State v. Sells

271 P.3d 952, 166 Wash. App. 918
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMarch 5, 2012
DocketNo. 67635-1-I
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 271 P.3d 952 (State v. Sells) 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. Sells, 271 P.3d 952, 166 Wash. App. 918 (Wash. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Grosse, J.

¶1 Where the proof establishes the theft of a credit card in the name of both an institution and an individual, the subsequent use of that card to obtain goods or services falls within the ambit of the crime of identity theft as that has been defined by the legislature. Here, those are the facts of the case. We affirm.

FACTS

¶2 On July 15, 2010, an employee of the North Beach School District (District) discovered that the District’s offices had been burglarized and that three credit cards were missing from a locked cabinet: a Sears card, an Office Depot card, and a Visa card. The Sears card and the Office Depot card were issued in the name of the North Beach School District; the Visa card was issued in the names of both the District and Stanley Pinnick, the district superintendent.

[922]*922¶3 The same morning, the Visa card bearing the name of the District and Pinnick was used at an AM/PM store in Aberdeen. An employee of the store testified that William Sells Jr. and another man came into the store several times and attempted to use the Visa card. When Sells was unable to produce identification, the store manager refused to allow Sells to use the card a second time. A Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Department detective obtained the surveillance tape from the AM/PM store, which showed Sells and another person making purchases at the store.

¶4 The same morning, the Visa card was used to purchase gas and propane at a Valero station in Aberdeen. An employee of the station testified that Sells was the person who used the card. Later the same day, the Visa card was used at the America’s Diner in Aberdeen. A waitress testified that Sells was eating at the restaurant with another man and used the Visa card to pay the bill. Another witness testified that she saw the man shown on the AM/PM surveillance tape, an acquaintance of hers, having breakfast with another man (Sells) at the diner.

¶5 Three days later, the detective went to Sells’ home and searched Sells’ truck. He found the receipts from the AM/PM transaction and the America’s Diner transaction in the cab of the truck. He also found the District’s Office Depot card and the Sears card in the glove box of Sells’ truck. The Visa card was never found.

¶6 The State charged Sells with one count of second degree identity theft (using the Visa card with Pinnick’s name on it) and two counts of second degree possession of stolen property (the Sears card and the Office Depot card). The matter went to trial and, during closing argument, Sells’ counsel conceded guilt on the possession of stolen property charges. The jury found Sells guilty on all three counts.

¶7 The trial court sentenced Sells to the high end of the standard range on both counts and ordered the sentences to [923]*923run consecutively pursuant to RCW 9.94A.535(2)(c).1 The court denied Sells credit for time served.

ANALYSIS

Sufficiency of the Evidence

¶8 Sells argues that the evidence was not sufficient to convict him of second degree identity theft. We review a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to determine whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, any rational trier of fact could have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.2 A claim of insufficiency admits the truth of the State’s evidence as well as all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from that evidence.3 We defer to the trier of fact on the issue of the persuasiveness of the evidence.4

¶9 The identity theft statute prohibits the possession or use of a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit a crime.5 Second degree identity theft involves credit, money, goods, services, or anything else of value less than $1,500.6 A “means of identification” for purposes of the identity theft statute means information [924]*924or an item that is not describing finances or credit, but is personal to or identifiable with an individual or other person, including a person’s name.7 The phrase “another person” as used in the identity theft statute requires proof that the identification or financial information belongs to a real person.8 Actual use of the means of identification is not required in order to convict.9

¶10 Sells argues that the evidence is insufficient because identity theft requires evidence that a person intentionally obtain another person’s identifying information for the purpose of using that information to commit a crime. He argues that the evidence is insufficient because there is no evidence that he intended to either obtain Pinnick’s name or use Pinnick’s name in the commission of a crime. In effect, Sells is arguing that in order to be guilty of identity theft as charged, the State had to prove that when he used the Visa card to purchase goods or services, Sells affirmatively represented to the vendor that he was Stanley Pinnick. In support of his argument, he relies on this court’s opinion in State v. Berry.10 But that case does not support his argument. In Berry, the certification for the determination of probable cause alleged that the defendant presented a driver’s license in the name of Timothy J. Davis and filled out a business check in the business account of [925]*925“ ‘Computech dba. Tim J. Davis.’ ”11 The account holder information and routing number on the check were fictitious, but the checking account number was a valid checking account held by a person named Herb Paulson. Thus, the only real person involved was Paulson, but Berry was charged with using a means of identification or financial information (the driver’s license) in the name of Timothy Davis, a fictitious person. The court determined that because Berry was not charged with stealing the identity of a specific, real person, the certification did not and could not provide a factual basis for Berry’s guilty plea and that the trial court accordingly erred in denying Berry’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Here, unlike in Berry, Sells was charged with stealing the identity of a specific, real person, namely Pinnick. Berry does not, as Sells asserts, compel the reversal of his conviction of second degree identity theft. Sells cites no other authority to support his argument.

¶11 The Visa card bearing Pinnick’s name constitutes a means of identification of Pinnick. The evidence showed that Sells knowingly possessed the Visa card. He used the Visa card with the intent of obtaining goods and services by depriving the cardholder of the funds used to pay for these goods and services. Accordingly, the evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the State, was sufficient to allow a rational trier of fact to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt on the identity theft charge.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

¶12 Sells argues that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request a jury instruction on third degree theft as a lesser included offense of second degree identity theft. The threshold issue is whether Sells was entitled to a jury instruction on third degree theft.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
271 P.3d 952, 166 Wash. App. 918, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sells-washctapp-2012.