State v. Releford

148 Wash. App. 478
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 2, 2009
DocketNo. 59701-9-I
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 148 Wash. App. 478 (State v. Releford) 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. Releford, 148 Wash. App. 478 (Wash. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Dwyer, A.C.J.

¶1 In order to establish that a foreign conviction was for an offense comparable to a Washington felony, the State need not independently prove those facts related to the foreign conviction that were admitted by the defendant. Here, Terrence Releford was twice convicted in Oklahoma of burglary in the second degree based on guilty pleas. In Oklahoma at the time of Releford’s guilty pleas, such a plea constituted an admission of “the facts pleaded in the Information.” Collins v. State, 1974 OK CR 79, 521 P.2d 826, 828. The information in each of the two cases in [483]*483which Releford entered guilty pleas alleged that he entered a business and a residence, respectively, for purposes of committing a theft — facts that would support burglary convictions in Washington. Notwithstanding this, Releford asserts that the State failed to prove that his Oklahoma burglary convictions were for offenses factually comparable to Washington burglary offenses because the State did not independently prove that Releford entered buildings but, instead, relied on certified copies of the Oklahoma informations to do so. We disagree that this was improper and explicitly announce that the State may prove factual comparability by producing certified copies of foreign charging documents and evidence that the defendant pleaded guilty if the law of the state wherein the defendant entered the plea, at the time of the plea, provided that such a plea constituted an admission of the facts alleged in the charging documents.

¶2 Releford also contends that his conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm must be reversed because the antique replica gun he was found carrying was missing certain components, because the jury instructions in his trial were erroneous in various ways, and because his trial counsel’s performance did not meet constitutional expectations. Finding these additional arguments also meritless, we affirm.

I

¶3 Jason Scamman was driving a car when he saw a man whom he later identified as Releford walking down the street carrying a backpack that closely resembled a backpack that Scamman owned. Assuming the similarity to be a coincidence, Scamman continued home.

¶4 When he arrived, Scamman discovered that his apartment had been burglarized while he was away. Several items were missing, including his backpack. He immediately returned to the area where he had just seen Releford, where he observed Releford waiting at a bus stop.

[484]*484¶5 Scamman then called the police, with whom he continued to speak as he saw Releford board a bus, still carrying the backpack. As the bus pulled away, Scamman followed it in his car. Soon afterward, the police radioed the driver of the bus, who stopped the vehicle. As police officers approached the stopped bus, Releford disembarked and began walking through a nearby parking lot.

¶6 The officers followed Releford and stopped him. One officer asked Releford whether the backpack belonged to him, to which Releford responded that it did not. Releford informed the officer that he had found the backpack behind a gas station.

¶7 Another officer asked Releford what was in the backpack. Releford began, “Well, there is some . . .” but then paused and stated, “Man I don’t have any idea what is in that backpack. I didn’t even open it to look.”

¶8 While this was happening, Scamman returned to his apartment. A brief inventory showed that the backpack, two pistols, and a DVD (digital video disk) were missing. Scamman then returned to the scene where Releford was detained, positively identified Releford and the backpack, and identified the two pistols and the DVD that police officers found inside as being his.

|9 Both of the pistols were antique replicas. Scamman described one as a “.45 caliber flintlock pistol.” He had ordered this pistol as a kit from a business on the Internet and had assembled it himself. The other pistol was also an antique replica but was only partially assembled.

¶10 Releford was charged with possession of a stolen firearm (count I), unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree (count II), and unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree (count III).1 As alternative predicate offenses for the charge on count II, the State alleged that Releford had previously been convicted twice in Oklahoma [485]*485of burglary in the second degree and once in California of sale or transportation of a controlled substance. As the predicate offense for the charge on count III, the State alleged that Releford had previously been convicted in Washington of possession of stolen property in the second degree.

¶11 At trial, the State presented evidence of these prior convictions, to which Releford objected, arguing that the out-of-state convictions were for offenses not comparable to Washington felony offenses for purposes of unlawful possession of a firearm. The parties agreed that whether the prior convictions were comparable was a legal issue to be determined by the court as a predicate to its ruling on the admissibility of the certified records of the convictions for purposes of the State’s proving that the convictions had actually occurred. Based on the combination of the Oklahoma charging documents and Releford’s guilty pleas to the crimes that they alleged, the court ruled that Releford’s Oklahoma convictions were comparable to serious offenses in Washington for purposes of admitting the certified records. At trial, these records were introduced, along with fingerprint evidence linking Releford to the convictions.

¶12 The jury was instructed that, in order for it to convict Releford of unlawfully possessing a firearm in the first degree, the State was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Releford had “previously been convicted of. . . Burglary Second Degree (Oklahoma Case No. CF-00-262), which is a serious offense; OR . . . Burglary Second Degree (Oklahoma Case No. CF-00-279), which is a serious offense.” The jury instructions also stated that “Burglary Second Degree, as defined by Oklahoma law, is a 'serious offense’ in the State of Washington.”

¶13 The jury acquitted Releford of count I but found him guilty of having committed both count II and count III. In sentencing Releford, the trial court stated that it would not enter judgment on count III because “[t]he two offenses [count II and count III] only constitute one conviction.” The [486]*486court then entered judgment on count II only, sentencing Releford accordingly.

¶14 Releford appeals.

II

¶15 Releford first contends that the State put forth insufficient evidence to establish that his prior Oklahoma burglary convictions were for offenses comparable to “serious offense [s]” in Washington. Thus, according to Releford, those convictions could not be used as the predicate offenses required to prove that his possession of a firearm was unlawful. Releford contends that this is so because the State was not entitled to rely on Releford’s guilty pleas to the offenses as alleged in the Oklahoma charging documents, and thus failed to demonstrate that the burglary convictions were factually comparable to Washington burglary convictions. However, under Oklahoma law at the time Releford entered his guilty pleas, such a plea admitted the facts alleged in the information.

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Bluebook (online)
148 Wash. App. 478, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-releford-washctapp-2009.