State v. Knapp

199 P.3d 505
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 27, 2009
Docket36098-5-II
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 199 P.3d 505 (State v. Knapp) 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. Knapp, 199 P.3d 505 (Wash. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

199 P.3d 505 (2009)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Kyle Cameron KNAPP, Appellant.

No. 36098-5-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

January 27, 2009.

*506 Kathryn A. Russell Selk, Russell Selk Law Office, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Kathleen Proctor, Pierce County Prosecuting Atty. Office, Tacoma, WA, for Respondent.

BRIDGEWATER, J.

¶ 1 Kyle Cameron Knapp appeals his conviction for residential burglary. We hold that the State committed prosecutorial misconduct by commenting in its closing argument on Knapp's silence. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

FACTS

¶ 2 On November 14, 2006, Darren Blakeslee noticed two suspicious men walking around his Tacoma neighborhood. The men were knocking door to door, sometimes scared off when dogs barked at them. He observed them knock on the door of a house across the street, 1416 South 45th Street. When no one answered, the two men looked at each other and went around the house to the back porch. Blakeslee called 911.

¶ 3 Tacoma Police Department Officers Stephen O'Keefe and Debra Vause responded to the 911 call. They quickly proceeded around the back of the house to investigate the scene. Officer Vause immediately noticed a screen missing from a window by the back deck and she heard voices from inside the house. She signaled to Officer O'Keefe that a burglary was in progress and he called for backup.

¶ 4 One man came out of the house. Then a second man, wearing gloves, came to the door. Officer Vause drew her weapon and ordered the men to put their hands up. The first man complied, but the second man retreated *507 into the house and slammed the door. The officers took the first suspect, later identified as Michael Barton, into custody.

¶ 5 Tacoma Police Department Officer Scott Harris arrived on the scene. He went toward the back of the house and observed a screen "pop out from a window" about eight feet above him. 3 RP at 123. He observed a man start to crawl out of the window. The man and Officer Harris stared at each other for a lingering moment, approximately three to four seconds, before the man retreated back into the house.

¶ 6 Meanwhile, Barton led one of the officers to a white Chevrolet Suburban parked around the corner from the house. Knapp was the registered owner of the vehicle. At some point, the officers went to Knapp's house during the incident to look for him. Knapp was not there, but they did encounter two men that fit Knapp's description. The police officers later impounded the vehicle.

¶ 7 After the officers ran the vehicle plates, Officer O'Keefe stationed himself at the patrol car in front of the house and repeatedly made announcements for "Kyle" to come out of the house. 2 RP at 59. Soon thereafter, a SWAT team arrived and surrounded the house.

¶ 8 Following a long stand-off, the SWAT team searched the property. And later, the officers allowed the owner, Patricia Huggins, inside her home. She discovered a suitcase and duffle bag containing personal items and jewelry near the door. The house was a mess because someone had rifled through all of her personal items. Huggins also noted that it looked like someone either entered or exited through a window. And, the day after the incident, Huggins called the officers to the house because she found the garage attic opened and the garage door opened, suggesting that someone had spent the night inside the house.

¶ 9 On November 16, Knapp called the investigating detective, Dave Hofner, to ask about the whereabouts of his car. Detective Hofner made arrangements to meet Knapp at his residence. During this meeting, Knapp told Detective Hofner that he had been at Carmen Badgley's apartment for the past two days. Knapp then called Badgley over to his house to speak with Detective Hofner. In addition Knapp agreed to let the detective in to search his home. Detective Hofner found nothing of evidentiary value during that search. Knapp also gave Detective Hofner a written statement explaining his whereabouts during the hours of the incident.

¶ 10 Before going to Knapp's house that day, Detective Hofner contacted Blakeslee and asked him to drive by to see if he recognized Knapp. From approximately 25 feet away, Blakeslee observed Detective Hofner speaking with Knapp. Blakeslee later informed the detective that he was "110 percent" certain that the person he was speaking to was one of the two men involved in the burglary. 2 RP at 21. Blakeslee made this in-person identification, despite not having been able to identify Knapp in a photo montage earlier that day.[1]

¶ 11 A few days later, Detective Hofner met Knapp at a towing company. There, Knapp allowed Detective Hofner to search his vehicle. The detective discovered tools such as a hammer, wrenches, screwdrivers, a knife, bolt cutters, cable cutters, and pry bar inside the Suburban.

¶ 12 Detective Hofner also met with Officer Harris to show him a photo montage of suspects. Officer Harris positively identified Knapp as the suspect. The following day, Officer Harris met Detective Hofner at Knapp's house. He positively identified Knapp as the person he had seen inside the Huggins' home. Officer Harris was absolutely certain that Knapp was the suspect he observed trying to climb out of the window of the house. Following Officer Harris's identification, Detective Hofner arrested Knapp.

¶ 13 At trial, the Knapp's defense theory was that during the incident, he was at Badgley's apartment helping her pack and prepare to move. He implied that his roommate *508 took his vehicle without permission and committed the burglary. Knapp testified on his own behalf, as did Badgley. The State's trial theory was that Knapp was the second suspect, spent the night in the Huggins' house, and contacted Detective Hofner the next day regarding his vehicle to provide an alibi. The jury convicted Knapp.

ANALYSIS

¶ 14 Knapp complains that the prosecutor committed misconduct by eliciting testimony that he exercised his right to remain silent and then relied on that testimony in closing argument. We agree.

¶ 15 A defendant claiming prosecutorial misconduct must show that the prosecutor's conduct was both improper and prejudicial. State v. Hughes, 118 Wash.App. 713, 727, 77 P.3d 681 (2003) (citing State v. Stenson, 132 Wash.2d 668, 718, 940 P.2d 1239 (1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1008, 118 S.Ct. 1193, 140 L.Ed.2d 323 (1998)), review denied, 151 Wash.2d 1039, 95 P.3d 758 (2004). Prejudice exists if there is a substantial likelihood that the misconduct affected the verdict. State v. McKenzie, 157 Wash.2d 44, 52, 134 P.3d 221 (2006). Where, as here, a defendant does not object or request a curative instruction, he has waived the error unless we find the remark "`so flagrant and ill-intentioned'" that no instruction could have cured the resulting prejudice. McKenzie, 157 Wash.2d at 52, 134 P.3d 221 (quoting State v. Brown, 132 Wash.2d 529, 561, 940 P.2d 546 (1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1007, 118 S.Ct. 1192, 140 L.Ed.2d 322).

¶ 16 During direct examination in this case, Detective Hofner testified that on November 15, an eyewitness (Blakeslee) positively identified Knapp as the second suspect.

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Bluebook (online)
199 P.3d 505, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-knapp-washctapp-2009.