State v. Lansdowne

111 Wash. App. 882
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 28, 2002
DocketNos. 20381-6-III; 20382-4-III; 20385-9-III
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 111 Wash. App. 882 (State v. Lansdowne) 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. Lansdowne, 111 Wash. App. 882 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

Kurtz, J.

Jacqueline and Mark Lansdowne were separately charged with unlawful imprisonment. The charges arise out of their contact with an insurance inspector who unexpectedly appeared at their home. In a separate incident, Jacqueline Lansdowne was charged with one count of telephone harassment for calling her daughter’s school and threatening one of the teachers. The trial court granted the Lansdownes’ Knapstad1 motion to dismiss all of the charges ruling that, based upon the material undisputed facts, the State could not establish prima facie cases for the charges. We reverse both the dismissal of the unlawful imprisonment counts and the dismissal of the telephone harassment count.

FACTS

Allstate Insurance Company contracts with Gina Lohman as an independent insurance inspector. For that purpose, Allstate asked Ms. Lohman to inspect a house located at 199 Alpowa Creek Road, near the city of Pomeroy, [885]*885Washington. Due to the property’s rural address, Ms. Lohman was unable to locate the house. Seeking assistance, she stopped in front of another house located on Alpowa Creek Road.

She approached a man, who was gardening in front of the house. Before she could obtain any information from the man, Mark Lansdowne approached Ms. Lohman. Mr. Lansdowne reacted to her inquiry by becoming “very upset” and agitated.2 According to Ms. Lohman, Mr. Lansdowne said “[you’re] not leaving here without giving me your business card.”3 Mr. Lansdowne frightened Ms. Lohman because he was “so confrontational.”4

As it turned out, the Lansdownes were the owners of the house that Ms. Lohman was sent to inspect. The fact that Ms. Lohman had been sent to inspect the house infuriated Mr. Lansdowne. He stated “I want names [sic] of the people who told you to come out here and I want the names right fucking now.”5 Although Ms. Lohman’s initial contact with Mr. Lansdowne frightened her, she pulled into the Lansdownes’ driveway and accompanied him into the Lansdownes’ house. Jacqueline Lansdowne called her insurance agent, Nancy Martinez, and spoke to Ms. Martinez in Ms. Lohman’s presence.

The content and tenor of this telephone call caused Ms. Lohman to become concerned that she would be harmed if she attempted to leave the house. Ms. Lohman stated:

When I walked through into the living room Jacquie was on the phone with the Agent and was quite upset[.] Jacquie asked the Agent why they were not informed that I would be coming out[.] [S]he stated this girl is not leaving here alive if you cannot give me a damn good reason why she’s here. I was so scared at this point I felt like fainting. Jacquie looked at me and said set [sic] down. I sat down on the couch, and I was [886]*886planning a way to escape if the situation got any worse. . . . Jacquie then tells the [A] gent why weren’t we told about this [home inspection], [“]you know I pack a gun, I’m a bitch, and you know the type of people we are.[”]

Clerk’s Papers (CP) (No. 20381-6-III) at 48. She further stated, “these people said that I wasn’t going to leave the house alive”6 and, “I was thinking I’m not going to get out of here alive.”7

According to Ms. Lohman, Mr. Lansdowne heard his wife’s conversation with the insurance agent and he also talked to the insurance agent. While Mr. Lansdowne was on the phone, Ms. Lansdowne told Ms. Lohman that “she had been with the U.S. Marshals Service.”8 Ms. Lohman stated, “The first thing that came to my mind is she [knows] how to shoot and she [knows] how to hit a target. . . .”9 Although Ms. Lohman never saw anyone with a gun, this conversation and all that had preceded it convinced Ms. Lohman that the Lansdownes had access to guns.

After the Lansdownes talked to their insurance agent, they agreed to have their property inspected. Ms. Lohman then followed Mr. Lansdowne in her car as he led her to the inspection site. Thereafter, Ms. Lohman reported the incident to her supervisor, who then called Kim Redmond, the supervisor at Allstate’s Regional Office. Mr. Redmond informed Ms. Martinez that one of his inspectors had called in tears, reporting that she had been threatened by the Lansdownes. The next day, Ms. Lohman called the police and filed a report.

In a sworn statement submitted in support of the motion, Ms. Martinez confirmed that she had received a telephone call from Ms. Lansdowne regarding the insurance inspector’s unexpected visit, but her recollection of the call differed significantly from Ms. Lohman’s report. Specifically, she denied that there was anything threatening about her [887]*887conversation with Ms. Lansdowne, which she recalled as “joking, laughing, sounded like they were having a big party.” CP (No. 20381-6-III) at 59. She denied talking to Mr. Lansdowne. In the findings of fact, the trial court noted that Ms. Martinez’s statement contradicted Ms. Lohman’s statement.

In a separate incident, Ms. Lansdowne called her daughter’s school because one of the teachers had taken away her daughter’s cell phone. She spoke to Del McKinley, a school secretary. Ms. Lansdowne stated that if the teacher, Toddette McGreevy, so much as touched that phone, she would “send someone to beat the shit out of Mrs. McGreevy.”10 She said she would “nail her to the cross and set fire to it” and “take care of that bitch.” 11 She also said that “Mrs. McGreevy had better not touch my child or I will personally see that the bitch pays for it.”12

On April 4, 2001, Jacqueline and Mark Lansdowne were separately charged by informations with one count of unlawful imprisonment. On May 3, the informations were amended to add deadly weapon allegations, pursuant to former RCW 9.94A.125 (1983). Also on April 4, Ms. Lansdowne was charged by information with one count of telephone harassment. The trial court held a hearing on a defense’s motion to dismiss all three cases. The court subsequently granted the defense motions by written orders.

The State appeals. This court ordered all three cases consolidated for appeal pursuant to RAP 3.3(b).

ANALYSIS

Dismissal of Unlawful Imprisonment Charges. The State challenges the orders of dismissal, contending that the trial court failed to comply with the requirements of a [888]*888Knapstad13 hearing. In State v. Knapstad, 107 Wn.2d 346, 352, 729 P.2d 48 (1986), the Supreme Court noted that a trial court has inherent power to dismiss a criminal prosecution for insufficiency of the charge. In recognition of that power, the Knapstad court held that a trial court may entertain a pretrial motion to dismiss if there are no material disputed facts and the undisputed facts do not establish a prima facie case of guilt. State v. Dunn, 82 Wn. App. 122, 125, 916 P.2d 952 (1996) (citing Knapstad, 107 Wn.2d at 356).

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111 Wash. App. 882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lansdowne-washctapp-2002.