State v. Hankerson
| Decision Date | 22 June 2015 |
| Docket Number | 71161-0-I |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. SENAI DENNIS HANKERSON, Appellant. |
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
A jury convicted Senai Dennis Hankerson of possession of a stolen 2007 Range Rover, possession of a stolen 1992 Honda Accord attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, and taking a 2007 Lexus without permission in the first degree. Hankerson claims (1) the court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of the warrantless entry into a garage and the fingerprints found in the 2007 Range Rover (2) the court abused its discretion by admitting a patrol car dashboard video of his arrest, and (3) insufficient evidence supports the conviction for attempting to elude a pursing police vehicle. We affirm the convictions for possession of a stolen vehicle and taking a motor vehicle without permission in the first degree. We reverse the conviction for attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and remand for entry of an order of dismissal and resentencing.
On Saturday, July 2, 2011 at approximately 11:55 a.m., Seattle Police Department Officer Brian Hanson noticed a "very new" gray 2007 Range Rover backed into a parking space in the "far corner" of a church parking lot in north Seattle. The Range Rover did not have a front license plate. Officer Hanson was "immediately suspicious." The church parking lot was usually empty on Saturdays and "is known as a lot where . . . stolen vehicles do get dumped." Officer Hanson parked his marked patrol car about 50 to 75 feet away from the Range Rover, "facing straight at the vehicle." Officer Hanson saw two men in the front seat. Officer Hanson made eye contact with a black male, later identified as Senai Dennis Hankerson, sitting in the driver's seat.
As Hankerson drove the Range Rover out of the parking lot Officer Hanson noticed the back license plate was also missing. The tinted windows were too dark to see whether the vehicle had a temporary license plate. Officer Hanson turned on his emergency lights and siren. Hankerson did not stop but instead drove the wrong way down a one-way residential street.
Officer Hanson followed Seattle Police Department policy and turned off his emergency lights and siren, but continued to follow the Range Rover onto Interstate 5. Hankerson attempted to evade Officer Hanson by making "a lot of rapid lane changes without signaling." Officer Hanson followed the Range Rover across the Ship Canal Bridge, onto State Route 520, across Lake Washington, and then southbound on Interstate 405 (I-405). When he reached I-405, Hankerson was driving over 70 m.p.h. Officer Hanson asked dispatch to contact the Washington State Patrol (WSP) to "take over" the pursuit.
WSP Trooper Brandon Villanti saw the Range Rover get off the freeway and drive through the stop sign at the top of the exit ramp without slowing down. Trooper Villanti turned on his patrol car lights and siren to stop the car. Hankerson did not stop. Hankerson drove northbound on Lake Washington Boulevard, travelling at approximately 60 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h. zone. Trooper Villanti lost sight of the vehicle after it entered a park at the end of Lake Washington Boulevard. Several bicyclists and pedestrians saw the Range Rover enter the park and drive down a paved bike trail. Trooper Villanti said a chain link gate was "busted open and there were tire tracks in the dirt, " as though "something had plowed through the gate."
Approximately 10 to 15 minutes later, Trooper David Bennett found the Range Rover parked on a cul-de-sac in a residential area. The vehicle was locked and looked as though it had "sustained some front end damage." After Trooper Bennett was unable to locate the driver or passenger, he called a tow truck and impounded the Range Rover.
On July 10, 2011 at 4:05 a.m., Seattle Police Department Officer Molly Clark saw a 1992 Honda Accord "coming down off of Aurora [Avenue] on Waverly Place." Officer Clark said the Honda "darted" up Waverly Place heading north and "didn't stop at the stop sign, didn't signal." The vehicle "did a U-turn on Aurora[, ] ran through the cones illegally[, ] and went back southbound on Aurora." Officer Clark followed the Honda southbound on Aurora Avenue. Officer Clark could see the driver was male and there was a female passenger in the car. As Officer Clark "pulled up along the left side to look at the driver " the Honda "immediately cut over" and drove off Aurora Avenue onto a side street near Queen Anne.
Officer Clark followed the car. After the Honda went "through the red light" at Fifth Avenue and Broad Street, Officer Clark activated her emergency lights to pull the car over. The Honda accelerated and drove through a stop sign without stopping. Because the driver of the car was driving so "recklessly, " Officer Clark turned off her emergency lights and ended the pursuit after getting the license plate number.
Carl Urbick works at a used car dealership in Georgetown that specializes in luxury cars, Auto Quest. On the afternoon of July 10, 2011, Urbick went on a test drive of a 2007 Lexus with a couple. After the test drive, the couple told Urbick they wanted to purchase the Lexus. Urbick went inside to start the paperwork. The couple left the keys inside the car and followed Urbick. When Urbick went back outside to record the mileage, the Lexus was gone.
Approximately 15 to 20 minutes later at approximately 5:00 p.m., the owner of Auto Quest, Craig Ludy, called 911 to report the theft. Seattle police officers responded within 15 minutes. Ludy signed a consent form to search and impound the Lexus.
At 5:56 p.m., officers activated the anti-theft tracking device on the stolen Lexus. The police followed the signal from the tracking device to 15th Avenue South and South Bayview Street on Beacon Hill. The Lexus was parked in a driveway in front of a detached single-car garage.
At 6:21 p.m., approximately 15 minutes after arriving at the scene, several officers entered the garage. Hankerson and a blond woman, later identified as Michelle Lee Antioquia, were "huddled up together" on a mattress in the back of the garage. Officer Sidney Brathwait and Officer Domingo Ortiz arrested Hankerson and Antioquia. A neighbor across the street identified Hankerson as the person he saw drive up in the Lexus a few minutes before the police arrived. After Hankerson and Antioquia were in custody, Officer Jarrod Stone, Officer Brandon Caille, and Officer Ortiz searched the garage and found a car key under the mattress. The officers used the key to open the Lexus and seize Hankerson's cell phone.
Later that evening, Officer David Bauer found a 1992 Honda Accord without front or back license plates parked a block from Auto Quest. The Honda had been reported stolen.
On July 15, Auto Quest owner Ludy discovered a 2007 Range Rover was missing from the lot. Ludy identified the 2007 Range Rover Trooper Bennett impounded on July 2 as belonging to Auto Quest, and gave his consent for the police to search the vehicle.
The State charged Hankerson with theft of the 2007 Lexus and possession of the stolen 1992 Honda Accord on July 10, 2011, and possession of another stolen vehicle on May 10, 2011. The State charged Antioquia with taking the 2007 Lexus without permission in the second degree and with taking the 1992 Honda Accord without permission in the second degree. Antioquia pleaded guilty to one count of taking a motor vehicle without permission and agreed to testify against Hankerson.
After determining Hankerson's fingerprints matched the fingerprints found inside the 1992 Honda Accord and the 2007 Range Rover, the State filed an amended information. The State charged Hankerson with possession of the stolen 2007 Range Rover on July 2, 2011, Count I; possession of the stolen 1992 Honda Accord on July 10, 2011, Count II; attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle on July 10, 2011, Count III; possession of the stolen 2007 Lexus on July 10, 2011, Count IV; taking the 2007 Lexus without permission in the first degree on July 10, 2011, Count V; possession of a stolen 2000 Honda Civic on August 18, 2011, Count VI; hit and run of an attended vehicle on August 18, 2011, Count VII; and vehicle prowl in the second degree committed between July 29, 2011 and August 2, 2011, Count VIII. The court granted Hankerson's motion to sever Counts VI, VII, and VIII for trial.
Hankerson filed a motion to suppress the fingerprints found in the Range Rover and the evidence obtained as a result of the warrantless entry into the garage, including the key to the Lexus and the cell phone. Officer Hanson, Trooper Bennett Officer Stone, Officer Walter, and Auto Quest owner Ludy testified at the CrR 3.6 hearing. The State also introduced into evidence a patrol car dashboard camera video.
Officer Hanson testified he was suspicious the Range Rover was stolen when he saw it in the church parking lot on July 2. Officer Hanson said the Range Rover did not have a front license plate. Officer Hanson testified Hankerson and the passenger were watching him and "seemed nervous." Officer Hanson said that when he activated his lights and siren, Hankerson "took off [the] wrong way down the one-way street." Officer Hanson said the Range Rover did not have a back license plate. Officer Hanson followed the Range Rover until the WSP took over.
Trooper Bennett testified that a trooper reported seeing the Range Rover exit I-405 and believed it had gone into a park and driven down a bike...
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