State v. Walker

118 P.3d 935, 129 Wash. App. 258
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided August 29, 2005·No. 54299-1-I, 54431-4-I·Published·Cited by 29 cases

Opinion

118 P.3d 935 (2005)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Michael Howard WALKER, Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Richard Lee Garrison, Appellant.

Nos. 54299-1-I, 54431-4-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

August 29, 2005.

*936 Dana M. Lind, Nielsen Broman & Koch PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Appellant Michael Howard Walker.

Dana Cashman, King County Prosecutor's Office, Seattle, WA, for Respondent State of Washington.

Sarah M. Hrobsky, Gregory C. Link, Washington Appellate Project, Seattle, for Appellant Richard Lee Garrison.

Carla B. Carlstrom, King County Prosecutor's Office, for Respondent State of Washington.

GROSSE, J.

¶ 1 After Crawford v. Washington,[1] testimonial hearsay is inadmissible unless the witness is unavailable and there was a prior opportunity to cross-examine with regard to the statement. A statement elicited in response to structured police questioning in the course of a police investigation as that involved here is testimonial. In contrast, the statements of an 11-year-old in response to the questions by her concerned mother, who sensed something was bothering her daughter, are not testimonial and not inadmissible under Crawford.

¶ 2 In addition, where a suspect has received Miranda[2] warnings the invocation of the right to remain silent must be clear and unequivocal in order to be effectual. Richard Garrison's statements to police that he did not want to incriminate himself while he continued to speak with them over several hours do not amount to a clear and unequivocal invocation.

¶ 3 We reverse the conviction of Michael Walker because the principal evidence against him was the testimonial hearsay of Steven Canady. We affirm Richard Garrison's convictions.

FACTS

State v. Walker

¶ 4 Michael Walker was charged with first degree assault against Steven Canady, allegedly occurring while both were housed in the King County jail. Walker was awaiting trial on two counts of first degree assault when, during an altercation with Canady, he allegedly *937 bit Canady in the face, removing a piece of skin.

¶ 5 At trial, several corrections officers testified, as well as the jail's nurse, but Canady did not testify. Nurse Susanne Strommer testified that she was handing out medication when Canady asked her a question about medication. She instructed him to fill out a form stating his concerns and that she would return to collect it. She testified that a few minutes later she saw out of her peripheral vision "a darker figure . . . flying through the air[.]"[3] When she finally focused on the scene she saw Canady sitting on top of Walker and noticed blood dripping from Canady's face.[4] She alerted Officer Dan Viscalla that the two inmates were fighting and she then "got right out of the way."[5]

¶ 6 Officer Viscalla responded to Strommer's report of a fight and testified that when he arrived he saw Walker straddling Canady and hitting his head to the floor.[6] At Officer Viscalla's direction, the two stopped fighting. Officer Viscalla testified that when Canady stood up, it looked like he had blood on his face. He did not see how the fight started or how Canady sustained his injury.

¶ 7 Officer Almond Braden also responded to the fight. When the fight ended he testified that he instructed Canady to exit the cell because he was bleeding badly from the face. He told Canady to have a seat in a chair and he got him a towel. Officer Braden then retrieved a piece of flesh from the cell floor and placed it in a paper cup.

¶ 8 Officer Kua Chasengnou was called to respond to the south wing of the jail. When he arrived, Canady was seated on a chair holding a towel to his neck. Canady told him several times that he had been bit. Officer Chasengnou then escorted Canady to triage. At trial, the jail's staff physician who treated Canady testified that Canady suffered from a bite wound to his face that went through all three layers of his skin.

¶ 9 Walker testified on his own behalf and told the jury that he had been sleeping and awoke to find Canady going through his property. He asked Canady what he was doing and Canady responded that he was looking for a pencil to fill out the form for the nurse. Walker explained that the two then exchanged words, including a few expletives, before Walker got up out of bed and went to go push the call button to request help from the officers. Walker testified that as he got out of bed to go push the call button Canady "socked [him] in the left temple region of [his] head."[7] Walker said he then blacked out and the next thing he remembered was sitting in the middle of the cell floor covered with blood.

¶ 10 Over defense objections, the trial court admitted Canady's version of events through Seattle Police Officer David Larrabee. Officer Larrabee initiated a police investigation by first interviewing inmates at the jail and then Canady at the hospital, some two hours after the incident. Officer Larrabee testified that during the interview, Canady told him the following:

[Officer Larrabee] A. He told me that it had all begun with him requesting a card to fill out regarding his medications that he was receiving and that with this card he needed something to write with and had gone to get a pencil from one of the bunks that he had borrowed the pencil from before, that he had gone over to get it and he stated that he was complaining out loud to himself something about not being able to see very well and complaining that he had to fill out the card and that he then was encountered by Mr. Walker and —
[Prosecutor] Q. I'm sorry, what do you mean by — Well, tell me what he said about it?
. . .
[Officer Larrabee] A. He stated that Mr. Walker had told him to stop his [expletive] whining.
[Prosecutor] Q. All right. What did he tell you next?
*938 [Officer Larrabee] A. Uhm — He then explained to me that they had exchanged FU's back and forth and that Walker jumped out, took a swing at them with a left fist; that he was able to block it, and at that time Walker then was trying to put his eyes out with his fingers, and during that Walker was not being successful in poking his eyes, so that he grabbed a hold of him, brought him in close to him; that's when he felt him latch onto his face.
[Prosecutor] Q. All right. What did he tell you next?
[Officer Larrabee] A. That they went falling over a bunk and once he had gotten out he knew that he had a wound to his face.[8]

The court allowed this testimony under the excited utterance hearsay exception.

¶ 11 Walker was convicted of first degree assault. He now appeals his conviction, arguing that the admission of Canady's out-of-court statement to Officer Larrabee violated his confrontation rights under Crawford. He also appeals the admission of testimony about his prior convictions, claims his counsel was ineffective, and argues the court erred in imposing consecutive sentences.

State v. Garrison

¶ 12 On September 28, 2003, 11-year-old C.M. returned home after spending the weekend at her grandfather Richard Garrison'

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State v. Walker, 118 P.3d 935, 129 Wash. App. 258 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).

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