State v. Stinton

89 P.3d 717
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 4, 2004
Docket29474-5-II
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 89 P.3d 717 (State v. Stinton) 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. Stinton, 89 P.3d 717 (Wash. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

89 P.3d 717 (2004)
121 Wash.App. 569

STATE of Washington, Appellant,
v.
Matthew Allen STINTON, Respondent.

No. 29474-5-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

May 4, 2004.

*718 Eleanor Marie Couto, Longview, WA, for Respondent.

Michelle L. Shaffer, Cowlitz Co. Pros. Attorney Office, Kelso, WA, for Appellant.

SEINFELD, J.

The trial court dismissed a residential burglary charge against Matthew A. Stinton, reasoning that the State lacked proof of Stinton's intent to commit a crime inside the victim's home, as required under RCW 9A.52.025. The State had argued that Stinton's harassment of the victim inside her home in violation of a protection order constituted proof of this element of residential burglary. The State appealed, and we now reverse and remand for trial, holding that the violation of a provision of a protection order can serve as the predicate crime for residential burglary.

FACTS

Tyna McNeill and Stinton lived together with their two children. In October 2001, the Cowlitz County Superior Court issued a valid protection order prohibiting Stinton from harassing contact with McNeill and excluding him from the residence.

Later that month, Stinton went to McNeill's residence. Apparently McNeill was home and she consented to Stinton's visit. But when Stinton began taking personal property that McNeil claimed she owned, McNeill objected and asked Stinton to leave.

Stinton eventually went outside, but he applied force to the door to prevent McNeill from shutting and locking it. Although McNeill warned Stinton that she would call the police, Stinton continued pushing. Finally he broke the door by kicking it; he then reentered the residence.

McNeill again told Stinton to leave, but Stinton refused. The two continued to argue and, eventually, McNeill called 911 for assistance. In response, Stinton twice stated to McNeill, "Thanks a lot Tyna, this is a felony." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 7.

The State charged Stinton with residential burglary and violation of a protection order. Stinton moved to dismiss the residential burglary charge under State v. Knapstad, 107 Wash.2d 346, 729 P.2d 48 (1986), contending that the State could not prove the "crime therein" element of residential burglary. The State responded that Stinton's violation of the protection order provision against harassing McNeill served as the predicate crime for residential burglary.[1]

The trial court granted Stinton's Knapstad motion and dismissed the residential burglary charge, reasoning that "the alleged violation of the valid protection order inside the residence, does not constitute a crime against persons or property" and that this violation did not satisfy the "intent to commit a crime therein as defined by the burglary statute." CP at 22. The State appeals.[2]

ANALYSIS

I. REVIEW OF KNAPSTAD MOTION

To prevail on a Knapstad motion, the defendant must show that "there are no *719 material disputed facts and the undisputed facts do not establish a prima facie case of guilt." 107 Wash.2d at 356, 729 P.2d 48. A trial court may dismiss a criminal charge if the State's pleadings and evidence fail to establish prima facie proof of all elements of the charged crime. State v. Sullivan, 143 Wash.2d 162, 171 n. 32, 19 P.3d 1012 (2001).

Our review of a Knapstad motion is similar to our review for sufficiency of the evidence. State v. Jackson, 82 Wash.App. 594, 607-08, 918 P.2d 945 (1996). "An appellate court will uphold the trial court's dismissal of a charge pursuant to a Knapstad motion if no rational finder of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt the essential elements of the crime." State v. Snedden, 112 Wash.App. 122, 127, 47 P.3d 184 (2002), affirmed, 149 Wash.2d 914, 73 P.3d 995 (2003); see also State v. Groom, 133 Wash.2d 679, 693, 947 P.2d 240 (1997) (appellate review of a Knapstad motion "does not include deciding whose version of events is correct," but concerns whether the State has established "a prima facie case of guilt.").

II. RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY CHARGE

Residential burglary has two elements: "[ (1) ] intent to commit a crime against a person or property therein, [and (2) ] the person enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling other than a vehicle." RCW 9A.52.025. Although the State's evidence must independently satisfy both elements, "the Legislature has adopted a permissive inference to establish the requisite intent whenever the evidence shows a person enters or remains unlawfully in a building." State v. Grimes, 92 Wash.App. 973, 980 n. 2, 966 P.2d 394 (1998) (citing RCW 9A.52.040 and State v. Brunson, 128 Wash.2d 98, 107, 905 P.2d 346 (1995)). But this permissive inference does not relieve the State from meeting its evidentiary burden to prove a defendant's intent to commit a crime therein; "[t]he standard of proof regarding a permissive inference is more likely than not." Snedden, 112 Wash.App. at 127, 47 P.3d 184; see also Brunson, 128 Wash.2d at 111, 905 P.2d 346 ("We can perceive of few, if any, cases in which intent to commit a crime would not have a rational connection to unlawful entry into a building.") (citations omitted).

At the Knapstad hearing, the court reviewed a stipulation that contained a summary of the State's evidence of Stinton's intent to commit a crime in McNeill's residence:

13. The State contends that the "crime therein" for the purposes of this Residential Burglary allegation is violating the No Contact Order by intending to contact Tyna McNeill. The State's theory is that this direct personal contact with Ms. McNeill inside the residence is a violation that is separate from the violation of the provision that prohibited the defendant coming to and entering the residence.
14. The contact included having a harassing and argumentative confrontation with Ms. McNeil after entering the home that second time, a home which he was not supposed to enter in the first place.

CP at 7 (emphasis added).

Thus, the issue before us is whether, as a matter of law, Stinton's alleged violation of the protection order provision that restrained him from harassing contact with McNeill can serve as the predicate crime for residential burglary.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
89 P.3d 717, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stinton-washctapp-2004.