Tag Archives: Skagit County Criminal Defense Attorney

State v. Manlove: “Deliberate Cruelty” Enhancements Apply to Property Crimes.

Bellingham, Bellingham Defense Attorney, Burglary, Exceptional Sentencing, felony, Firearm, Jury Trial, law enforcement, Legislation, Property Crimes, Search Warrant, Sentencing, Washington Court of Appeals, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , ,

In State v. Manlove, the Division III Court of Appeals held that a upward sentencing enhancement applies to Residential Burglary and other property crimes if a jury finds the defendant’s conduct during the commission of crime manifested deliberate cruelty to the victim.

In 2005, Paula Parker and her then-husband purchased a remote cabin on forty acres in Stevens County, Washington. The couple became acquainted with their neighbor, David Manlove, whose home lay a half mile from Parker’s cabin.

Paula Parker divorced in 2011, and she retained sole custody of the cabin. Parker and Manlove occasionally joined one another at each other’s homes for dinner. The two enjoyed a pastoral, idyllic, and platonic relationship, until . . .

Paula Parker went on vacation from June 19 to July 2, 2013 and returned to her cabin the morning of July 3. Once inside her home, Parker discovered her cabin was ransacked. Property was destroyed. The intruder left a hand-rolled cigarette. Paula realized her neighbor, David Manlove, smoked similar cigarettes.

Parker contacted police and informed them she believed the culprit was Manlove. She avoided her home for a few days.

On July 7, she returned home. Again, her house was ransacked. The damage was even more extensive this time. The intruder shredded Paula Parker’s medical records, high school diploma, and college degree. Parker kept her mother’s ashes in an urn, and the prowler dumped the ashes onto the floor.

After surveying the damage at Paula Parker’s cabin on July 8, 2013, Stevens County sheriff deputies traveled to David Manlove’s home. When asked why he damaged Paula Parker’s home, Manlove responded, “It’s my mountain.” When arrested, Manlove repeated several times: “It’s my mountain so there’s no crime.”

Law enforcement obtained two search warrants for David Manlove’s home. Officers seized many items that belonged to Paula Parker, including a hatchet, a chainsaw, a veil for a belly dancing costume, a mortar and pestle, journals, and jewelry. Officers also found marijuana plants and a rifle.

David Manlove was charged with Residential Burglary, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the Second Degree, Possession of more than Forty Grams of Marijuana, Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree, and Malicious Mischief in the First Degree. The State further alleged that Manlove committed Residential Burglary with deliberate cruelty in violation of RCW 9.94A.535(3)(a).

The trial court found Manlove competent to stand trial after an evaluation by Eastern State Hospital. At the close of trial, the trial court instructed the jury that: “Deliberate cruelty” means gratuitous violence ,or other conduct which inflicts physical, psychological, or emotional pain as an end in itself, and which goes beyond what is inherent in the elements of the crime or is normally associated with the commission of the crime. Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 177. The jury found David Manlove guilty as charged.

On appeal, the issue was whether the aggravating factor of deliberate cruelty under RCW 9.94A.535(3)(a) applies to Residential Burglary.

The Court of Appeals decided, “Yes.” They gave two reasons why, under appropriate circumstances, the deliberate cruelty aggravating factor may apply to a property crimes. First, when the legislature desired to limit the application of an aggravating factor to certain offenses, it expressly provided that limitation in the statute. Second, the statute allows a sentence enhancement when the current offense is a burglary and the victim ofthe burglary was present in the building or residence when the crime was committed.

The Court affirmed Manlove’s convictions and sentence, including the enhancement for deliberate cruelty.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Prosecutor Jailed for Bad Conviction.

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Constitutional Rights, Discovery, Pretrial Investigations, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , ,

67 Men in Delaware Prison Demand $400M for Alleged Mishandling of Pandemic | Delaware Law Weekly

For the first time ever, a Prosecutor will go to jail for wrongfully convicting an innocent man.

In Texas, former prosecutor and judge Ken Anderson pled guilty to intentionally failing to disclose evidence in a case that sent an innocent man, Michael Morton, to prison for the murder of his wife. 

When trying the case as a prosecutor, Anderson possessed evidence that may have cleared Morton, including statements from the crime’s only eyewitness that Morton was NOT the culprit. Anderson sat on this evidence, and then watched Morton get convicted. While Morton remained in prison for the next 25 years, Anderson’s career flourished, and he eventually became a judge.

Anderson pled to criminal contempt. He will have to give up his law license, perform 500 hours of community service, and spend 10 days in jail. Anderson had already resigned in September from his position on the Texas bench.

What makes today’s plea newsworthy is not that Anderson engaged in misconduct that sent an innocent man to prison. Indeed, while most prosecutors and police officers are ethical and take their constitutional obligations seriously, government misconduct–including disclosure breaches known as Brady violations–occurs so frequently that it has become one of the chief causes of wrongful conviction.

What’s newsworthy and novel about today’s plea is that a prosecutor was actually punished in a meaningful way for his transgressions. Rogue cops and prosecutors going unpunished is the rule rather than the exception. 

My opinion? Ken Anderson’s conviction and incarceration is an anomaly in a society where police and prosecutorial misconduct goes largely unpunished. But it is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, today’s result will deter rogue cops and prosecutors in the future from engaging in similar misconduct. But this will happen only if judges across the country do what the judge did more than 25 years ago in the Morton case: issue an order requiring that proper disclosure to the defense, or risk criminal contempt proceedings.

For defense attorneys, the best way to prevent similar miscarriages of justice from happening is to explicitly write in the Demand for Discovery, “Any evidence which tends to negate the guilt of the accused as to the offense charged or which would tend to mitigate the accused’s punishment.” According to court rule and statute, the Prosecutor must disclose this evidence.

Also, entering an Omnibus Order signed by the judge tends to put attorneys on their best behavior. An omnibus hearing is a criminal pretrial hearing. Typically, disclosure of evidentiary matters, procedural, and constitutional issues are attempted to be resolved. In my Omnibus Motions/Orders I (again) request all evidence from the Prosecutor which tends to negate the defendant’s guilt.

Creating a court record like the one described above puts all parties on notice that discovery violations will NOT be tolerated. In some cases, I’ve sought sanctions against Prosecutors when I later discover they withheld evidence that they later tried to get admitted at trial.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Attorney Alexander Joins the National Association Distinguished Counsel

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National Association of Distinguished Counsel | The Nation's Top One Percent

The National Association of Distinguished Counsel selected attorney Alexander F. Ransom for membership among the nation’s top attorneys.

The National Association of Distinguished Counsel is an organization dedicated to promoting the highest standards of legal excellence. The mission of the NADC is to objectively recognize the attorneys who elevate the standards of the Bar and provide a benchmark for other lawyers to emulate.

By virtue of the incredible selectivity of their research process, only the elite few are invited to join the ranks of the NADC. Specifically, less than 1% of practicing attorneys in the United States are afforded the opportunity to be named “Nation’s Top Attorneys.” The recipients of this prestigious award have demonstrated the highest ideals of the legal profession.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Ignition Devices In All New Cars ?

DUI, Forensics, Ignition Interlock Device, marijuana, Search and Seizure, , ,

There’s developing technology exploring the possibility that a fingerprint-based ignition interlock device system may someday be installed in new vehicles in the hopes of stopping impaired drivers from operating their vehicles. In other words, sobriety tests in all new cars might prevent most drunk driving deaths.

Installing devices in new cars to prevent drunk drivers from starting the engine could prevent 85 percent of alcohol-related deaths on U.S. roads, saving tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars from injury-related costs, according to a new analysis.

“Alcohol interlocks are used very effectively in all 50 states as a component of sentencing or as a condition for having a license reinstated after DUIs, but this only works for the drunk drivers caught by police and it doesn’t catch the people who choose to drive without a license to avoid having the interlock installed,” said lead author Dr. Patrick Carter, an emergency physician with the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.

Most drunk drivers make about 80 trips under the influence before they are stopped for a DUI, Carter said. “If we decided that every new car should have an alcohol ignition interlock that’s seamless to use for the driver and doesn’t take any time or effort, we suddenly have a way to significantly reduce fatalities and injuries that doesn’t rely solely on police.”

Carter and colleagues used U.S. records of traffic accidents and fatalities to determine how many involved drunk driving and then estimated how many of these incidents could be avoided in the future by fitting new cars with alcohol-interlock devices, which detect blood-alcohol levels and prevent drivers above a certain threshold from starting the car.

Then, they estimated the numbers of deaths and injuries that could be prevented in the first year that all new cars sold had screening systems, and assumed it would take 15 years for older models to be replaced with new vehicles.

Over the 15-year implementation period, interlocks may eliminate about $343 billion in costs from fatalities and injuries related to drunk driving, the researchers estimate. Assuming the device costs $400 per vehicle and is 100 percent accurate, the interlock would pay for itself after three years by way of avoided injury costs.

Getting DADSS into all vehicles can eliminate the element of chance involved in catching drunk drivers under our current system that relies on police, said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Unlike the alcohol ignition interlocks which require you to blow into a devise and are used for convicted drunk drivers, DADSS is a driver assist system that would be seamless, take less than half a second, and use infrared light to measure a driver’s blood alcohol content in the breath or through the fingertips, which is believed to be far more reliable.

My opinion? Although noble, these devices may cause legal problems and litigation than they’re worth. How accurate are the devices? Are they calibrated regularly? Do they store information which can be used against a defendant accused of DUI? Would the devices also test for the presence of drugs? If so, what if the driver has a prescription for the drugs? Only time will tell . . .

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Bill Seeks Prison Time for Drone Crimes

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Department of Corrections, Drones, felony, Legislation, Sentencing, , ,

Drone and Moon

Interesting news article from the Skagit Valley Herald. In an article titled, “Senate OKs Bill That Would Add Prison Time For Drone Crimes,” The WA Senate passed a bill that would allow prosecutors to seek an extra year in prison for offenders who use a drone aircraft while committing a crime.

Senate Bill 5499 passed on a 34-15 vote Tuesday and now heads to the House forconsideration. It adds the allegation of a “nefarious drone enterprise” to Washington criminal law. The state currently has no restrictions on the use of drones, although 20 other states have enacted laws on drone-related issues.

The bill adds a year to the sentencing range that dictates how judges can punish an offense. The measure was one a handful of other bills concerning drones that were filed in the Legislature this session in the wake of Gov. Jay Inslee’s veto of a bill last year that would have restricted how state and local government agencies use the unmanned aircraft.

My opinion? Although sad, Senate Bill 5499 was foreseeable. For example, under  RCW 46.20.285, defendants convicted of felonies get their driver’s licenses revoked for 1 year if a vehicle was used during the commission of a crime. It makes sense, therefore, that Prosecutors would get aggressive toward defendants if drones were used to further the commission of a crime. Sad but true.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Washington Legislature Passes Bill Supporting DNA Testing of Rape Kits.

Assault, Bellingham, Bellingham Defense Attorney, DNA, Domestic Violence, felony, Jury Trial, Legislation, Prior Bad Acts, Rape, Sex Crimes, Violent Crime, , ,

That was me on the shelf': Maryland lawmakers weigh legislation requiring rape kits be tested - Baltimore Sun

On March 2, 2015, the Washington House Appropriations committee voted “Yes” on House Bill 1068; which supports DNA testing of rape kits sitting in evidence rooms across Washington Counties. The bill passed 82-15.

Essentially, numerous Washington counties – including Whatcom County – could help find serial rapists. House Bill 1068 arrives on the heels of recent controversy that rape kit evidence containing DNA evidence has been ignored by police departments statewide.

The Bellingham Herald ran two articles on this news. One story, titled Prosecutor: Testing Evidence Kits Can Lead to Finding Repeat Rapists discussed people’s responses to House Bill 1068.

The article mentions that Prosecutors like Rick Bell of Ohio support House Bill 1068. He claims that out of 6,000 kits tested, 2,244 received a hit to a known offender in a national database. Additionally, of the rapists indicted by his his office in Cuyahoga County, 30 percent are serial rapists. “Those serial offenders were going undetected, in part because labs couldn’t process all cases, so kits involving acquaintance rapes weren’t tested,” said Bell.

Also according to the article, Western Washington University college students like Heather Heffelmire, who is working in Olympia as the Legislative Liaison for Western Washington University’s Associated Students, testified in favor of House Bill 1068 during a public hearing in January. She said one of the main legislative priorities for WWU’s student body this year is to support survivors of sexual violence. “If you think about assault on campuses, it’s not like a predator does one assault — it’s usually a pattern of behavior,” Heffelmire said. “If you’re not having these kits tested, you can’t find that out.”

Additionally, Leah Gehri, the Director of Emergency Services at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham WA, said she thinks HB 1068 is timely. “When you think about how long DNA evidence has been around, … at one point there weren’t a lot of DNA profiles hanging out there, they just didn’t have a lot of them,” Gehri said. “Now however, 20 years later, when profiles are quite common, the likelihood that an untested kit would now match up against a perpetrator in the system is more likely than it ever has been.”

Another article from the Bellingham Herald titled, Washington Lawmaker Tries to Tackle Thousands of Untested Rape Kits in State discusses the efforts of Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines toward having House Bill 1068 passed. 

The specific language House Bill 1068 is as follows:

Substitute offered in the House on January 23, 2015, requires a law enforcement agency to submit a request for laboratory examination within 30 days of receiving a sexual assault examination kit, provided that the victim or the victim’s legal guardian has consented to analysis of the kit as part of a sexual assault investigation. Specifies that failure to comply with the 30-day deadline does not create a private right of action against the law enforcement agency and is not a basis to exclude evidence in a court proceeding or to set aside a conviction or sentence. Creates a work group to study the issue of untested sexual assault examination kits in Washington, which must file an annual report through June 30, 2018.

My opinion? As a defense attorney, I support the notion that evidence garnered from the DNA testing of rape kits could be probative, relevant and cumulative in proving that the the perpetrator had a pattern of rape. Nevertheless, I have two concerns:

First, while I understand and agree with intent to have kits processed as quickly as possible, the timelines set forth in this proposal are probably unattainable with existing resources and do not take into account the complexities of processing kits. The 30-day timeline is very problematic for crime labs and is not feasible without a huge influx of resources (equipment, personnel, and possibly larger facilities).

Second, House Bill 1068 does not take into account the multitude of legal circumstances surrounding these kits.  For example, in a number of rape cases, the identity of the involved parties is not in question and both parties affirmatively indicate a sexual act occurred. Here, the issue is consent, not identity. Consequently, DNA analysis would only confirm what is already known.

In all likelihood, the latter issue will rest on the shoulders of jury trial judges who decide pretrial motions to admit or suppress DNA evidence in rape cases. In other words, we’ll see what happens . . .

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Marijuana / THC Breathalyzer Available Soon.

Blood Test, Boating Under the Influence, Drug Offenses, Drug Recognition Expert, DUI, marijuana, police, Search Warrant, Uncategorized, Washington State Patrol, , ,

Marijuana breathalyzer technology is here, and it's coming for drivers | fox43.com

Technology appears to be catching up.

Since Colorado and Washington legalized the recreational use of marijuana in 2014, and the growing trend to legalize pot in some capacity across the nation, there is an increased interest in addressing drugged driving.

However, today’s standardized testing marijuana intoxication is not as simple as detecting alcohol. More science and research are required. It the meantime, technology will be coming to market, such as the marijuana breathalyzer being developed by Cannabix Technologies, Inc. to give police officers an on-site tool to enhance detection of THC, the psychotropic metabolite in marijuana.

In the future, devices of this type will likely be dialed in by the forensic community and become an integral element in identifying marijuana-intoxicated drivers and in other settings, including workplaces and general consumer use, just as the alcohol breathalyzer is today.

My opinion? We saw this coming. It’s almost humorous. Typically, the law lags behind technological advances. Here, technology appears to be lagging behind the evolution of marijuana legalization! Interesting development, no? This device is another tool in the hands of law enforcement – along with Drug Recognition Experts, and search warrants for the testing of blood – for investigating DUI charges.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

State v. McPherson: Residential Burglary Involving A Dwelling/Business.

Burglary, Constitutional Rights, felony, Jury Trial, Washington Court of Appeals, , ,

What to Do Before, During, and After a Jewelry Store Robbery

In State v. McPherson, the Court of Appeals Division II decided the legal issue of whether a jewelry store and attached apartment is a “dwelling” under the definition of Residential Burglary. In short, the Court decided this was an issue of fact for a jury to decide; and that there was sufficient evidence for the conviction.

On the morning of March 20, 2013, someone broke into Frederick William Salewsky’ s jewelry store by entering the unoccupied store next door and making a hole in the adjoining wall. Frederick Salewsky, who worked in the jewelry store and lived in an apartment above the store, was awoken by a noise, went downstairs to investigate, and interrupted the burglary. He shot the intruder, who fled. The police later identified McPherson as a suspect after he checked into a Tacoma hospital with a gunshot wound.

The State charged McPherson with Burglary Second Degree of the vacant store ( count I), Residential Burglary of the jewelry store (count II) and Malicious Mischief Second Degree. The jury found McPherson guilty as charged and found that he had committed the Residential Burglary while the victim was present in the building or residence.

Under RCW 9A.52.025(1), a person is guilty of Residential Burglary if, with intent to commit a crime against a person or proerty therein, the person enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling other than a vehicle. “Dwelling” means any building or structure, or a portion thereof, which is used or ordinarily used by a person for lodging.

The Court reasoned that whether a building is a “dwelling” cannot always be determined as a matter of law. Because the specific living arrangements in houses and businesses are so different, this issue was more appropriately a question of fact for the jury to decide. Here, the evidence support’s the jury’s determination that the building was a “dwelling” as the apartment was directly above the jewelry store because the apartment and jewelry store were within a single structure, the only access to the apartment was through the jewelry store, and the doors that separated the store from the apartment could not be locked or secured.

The court concluded that altogether, this evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that the apartment was not separable from the jewelry store and, therefore, there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’ s finding that the jewelry constituted a dwelling.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

What Caused the Decline In Crime?

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Department of Corrections, Jail, Studies, , ,

What's Behind The Decline In Crime?

A new report examines the dramatic drop in crime nationwide over the past two decades — and analyzes various theories for why it occurred.

In What Caused the Crime Decline? a team of economic and criminal justice researchers examined over 40 years of data, gathered from 50 states and the 50 largest cities. Their work examines one of the nation’s least understood recent phenomena – the dramatic decline in crime nationwide over the past two decades – and analyzes various theories for why it occurred.

It concludes that over-harsh criminal justice policies, particularly increased incarceration, which rose even more dramatically over the same period, were not the main drivers of the crime decline. In fact, the report finds that increased incarceration has been declining in its effectiveness as a crime control tactic for more than 30 years. Its effect on crime rates since 1990 has been limited, and has been non-existent since 2000.

More important were various social, economic, and environmental factors, such as growth in income and an aging population. The introduction of CompStat, a data-driven policing technique, also played a significant role in reducing crime in cities that introduced it.

The report concludes that considering the immense social, fiscal, and economic costs of mass incarceration, programs that improve economic opportunities, modernize policing practices, and expand treatment and rehabilitation programs, all could be a better public safety investment.

Nobel laureate Dr. Joseph E. Stiglitz called the report “groundbreaking” in a foreword.

This is interesting reading. Also, their research contained information on how/why specific states’ drop-off in crime happened.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

 

Attorney Alexander F. Ransom Awarded Client Distinction Award From Martindale-Hubbell.

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Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction Award Wooten Law Firm

Good news! Attorney Alexander F. Ransom has received the Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction Award. Martindale-Hubbell is the premier lawyer rating service in the country. Martindale-Hubbell gives the Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction Award to those lawyers whose clients give the lawyer a 4.5 average rating (out of 5.0) in the following areas: (1) Communications Ability; (2) Responsiveness; (3) Quality of Service; and (4) Value for Money.

Less than one percent (1%) of the more than 900,000 attorneys listed by Martindale-Hubbell on its martindale.com and lawyers.com websites receive the Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction Award.

Congratulations, Alexander!

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.