State v. Jackson

• Decision Date: 09 May 2002
• Docket Number: No. 19714-0-III.,19714-0-III.
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. William Bradley JACKSON, Appellant.

46 P.3d 257

111 Wash.App. 660

STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. William Bradley JACKSON, Appellant.

No. 19714-0-III.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3, Panel Five.

May 9, 2002.

Paul J. Wasson, Attorney at Law, Spokane, Counsel for Appellant.

Kevin M. Korsmo, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Spokane, Counsel for Respondent.

OPINION PUBLISHED IN PART

BROWN, C.J.

William Bradley Jackson was convicted in Spokane County and given a 672-month exceptional sentence for the first degree murder of his 9-year-old daughter Valiree. Mr. Jackson seeks review of the trial court rulings (A) denying a venue change, (B) failing to suppress evidence derived from search warrants, (C) granting an exceptional sentence, and (D) denying his motion for a new trial.

For the first time, we review the use of a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device in the State of Washington. We hold that when the issuing judge approved search warrants for the installation of the GPS devices, the judge substantively deemed Mr. Jackson's privacy interest in his vehicles was, under these facts, insufficient as a matter of law to offend the Washington constitutional principles embodied in article I, section 7 or the federal constitutional principles discussed here. Because we also find no error in the other issues presented, we affirm.

FACTS

At 8:45 a.m. on October 18, 1999, Mr. Jackson called 911 to report his daughter Valiree missing from their residence in the Spokane Valley. Mr. Jackson then appeared to search for Valiree in the neighborhood, hollering her name and knocking on doors. Mr. Jackson went to Valiree's elementary school, appearing to look for her. To school employees and a crossing guard he looked distraught, nervous, and shaking. Immediately, some 44 volunteers joined sheriff's personnel and canine units in an extensive, but unsuccessful neighborhood search of about 120 homes.

Deputy Scott Nelson was first to respond to the Jackson residence, owned by Mr. Jackson's parents, Karen and Wilbur Jackson. Mr. Jackson and Valiree had moved in seven months before from the Deer Park home of Mr. Jackson's girlfriend Danette Schroeder. Karen Jackson told Deputy Nelson she and her husband had left for work early that morning and Mr. Jackson would have been alone with Valiree after 4:30 a.m. Valiree was fine when they left.

Mr. Jackson told Deputy Nelson, and later Detective Dave Madsen, he had last seen Valiree at 8:15 a.m. in the front yard. She was not there when he went outside at 8:30 a.m. to take her to school, although her school backpack was on the front porch. After checking to see if neighbors, the crossing guard or school personnel had seen her, he returned home to call the police. He told Detective Madsen Valiree had had a bloody nose during the night, so he washed her pillowcases that morning. Detective Madsen saw blood stains on Valiree's pillow and faded blood on her bed sheet, but found no evidence of items used to stop a nosebleed. With permission, Detective Madsen took the pillow and bedding for examination.

On October 20, Detective Madsen told Mr. Jackson the three possibilities being investigated were abduction by a stranger; abduction by Valiree's mother Roseanne Stone, who had been missing for seven years; or, removal by a member of the Jackson household. Detective Madsen told Mr. Jackson that since his parents were accounted for, the third possibility pointed toward him.

On October 23, Detective Madsen applied for and executed a search warrant (warrant # 1) for the Jackson home, a 1995 Ford pickup, and a 1985 Honda Accord parked at the home on the morning of Valiree's disappearance. Valiree's diary recovered from her bedroom contained an entry dated October 12, 1999, indicating her father would not leave her alone in her room. The two vehicles were impounded and searched without finding incriminating evidence. After testing the wash cycles, Detective Madsen thought Mr. Jackson's explanations about doing the laundry on the morning of Valiree's disappearance did not add up.

On October 26, Detective Dave Knechtel applied for and received a 10-day warrant (warrant # 2) to attach GPS tracking devices to the 1995 Ford pickup and 1985 Honda Accord while they remained in police impound. Detective Donald McCabe installed the devices to the vehicles' 12-volt electrical systems on October 26 and 27 without Mr. Jackson's knowledge, and the vehicles were returned to him. The position of the vehicles could be precisely tracked every five seconds and become known upon device recovery and computer analysis.

Detective Madsen then told Mr. Jackson he knew he had buried Valiree without sufficient time to keep animals from digging her up, and the body would be found to provide evidence to convict him. Thereafter, before warrant # 2 expired, Detective Knechtel obtained an additional 10-day warrant (warrant # 3) to maintain the GPS devices on the vehicles until November 14.

The GPS analysis for the morning of November 6 showed Mr. Jackson's truck traveled to his nearby mini-storage unit, then along highway 2 to Newport for a brief stop before noon. Next, after a short noon-time stop at Ms. Schroeder's Deer Park home, the vehicle traveled highway 395 to the Loon Lake area before turning onto an unmarked logging road on State land off the Springdale-Hunters highway and stopping on public land (the Springdale site). There, the vehicle remained stationery for approximately 44 minutes before first returning briefly to the Schroeder residence and then back to the Jackson home at 3:50 p.m. Jackson family members had long used the remote, hilly, thickly forested Springdale site as a secret hunting spot.

On November 10, the GPS recorded Mr. Jackson's truck leaving the Jackson home at about 1:07 p.m. and arriving about 20 minutes later at the "Vicari" site south of the Spokane Valley. The truck stopped for about 16 minutes and then traveled about 50 miles to the Springdale site where it remained stationery for about 30 minutes. Next, after stops at the Schroeder residence and other locations, the vehicle stopped at the mini-storage unit for 5 minutes, before returning to the Jackson home.

As a result of the GPS information, investigators found evidence at both sites. At the Vicari site, officers recovered dirt samples and two plastic grocery bags with duct tape containing blood and hair, which DNA analysis matched with Valiree. Fingerprints on the grocery bags and the duct tape pointed to Mr. Jackson. At the Springdale site, investigators found Valiree's body in a shallow grave. Tire tracks linked Mr. Jackson to the Springdale site. Soil samples from both sites matched soil discovered in the bed of Mr. Jackson's pickup truck and on his boots and shovels. A roll of duct tape later seized from the Jackson residence showed a fracture match between the last piece on the roll and a piece found at the Vicari site.

On November 13, after Mr. Jackson visited his mini-storage unit, he borrowed Kelly and Sean Bash's blue and white pickup truck. Mr. Jackson was then carrying a welding mask and told Ms. Bash he had a job to finish. Soon, hunters saw Mr. Jackson in a pickup near the guarded Springdale gravesite. Ms. Schroeder testified Mr. Jackson later stopped at her house in a blue and white pickup and told her he had borrowed the truck because he knew he was being followed. When Mr. Jackson returned the pickup he left behind his shovel. That evening acting on an arrest request, Spokane police stopped Mr. Jackson while driving. Because Mr. Jackson carried a shotgun and acted suicidal, he was hospitalized until later released and charged with Valiree's murder.

According to Dr. George Lindholm, medical examiner, Valiree died due to homicide by asphyxia mechanism. Blood and liver tests did reveal the presence of the antidepressant drug "Paxil" in Valiree's system, which had been prescribed by her pediatrician. Although the medical examiner and other experts concluded the amounts of Paxil in Valiree's blood and liver samples were many times below lethal levels and did not cause her death, Mr. Jackson relied upon a Paxil overdose defense.

The State presented substantial evidence suggesting Mr. Jackson's motive for murder was so he could marry Ms. Schroeder without having Valiree involved in the relationship. Considerable tension had also developed between Ms. Schroeder and Karen Jackson over the parenting of Valiree, who was undergoing counseling for depression at Ms. Schroeder's suggestion. Mr. Jackson once told his sister that he wanted to marry Ms. Schroeder and that they would be together if it weren't for his mother and Valiree. Valiree refused to go to church with her father and Ms. Schroeder on October 17, the day before she disappeared. Both of Mr. Jackson's parents noticed this upset him. Mr. Jackson made marriage proposals to Ms. Schroeder after his arrest.

Near the time of his arrest, Mr. Jackson contrived a story about a new potential hunting buddy "Craig" who he said may have taken Valiree. The State introduced into evidence a May 3, 2000 letter from Mr. Jackson to his mother detailing a lengthy story that "Craig" had killed Valiree and shown him where the grave was located. In a subsequent letter to his parents on July 14, he admitted to making up the "Craig" story, but insisted he did not kill Valiree. At trial, Mr. Jackson again admitted making up the "Craig" story and offered the Paxil overdose defense, including explanations for the State's incriminating evidence.

The jury found Mr. Jackson guilty of first degree murder. After denying Mr. Jackson's motion for new trial, the court imposed a 672-month exceptional sentence based upon aggravating factors that (1) Valiree was particularly vulnerable at the time her father murdered her in her sleep; (2) Mr. Jackson violated his position of trust inherent in his parental role; (3) he engaged in concealment of the crime beyond that normally associated with murder; and (4)...