State v. Grendahl
Decision Date | 04 April 2002 |
Docket Number | No. 19713-1-III.,19713-1-III. |
Citation | 43 P.3d 76,110 Wash.App. 905 |
Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
Parties | STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Byron Leslie GRENDAHL, Appellant. |
Janet G. Gemberling, Spokane, for Appellant. Kevin M. Korsmo, Andrew J. Metts, III, Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys, for Respondent.
Byron Grendahl appeals his convictions for first degree robbery and possession of a controlled substance. He contends the court's jury instructions and the prosecutor's closing argument improperly stated the law on accomplice liability. We reverse the robbery conviction but affirm the drug possession conviction.
Richard Nauditt knocked down Billie Jean Lindhag and took her wallet as she was leaving the Jo-Ann Fabrics store in Spokane's Lincoln Heights Shopping Center on August 2, 2000. Mr. Nauditt ran to a nearby parked car in which Mr. Grendahl was waiting in the driver's seat. Meanwhile, Deborah Foster was driving past the store and saw Mr. Nauditt run to the passenger side of Mr. Grendahl's vehicle. Although Ms. Foster attempted to block the vehicle with her own, she testified the getaway vehicle had to "jockey around" the curb and left the area at "a high rate of speed." Report of Proceedings (RP) at 44-45. Aldon Eiland, who had stopped to help Ms. Lindhag and who had signaled Ms. Foster to try to stop the getaway vehicle, testified the car "squealed some rubber" as it left the parking lot. RP at 58-59. Ms. Foster got the car's license number and gave it to the police.
Ms. Lindhag's wallet (minus $25 in currency) was found several blocks away. Spokane police officers spotted the getaway car a few minutes later in a parking lot on East Sprague Avenue, approximately six to eight blocks outside the city limits. They arrested Mr. Grendahl for driving with a suspended license. A search of the car and Mr. Grendahl yielded four syringes and a small baggie containing heroin. Officers also found $25 in currency in Mr. Nauditt's pocket.
Mr. Grendahl was charged with first degree robbery (as an accomplice) and possession of a controlled substance. Mr. Nauditt pleaded guilty to second degree robbery and possession of a controlled substance, and he agreed to testify in Mr. Grendahl's trial.
At the trial, Mr. Nauditt testified it was his idea to go to the Jo Ann Fabrics store because he had heard there was a room where employees' purses were left unattended. However, Mr. Nauditt's testimony was unclear about what he had discussed with Mr. Grendahl. On one hand, he testified he told Mr. Grendahl he was going to go there "to just look around and see if everything would be—be—be cool to do at a later time." RP at 92. And he repeatedly testified he did not tell Mr. Grendahl he planned to steal a purse that day. On the other hand, Mr. Nauditt also testified he planned to "go in there and take a purse and just come out." RP at 92.
Q I'm asking you, again, whether or not you recall—whether or not, prior to going into Jo-Ann Fabrics, if you had a discussion with Mr. Grendahl that would lead you to believe that he was aware that you were going in and that you might steal a purse or something else.
A Yes.
A Yes.
Mr. Grendahl testified in his own defense. He said Mr. Nauditt wanted to go to the shopping center to talk to somebody, and he waited in the car with the door open because the weather was hot. He testified Mr. Nauditt returned a few minutes later and did not appear in too much of a hurry. He said he had no idea Mr. Nauditt had committed robbery until they arrived at the parking lot on East Sprague and Mr. Nauditt admitted taking the wallet.
A jury found Mr. Grendahl guilty of both counts.
The dispositive issue is whether the robbery conviction must be reversed because the jury instructions and the prosecutor's closing argument misstated the law regarding accomplice liability.
The court instructed the jury:
To convict the defendant of the crime of robbery in the first degree, each of the following elements of the crime must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt:
(6) That the acts occurred in the State of Washington.
During closing argument, the prosecutor argued:
RP at 235-36. The prosecutor continued:
If you find that Mr. Grendahl was aware that there was a theft that was going to take place or even the possibility of a theft that was going to take place or that he drove him there in furtherance of that and he drove him away from the scene in furtherance of that, then, that's more than just mere presence and mere knowledge. It makes him an accomplice.
RP at 240. The prosecutor continued:
He never intended there be a robbery. He intended there to be a theft. He intended the theft to get more money to...
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State v. Evans
...650, 652, 657, 63 P.3d 192 (2003), review denied sub nom. State v. Roberts, 150 Wash.2d 1021, 81 P.3d 119 (2003); State v. Grendahl, 110 Wash.App. 905, 911, 43 P.3d 76 (2002) (reversible error to instruct jury it could find defendant guilty as an accomplice to robbery on the basis of intent......
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State v. Trout
...a defendant cannot be convicted of robbery as an accomplice if he intends merely that the principal commit theft. State v. Grendahl, 110 Wash.App. 905, 911, 43 P.3d 76 (2002). Adam's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence here focuses on the specifics of where he was (not inside durin......
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State v. Samalia
...Grendahl, 110 Wn.App. 905, 908, 43 P.3d 76 (2002). The comparison fails because of a critical factual difference between the two cases. In Grendahl this court concluded that identical instructions were erroneous because the defendant, who was driving the get-away car while an accomplice was......
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State v. Winter, No. 64947-7-I (Wash. App. 5/24/2010), 64947-7-I.
...to convict the defendants of robbery simply by finding they agreed to aid in a theft.5 The defendants also rely on State v. Grendahl, 110 Wn. App. 905, 43 P.3d 76 (2002) to argue that the instruction is incorrect. In Grendahl, a jury convicted the defendant of first degree robbery on an acc......