State of Washington v. Benjamin Santos Castro ( 2016 )

FILED
SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
In the Office of the Clerk of Court
WA State Court of Appeals, Division III
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
DIVISION THREE
STATE OF WASHINGTON, )
) No. 33279-9-111
Respondent, )
)
v. )
)
BENJAMIN SANTOS CASTRO, ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION
)
Appellant. )
FEARING, C.J. - Law enforcement officers arrested Benjamin Castro while he
occupied a stolen car. Officers found methamphetamine and sundry burglary tools inside
the car. A jury convicted Castro of possessing a stolen vehicle, making or having
burglary tools, two counts of second degree possession of stolen property, and possession
of a controlled substance. On appeal, Castro contends the jury heard insufficient
evidence to convict him of possessing burglary tools, the prosecutor committed
misconduct in her closing statement, and the trial court gave an erroneous jury instruction
on reasonable doubt. We agree that Castro's conviction for possessing burglary tools
must be dismissed for lack of evidence. We reject his other contentions and affirm the
remaining convictions.
No. 33279-9-111
State v. Castro
FACTS
Benjamin Castro and Kayla Clark met during a methamphetamine and alcohol
party, on the evening of December 12, 2013. Both Clark and Castro imbibed
methamphetamine at the gathering. That same night the two decided to travel from
Tacoma to Montana to visit Clark's family.
At the end of the December 12 party, Benjamin Castro and Kayla Clark, with
passenger Tiny Mack, journeyed in a stolen Mitsubishi Outlander, from Tacoma.
According to Clark, she knew, but did not inform Castro, that the Outlander was stolen.
Upon commencement of the lengthy trek, Clark placed two bags ofmethamphetamine on
the front passenger seat.
Benjamin Castro and Kayla Clark left Tiny Mack in North Bend. The two, with
Castro driving, traveled across Snoqualmie Pass and on to Cle Elum during the early
morning of December 13. Castro and Clark stopped for the night in Cle Elum because
the duo found no gas station in the Cascades foothills town open in the early morning
hours. Castro pulled the Outlander into a Best Western Hotel parking lot.
Around 3: 15 a.m., Cle Elum Police Officer Nicholas Burson responded to a
request from the Cle Elum Best Western Hotel to direct the driver of a car parked in its
parking lot to move the car. Officer Burson pulled his patrol car behind the white
Outlander and typed the car's license plate into his computer. The computer replied with
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State v. Castro
a notice that the car was stolen. Officer Burson pulled his patrol car away from the
Outlander and waited for assistance.
Kittitas County Sheriff Deputy Mike McKean, Washington State Troopers Paul
Bloom and Don Farrell, and Ellensburg Police Officer Drew Haulk arrived at the Cle
Elum Best Western. Deputy McKean blocked the egress of the stolen white Outlander
with his patrol car, activated the patrol car's emergency lights, and ordered the occupants
of the Outlander to exit the vehicle. Benjamin Castro placed the Outlander's keys on the
roof of the car and exited the car through the driver's door. Officers restrained Castro
and placed him in the back seat of a patrol car. Kayla Clark also exited the car from the
passenger's side, and officers handcuffed her.
Officer Nicholas Burson approached the Mitsubishi Outlander to determine if
other persons occupied the car. The car doors remained open. Burson espied, on the
front passenger's seat, two small bags of a white crystal substance that he identified as
methamphetamine.
Officers placed Benjamin Castro and Kayla Clark under arrest. When arresting
Castro, Officer Burson asked Castro ifhe possessed any sharp objects in his pockets
before frisking him. Castro stated he possessed a needle. Burson removed a capped used
hypodermic needle in a Sharps container from Castro's front right pants pocket. Burson
also found, in Benjamin Castro's pants pocket, a spring-loaded window punch. The
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State v. Castro
punch, when placed against a car window and released, shatters the window. Burson also
removed, from Castro's pockets, credit cards and a debit card belonging to Jessie Prince.
Law enforcement contacted a tow truck company, and a tow truck removed the
Mitsubishi Outlander from the hotel parking lot to the Cle Elum Police Department
evidence lot. Officer Nicholas Burson sought and obtained a warrant to search the
Outlander. Burson confiscated, from inside the car, a Taser stun gun, bolt cutters, a
wallet belonging to Jessie Price, a purple bag with its padlock cut, two laptop computers,
a Taurus Airsoft handgun with the orange tip removed, and a North Face backpack.
Burson opened the backpack and discovered therein Benjamin Castro's credit cards, bolt
cutters, pliers, handcuffs, various keys, a shim, colored stones, all-terrain vehicles (ATV)
keys, receipts showing use of Jessie Prince's credit cards, binoculars, screwdriver, a
leatherman tool, gloves, magnet, wrench, wire snips, a fixed-blade knife, wrenches, a
. .
pocketknife, and two bags of methamphetamine.
PROCEDURE
The State of Washington charged Benjamin Castro with possession of a stolen
vehicle, possession of stolen property in the second degree, possession of
methamphetamine, and possession of burglary tools. On the first day of trial, the State
amended its information to add a second count of possession of stolen property in the
second degree.
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State v. Castro
During trial, Officer Nicholas Burson listed all of the objects he found inside the
Outlander, including the objects found in the North Face backpack. During direct
examination, Officer Burson testified:
Q. Do you have any training in able [sic] to recognize the types of
tools that are used in burglaries?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Where did you get that training?
A. In the Academy.
Q. Okay. And are they consistent with the tools that are in this?
A. Yes, they are. These would often be used to cut a padlock or
some sort of wire of a larger gauge. This is for popping doors or getting in
windows or anything like that.
Q. And gloves?
A. And these we use. Gloves, yeah, to conceal fingerprints.
Report of Proceedings (RP) (Mar. 10, 2015) at 88.
During trial testimony, Officer Nicholas Burson testified that one uses a window
punch, such as found in Benjamin Castro's pocket, by placing the punch "to a window
and pull[ing] and releas[ing] and it shatters the window." RP (Mar. 10, 2015) at 60.
Officer Burson added that the punch breaks any window including house windows.
Burson also declared that the confiscated bolt cutters "cut locks or a chainlink fence or
anything metal." RP (Mar. 10, 2015) at 68. Officer Burson averred that "the edges [of
found keys] ... worn off them so they can be slipped inside more ignitions than they're
supposed to, and you can kind of jiggle them and sometimes get cars to start with using a
shaved key." RP (Mar. 10, 2015) at 85.
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State v. Castro
On the second day of trial, the court and counsel discussed jury instructions.
During the conference, Benjamin Castro did not object to the use of 11 Washington
Practice: Washington Pattern Jury Instruction: Criminal 4.01, at 85 (3d ed. 2008)
(WPIC) as a jury instruction for the definition of reasonable doubt. The trial court
instructed the jury on reasonable doubt:
A reasonable doubt is one for which a reason exists and may arise
from the evidence or lack of evidence. It is such a doubt as would exist in
the mind of a reasonable person after fully, fairly and carefully considering
all of the evidence or lack of evidence. If, after such consideration, you
have an abiding belief in the truth of the charge, you're satisfied beyond a
reasonable doubt.
RP (Mar. 11, 2015) at 93-94. Castro proposed an instruction with the identical language.
During rebuttal in closing arguments, the State's attorney argued:
Evidence Instruction No. 3 says: A reasonable doubt is one for
which a reason exists. Do you think you have a reason to doubt in this
case? He's got this car and he's got all this stolen property on him. Do you
have any reason to doubt that he knew that it was stolen? Absolutely not.
RP (Mar. 11, 2015) at 142-43.
The jury found Benjamin Castro guilty on all five charges. The trial court
sentenced Castro to fifty months in prison.
LAW AND ANALYSIS
Benjamin Castro asserts four errors on appeal. First, insufficient evidence
supports his conviction for making or having burglary tools. Second, the prosecutor
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State v. Castro
committed misconduct during rebuttal argument. Third, the reasonable doubt instruction
is unconstitutional. Fourth, his counsel was ineffective for proposing an erroneous jury
instruction. The first argument attacks only the conviction for making or possessing
burglary tools. The remaining arguments challenge all convictions. We agree with
Benjamin Castro's first assignment of error and reverse his conviction for possession of
burglary tools. We reject his other arguments and affirm the remaining four convictions.
Burglary Tools
Benjamin Castro contends that the State did not present sufficient evidence to
support his conviction for making or having burglary tools because it only presented
evidence that the tools were used for vehicle prowls. Evidence is sufficient if a rational
trier of fact could find each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v.
Green, 94 Wash. 2d 216, 221-22, 616 P.2d 628 (1980). Both direct and indirect evidence
may support the jury's verdict. State v. Brooks, 45 Wash. App. 824, 826, 727 P.2d 988
(1986).
The controlling statute, RCW 9A.52.060(1 ), declares:
Every person who shall make or mend or cause to be made or
mended, or have in his or her possession, any engine, machine, tool, false
key, pick lock, bit, nippers, or implement adapted, designed, or commonly
used for the commission of burglary under circumstances evincing an
intent to use or employ, or allow the same to be used or employed in the
commission of a burglary, or knowing that the same is intended to be so
used, shall be guilty of making or having burglar tools.
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State v. Castro
(Emphasis added.) A former statute contained a provision that imposed a presumption
that possession of burglary tools "was had with the intent to use or employ ... in the
commission of a crime." Former RCW 9.19.050 (1909), repealed by LAWS OF 1975, 1st
Ex. Sess., ch. 260, § 9A.92.010. Gone is this presumption.
Under RCW 9A.52.060, one of the elements of the crime of having burglary tools
is the accused's possession of tools under circumstances evincing an intent to use them in
a "burglary." State v. Miller, 90 Wash. App. 720, 730, 954 P.2d 925 (1998). An accused is
guilty under Washington statutes for "burglary" if he "enters or remains unlawfully" in a
"building" or "dwelling other than a vehicle." RCW 9A.52.020, ;025, and .030.
Benjamin Castro contends that the State presented insufficient evidence to show he
intended to commit a burglary, since the State presented no evidence of his seeking to
unlawfully enter a building or dwelling. We agree.
A controlling decision is State v. Miller, 90 Wash. App. 720 (1998). James Miller
entered an open self-service wash, used bolt cutters and other tools to remove the locks
from coin boxes, and took money. The State charged Miller with burglary, having
burglary tools, and theft. A jury convicted him on all three charges. On appeal, this
court reversed Miller's burglary and possession of burglary tools convictions. The court
found no circumstances that constituted burglary.
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No. 33279-9-III
State v. Castro
In this appeal, the State, at trial, presented strong evidence that Castro
possessed tools that could be used to enter a dwelling. The State also offered
evidence of vehicle prowls and car thefts. Nevertheless, the State offered no
evidence that Benjamin Castro committed or attempted to commit any burglaries.
Prosecutorial Misconduct
Benjamin Castro next argues that the prosecutor committed misconduct in her
closing argument by requiring the jury to articulate a reason to doubt his guilt. The State
responds that the prosecutor simply addressed the defense's contention that Castro may
not have known the property was stolen. We agree with the State.
This court reviews a prosecutor's comments during closing argument in the
context of the total argument, the issues in the case, the evidence addressed in the
argument, and the jury instructions. State v. Boehning, 127 Wash. App. 511, 519, 111 P .3d
899 (2005). A defendant claiming prosecutorial misconduct must show that the
prosecutor's conduct was both improper and prejudicial in the context of the entire record
and circumstances at trial. State v. Emery, 174 Wash. 2d 741, 756, 278 P.3d 653 (2012).
Nevertheless, a prosecutor's statements are improper if they misstate the applicable law,
shift the burden to the defense, mischaracterize the role of the jury, or invite the jury to
determine guilt on improper grounds. State v. Emery, 174 Wash. 2d at 759-60; State v.
Boehning, 127 Wash. App. at 522. Even if the defendant shows the comments were
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No. 33279-9-III
State v. Castro
improper, the error does not require reversal unless the appellate court determ_ines there is
a substantial likelihood the misconduct affected the jury's verdict. State v. Gentry, 125
Wash. 2d 570, 640, 888 P .2d 1105 (1995).
If a defendant did not object to a prosecutor's alleged misconduct at trial, he or she
is deemed to have waived any error, unless the misconduct was so flagrant and ill-
intentioned that a jury instruction could not have cured the resulting prejudice. State v.
Gentry, 125 Wash. 2d at 596. Reviewing courts should then focus less on whether the
prosecutor's misconduct was flagrant or ill-intentioned and more on whether the resulting
prejudice could have been cured. State v. Emery, 174 Wash. 2d at 762. Under this
heightened standard, the defendant must show that ( 1) no curative instruction would have
obviated any prejudicial effect on the jury, and (2) the misconduct resulted in prejudice
that "had a substantial likelihood of affecting the jury verdict." State v. Emery, 174
Wash. 2d at 760. Benjamin Castro did not object during closing argument. He now bears
the burden on appeal to demonstrate that the State's comments were so prejudicial that no
curative instruction could have remedied their effect and that the comments had a
substantial likelihood of affecting the jury's verdict.
We recognize that in many instances the term "prosecutorial misconduct" is a
misnomer since the defense does not contend that the State's attorney consciously and
flagrantly violated a code of conduct. In instances of negligence, use of the phrase
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No. 33279-9-III
State v. Castro
"prosecutorial error" fits better. Nevertheless, because Castro did not object to the
prosecutor's closing remarks, he must show flagrant and ill-intentioned behavior. We
hold that Castro does not even establish negligent behavior or prosecutorial error.
Benjamin Castro likens the prosecutor's argument to fill-in-the-blank statements
like those in State v. Emery, 174 Wash. 2d 741 (2012). In Emery, during closing, the
prosecutor commented:
[I]n order for you to find the defendant not guilty, you have to ask
yourselves or you'd have to say, quote, I doubt the defendant is guilty, and
my reason is blank. A doubt for which a reason exists. If you think that
you have a doubt, you must fill in that blank.
174 Wash. 2d at 750-51. The Washington Supreme Court held the State's reference to "fill
in the blank" was improper. State v. Emery, 174 Wash. 2d at 759. The court reasoned that
the "argument subtly shifts the burden to the defense" because it requires the jury to
articulate a reason to doubt. State v. Emery, 174 Wash. 2d at 760.
Benjamin Castro's argument fails because, unlike in State v. Emery, the prosecutor
did not ask the jury to articulate a reason for doubt. The State's attorney merely declared
that the jury lacked any reason to doubt. The State agreed in its closing that it bore the
burden of proof. The prosecutor repeatedly read verbatim a jury instruction imposing the
burden of proving all elements on the State. Castro's argument, if accepted, could
require the State not to address any of the purported weaknesses asserted by the defense.
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Reasonable Doubt Instruction
Benjamin Castro contends that the reasonable doubt instruction unconstitutionally
shifted the burden of proof from the State to him by requiring the jury to articulate a
reason to doubt. The State responds that the instruction is proper and that the invited
error doctrine applies and precludes review of this assignment of error. We agree that the
invited error rule applies.
The invited error doctrine precludes a criminal defendant from seeking appellate
review of an error he or she helped create, even when the alleged error involves
constitutional rights. State v. Studd, 137 Wash. 2d 533, 546-47, 973 P.2d 1049 (1999); State
v. Henderson, 114 Wash. 2d 867, 870-71, 792 P.2d 514 (1990). The doctrine of invited
error prohibits a party from setting up an error at trial and then complaining of it on
appeal. State v. Wakefield, 130 Wn.2d 464,475, 925 P.2d 183 (1996); State v. Pam, 101
Wn.2d 507,511,680 P.2d 762 (1984), overruled on other grounds by State v. Olson, 126
Wn.2d 315,893 P.2d 629 (1995). The rule is a strict one. State v. Studd, 137 Wash. 2d at
54 7. In the criminal context, the doctrine of invited error is most commonly invoked
when a defendant seeks to challenge a jury instruction that he or she proposed at trial.
State v. Studd, 137 Wash. 2d at 546; State v. Henderson, 114 Wash. 2d at 870 (1990); State v.
Boyer, 91 Wash. 2d 342, 345, 588 P .2d 1151 (1979).
Benjamin Castro requested the jury instruction he now challenges. Therefore, we
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State v. Castro
do not address the merits of his contention.
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
In his supplemental briefing, Benjamin Castro alleges that his counsel was
ineffective for proposing the reasonable doubt jury instruction that allows the State to
argue the invited error doctrine applies. We disagree that counsel was ineffective since
the trial court was bound to give the proposed instruction.
A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel requires a showing that ( 1) counsel's
performance was deficient, and (2) the deficient performance prejudiced the defendant.
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1984);
State v. Grier, 171 Wash. 2d 17, 32-33, 246 P.3d 1260 (2011); State v. Hamilton, 179 Wn.
App. 870, 879, 320 P.3d 142 (2014). If one prong of the test fails, we need not address
the remaining prong. State v. Hendrickson, 129 Wash. 2d 61, 78,917 P.2d 563 (1996).
We address only the deficiency of performance prong. Under the deficiency
prong, this court gives great deference to trial counsel's performance and begins the
analysis with a strong presumption that counsel was effective. State v. West, 185 Wn.
App. 625, 638, 344 P.3d 1233 (2015). Trial strategy and tactics cannot form the basis of
a finding of deficient performance. State v. Johnston, 143 Wash. App. 1, 16, 177 P.3d 1127
(2007). Deficient performance is performance that fell below an objective standard of
reasonableness based on consideration of all the circumstances. State v. McFarland, 127
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Wn.2d 322, 334-35, 899 P.2d 1251 (1995). The defendant bears the burden to prove
ineffective assistance of counsel. State v. McFarland, 127 Wash. 2d at 335.
Invited error does not bar review of a claim of ineffective assistance based on an
erroneous jury instruction. State v. Bennett, 87 Wash. App. 73, 76, 940 P.2d 299 (1997),
aff'd sub nom. State v. Studd, 137 Wash. 2d 533,973 P.2d 1049 (1999). Therefore, we ask
whether the trial court's jury instruction on reasonable doubt constituted error.
In general, reviewing courts leave the specific language of jury instructions to the
discretion of the trial court. State v. Smith, 174 Wash. App. 359, 366, 298 P.3d 785 (2013).
One exception to this rule of deference is the reasonable doubt instruction. State v.
Bennett, 161 Wash. 2d 303, 165 P.3d 1241 (2007). The state Supreme Court has mandated
use of WPIC 4.01. In State v. Bennett, the high court declared:
Even if many variations of the definition of reasonable doubt meet
minimal due process requirements, the presumption of innocence is simply
too fundamental, too central to the core of the foundation of our justice
system not to require adherence to a clear, simple, accepted, and uniform
instruction. We therefore exercise our inherent supervisory power to
instruct Washington trial courts not to use the Castle instruction. We have
approved WPIC 4.01 and conclude that sound judicial practice requires that
this instruction be given until a better instruction is approved. Trial courts
are instructed to use the WPIC 4.01 instruction to inform the jury of the
government's burden to prove every element of the charged crime beyond a
reasonable doubt.
161 Wash. 2d at 317-18.
Trial defense counsel proposed and the trial court gave the jury the standard WPIC
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4.01. The trial court did not commit error by delivering the approved instruction. Instead
the trial court would have erred by giving another instruction. Because there was no
error, trial counsel did not perform deficiently by failing to propose another instruction.
CONCLUSION
We reverse Benjamin Castro's conviction for making or having burglary tools.
We affirm his convictions for possession of a stolen vehicle, two counts of possession of
stolen property in the second degree, and possession of methamphetamine. We remand
for resentencing.
A majority of the panel has determined this opinion will not be printed in the
Washington Appellate Reports, but it will be filed for public record pursuant to RCW
2.06.040.
Fearing, C.J.
WE CONCUR:
Siddoway, J. Lawrence-Berrey, J.
j
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