State v. O'DONNELL

174 P.3d 1205
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedDecember 27, 2007
Docket25660-0-III
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 174 P.3d 1205 (State v. O'DONNELL) 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. O'DONNELL, 174 P.3d 1205 (Wash. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

174 P.3d 1205 (2007)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Eric Edward O'DONNELL, Appellant.

No. 25660-0-III.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3.

December 27, 2007.

*1208 Jordan Broome McCabe, Attorney at Law, Bellingham, WA, for Appellant.

Kevin Michael Korsmo, Attorney at Law, Spokane, WA, for Respondent.

KULIK, J.

¶ 1 Eric Edward O'Donnell appeals his conviction for first degree robbery. Mr. O'Donnell contends the trial court erred by omitting the words "in the presence of" in the "to convict" jury instructions and by failing to define "theft." Mr. O'Donnell also contends there was insufficient evidence to prove robbery. The State proved that Mr. O'Donnell took car keys from Kimberly Taylor. Thus, the alternative means of committing robbery — taking property in the presence of — was unnecessary. "Theft" has been held to be of sufficient common understanding and meaning and, thus, does not require definition. Finally, sufficient evidence supports the conviction. Accordingly, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2 Mr. O'Donnell was charged with first degree robbery by information, based on acts that occurred on March 7, 2006.

¶ 3 In the spring of 2006, Kimberly Taylor and Mr. O'Donnell took a trip to Oregon together. During the course of the trip, personal property belonging to Mr. O'Donnell ended up in Ms. Taylor's car. The property consisted of Mr. O'Donnell's personal effects and clothing. Ms. Taylor maintains that she was unable to return the property to Mr. O'Donnell after returning to Spokane.

¶ 4 On March 7, 2006, Mr. O'Donnell encountered Ms. Taylor outside the Sage Bar in Spokane. Ms. Taylor's car was parked behind the tavern in the Liberty Tire and Auto Service parking lot. When Ms. Taylor left the tavern to walk her dog, she was approached by Mr. O'Donnell.

¶ 5 Ms. Taylor testified that she and Mr. O'Donnell took a brief walk with her dog, but upon returning to her car, Mr. O'Donnell grabbed Ms. Taylor by the throat, pushed her up against the car, and stated: "this is how it was gonna be." Report of Proceedings (RP) at 40. Ms. Taylor assumed that Mr. O'Donnell was upset over the property. Ms. Taylor testified that while Mr. O'Donnell had one hand around her neck, he was grabbing for her car keys with the other. The keys were hooked to her belt loop. Ms. Taylor stated that she was scared and unable to breathe. Ms. Taylor unfastened her keys so that he would let go of her, fearing that if she did not give them to him "he'd probably kill me or rip my throat out." RP at 41. The choking left red marks and bruises on Ms. Taylor's neck. Photographs of the marks were taken by the police and were admitted into evidence.

¶ 6 Ms. Taylor said "[h]e wanted the keys to my car and, pretty much, he took them from me." RP at 40. After getting the keys, Mr. O'Donnell tried to take the dog out of Ms. Taylor's arms, but was unable to do so because Ms. Taylor resisted. Mr. O'Donnell then got in Ms. Taylor's vehicle and drove away.

¶ 7 Steven Liberty and Scott Box, employees of Liberty Tire, witnessed the incident and called the police. Mr. Liberty testified that he saw Mr. O'Donnell and Ms. Taylor yelling at each other, and saw Mr. O'Donnell holding Ms. Taylor by the neck. Mr. Liberty testified that after Mr. O'Donnell let go of Ms. Taylor, Mr. O'Donnell took the car. Mr. Liberty also testified that he saw fingerprints on Ms. Taylor's neck.

¶ 8 Detective Scott Anderson was assigned to investigate the incident. Detective Anderson visited two addresses listed for Mr. O'Donnell — 2700 and 2600 South Assembly. Ms. Taylor's car — with stolen license plates on it — was found one block from the 2700 South Assembly apartment complex. The *1209 detective made arrangements to have the vehicle towed. Thomas Tate, the tow truck driver, testified that when he arrived to tow the vehicle a man he identified as Mr. O'Donnell approached him. Mr. Tate testified that Mr. O'Donnell had the keys to the car and took out two or three boxes of tools.

¶ 9 Procedural History. Mr. O'Donnell was charged with first degree robbery. The information alleged that first degree robbery occurred when Mr. O'Donnell "with the intent to commit theft, did unlawfully take and retain personal property, that the defendant did not own, from the person and in the presence of KIMBERLY L. TAYLOR, against such person's will, by use or threatened use of immediate force, violence or fear of injury to said person . . . and in the commission of and immediate flight therefrom, the defendant inflicted bodily injury upon KIMBERLY L. TAYLOR." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 1 (emphasis added).

¶ 10 Jury Instructions. The trial court instructed the jury on first degree robbery and the lesser crime of second degree robbery. Specifically, the court gave the following "to convict" instructions at issue:

INSTRUCTION NO. 7
To convict the defendant of the crime of robbery in the first degree, each of the following elements of the crime must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt:
(1) That on or about the 7th day of March, 2006, the defendant unlawfully took personal property from the person of another;
(2) That the defendant intended to commit theft of the property;
(3) That the taking was against the person's will by the defendant's use or threatened use of immediate force, violence or fear of injury to that person;
(4) That force or fear was used by the defendant to obtain or retain possession of the property;
(5) That in the commission of these acts the defendant inflicted bodily injury; and
(6) That any of these acts occurred in the State of Washington.

CP at 20.

INSTRUCTION NO. 13
To convict the defendant of the crime of robbery in the second degree, each of the following elements of the crime must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt:
(1) That on or about the 7th day of March, 2006, the defendant unlawfully took personal property from the person of another;
(2) That the defendant intended to commit theft of the property;
(3) That the taking was against that person's will by the defendant's use or threatened use of immediate force, violence or fear of injury to that person;
(4) That force or fear was used by the defendant to obtain or retain possession of the property or to prevent or overcome resistance to the taking; and
(5) That any of these acts occurred in the State of Washington.

CP at 26.

¶ 11 The defense did not object to these jury instructions. The jury made a written inquiry to the court, "requesting further clarification of the legal description of INTENT." CP at 30. The trial court's response instructed the jury to "[p]lease reread your instructions." CP at 30.

ANALYSIS

¶ 12 To Convict Instruction. Mr. O'Donnell contends that the trial court erred by issuing defective "to convict" instructions to the jury and that these instructions were insufficient to support a conviction for first degree robbery. He argues the instructions were erroneous because they failed to include an essential element of the crime charged and because they included the additional element of "intent to commit theft."

¶ 13 Standard of Review. On appeal, challenges to jury instructions are reviewed de novo for errors of law. Griffin v. W. RS, Inc., 143 Wash.2d 81, 87, 18 P.3d 558 (2001).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
174 P.3d 1205, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-odonnell-washctapp-2007.