State v. Richards

109 Wash. App. 648
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedDecember 28, 2001
DocketNo. 26130-8-II
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 109 Wash. App. 648 (State v. Richards) 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. Richards, 109 Wash. App. 648 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Quinn-Brintnall, J.

— Steven Ivor Richards TV appeals his conviction of two counts of forgery (Count I and Count II), arguing that the State provided insufficient evidence to support either count and that the trial court erred in allowing the State to file an amended information after the speedy trial period expired. We reverse in part, finding insufficient evidence to support Count I, but affirm the forgery conviction alleged in Count II of the amended information.

[650]*650Facts

On June 10, 1997, Washington State Patrol Trooper Jacob McMillen was on routine patrol when he saw a motorcycle lying on its side at the edge of the road. When McMillen approached, Richards and a woman were standing beside the motorcycle.

When McMillen asked Richards if he had a driver’s license, Richards presented a laminated Idaho license with the name “Kyle A. Richardson” typed and signed on it. McMillen examined it and thought that the photo and physical description matched Richards.

McMillen subsequently arrested Richards for driving under the influence (DUI) and took him to the Kitsap County Jail. McMillen filled out a uniform traffic citation for driving under the influence and asked Richards to sign it in the space indicated. In printed text above the signature block, the citation stated, “Without admitting having committed each of the above offense or offenses, I promise to respond as directed on this notice.” Report of Proceedings (May 23, 2000) at 28-29. Richards signed the citation using the name “Kyle Richardson.” After being photographed and fingerprinted, he was released.

After Richards failed to appear in court on the DUI citation, the court issued a bench warrant in the name of “Kyle Richardson.” After receiving the warrant, the real Richardson called McMillen and said that he had never been to Kitsap County and had not been arrested for DUI. McMillen asked him to forward a copy of his driver’s license, which Richardson did. Although the copy was of poor quality, McMillen wrote in a report that the photo on the license did not appear to be the person he had arrested for DUI.

McMillen then had Richards’s fingerprints processed and discovered his true identity as well as the fact that he was wanted on outstanding warrants. Richards was arrested in Kitsap County on March 16, 2000, and was charged with forging a Washington uniform traffic citation.

[651]*651On May 2, 2000, Richards waived his speedy trial rights through May 29, 2000, and agreed to a trial date of May 22, 2000. The omnibus order entered on May 2 specified that further arraignment would be on May 17, 2000, and Richards was aware of the further arraignment contemplated by the order. On May 17, the further arraignment was set over to the day of trial.

Richards filed a Knapstad1 motion to dismiss, alleging that the citation was not a written instrument and that signing the promise to appear with a false name did not constitute forgery. The trial court denied the motion.

On May 22, 2000, the State filed an amended information that added a second count of forgery based on Richards’s presentation of a driver’s license bearing Kyle Richardson’s name. Defense counsel had been provided a copy of the amended information on May 17.

Richards objected to his May 23 arraignment on the amended information on the grounds that the new charge violated the speedy trial rule. The court overruled his objection.

Richards waived his right to a jury and the case was tried to the court. At trial, McMillen testified to the facts cited above, except with regard to the faxed license from Richardson. Although the trial court ruled that the faxed copy of the Richardson license was inadmissible, it allowed the following exchange between the prosecutor and McMillen concerning that copy:

Q. Detective, based upon your review of the facsimile — and you had testified earlier that it had a photocopy of a driver’s license as page two — do you have an opinion about whether the license handed to you on June 10th, 1997, is the same or different from the license that was faxed to you?
A. I don’t recall.
[652]*652Q. You don’t recall whether you have an opinion, or you don’t recall any difference?
A. The night of the arrest, I examined the driver’s license, was satisfied that the person I had matched the driver’s license, and didn’t spend any time, you know, in great detail, studying the driver’s license.
Q. And do you recall whether that license — whether the picture in that license was any different from the picture that you received via facsimile?
A. I don’t recall a difference in the photo.

Report of Proceedings (May 23, 2000) at 46-47. After McMillen testified, the State introduced a fingerprint expert who stated that Richards’s fingerprints were on the fingerprint card bearing Richardson’s name. The defense did not present any witnesses, and the court found Richards guilty as charged.

At the hearing on the entry of the trial court’s written findings and conclusions in support of the convictions, Richards challenged the court’s finding that the photo on the license “matched” him. Richards also asked the court to reconsider its finding of guilt relating to the corresponding count. The court postponed entry of the findings as well as a ruling on the motion for reconsideration and ordered that a report of proceedings of the trooper’s testimony be prepared.

After examining the transcript and hearing argument, the trial court denied Richards’s motion for reconsideration but amended its written findings to state that the photo “appeared to match” Richards. Report of Proceedings (June 7, 2000) at 6-7. The court then imposed, a standard range sentence of six months. Richards now appeals.

Analysis

I

Richards argues initially that the trial court erred in denying his Knapstad motion to dismiss the forgery count involving the uniform traffic citation.

[653]*653The State responds correctly that a defendant who goes to trial cannot appeal the denial of a Knapstad motion, which is a pretrial challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. State v. Jackson, 82 Wn. App. 594, 608, 918 P.2d 945 (1996). Although the defendant is not barred from a subsequent challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, such a claim will be analyzed as a challenge to the evidence produced at trial. See Jackson, 82 Wn. App. at 608.

Evidence is sufficient to support a conviction if, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, it permits any rational trier of fact to find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Salinas, 119 Wn.2d 192, 201, 829 P.2d 1068 (1992). “A claim of insufficiency admits the truth of the State’s evidence and all inferences that reasonably can be drawn therefrom.” Salinas, 119 Wn.2d at 201.

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Bluebook (online)
109 Wash. App. 648, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-richards-washctapp-2001.