos] for 30. I'll do that. . . and I can still make money.
[hansen]: Do they ever come down?
stegall: Will they come down by five?
brown: Well they. . . yeah, yeah, yeah, they do. . . .
stegall: How much? What's the lowest we can get for that five?
brown: Well, I've . . . only sold three. Okay? And uh they came down to fourteen five.
stegall: Five.
brown: At... at three. And I haven't, I haven't asked them for, you know, for a more quantity than that.
[hansen]: No I mean if we're consistent.
brown: What?
[hansen]: Consistent.
stegall: Like . . . we'll be buying and . . .
brown: If you . . . are consistent, hey, you're the one. . . . [S]ee, I'm consistent with them, so they'll give me . . . those prices. . . . [TJhey're higher to other people, so uh now, if... if you guys become real consistent at... at buying . . . like two or three or you know, frequently, then . . . then they'll probably end up coming down to about 12, 12 or 13. More than likely But they . . . about 1250, probably no more than that. No less than that. . . .

After discussing the terms of the deal, Brown offered to let Stegall and Hansen test a sample of the cocaine they would be buying. Stegall declined, saying "That's up to Carl [Hansen]". Hansen asked if he could take the sample with him and eventually walked outside with Brown. Brown gave him some cocaine, suggesting that he put it on his tongue to sample it. When Brown asked for money in exchange for the sample, Hansen asked if Brown had a smaller amount (a "teener", which is one-sixteenth of an ounce). Brown suggested that Hansen have someone "break it down and base it" to test it, and Hansen said, "Well my guy's gonna do the drip system". Brown then went to the rest room to measure out a "teener". When he returned to the table, Hansen had stepped outside so Brown gave the teener to Stegall.

*755

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
850 P.2d 571, 69 Wash. App. 750, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hansen-washctapp-1993.