State v. Lawrence

• Decision Date: 13 August 2001
• Docket Number: No. 45635-1-I.,45635-1-I.
• Citation: 108 Wash. App. 226,31 P.3d 1198
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Eddie L. LAWRENCE, Appellant.

31 P.3d 1198

108 Wash. App. 226

STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Eddie L. LAWRENCE, Appellant.

No. 45635-1-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

August 13, 2001.

Publication Ordered September 6, 2001.

Nielsen Broman & Associates, PLLC, Catherine E. Glinski, James R. Dixon, Seattle, for Appellant.

Prosecuting Atty. King County, King County Prosecutor/Appellate Unit, Lee D. Yates, Senior Deputy Pros. Attny., Pros. Atty. Offc., Seattle, for Respondents.

APPELWICK, J.

Eddie Lawrence appeals his conviction of second degree rape. He claims he was not competent to stand trial, that the trial court improperly admitted hearsay statements, that the prosecutor's misconduct during closing argument denied him a fair trial, and that the persistent offender law is unconstitutional. We affirm.

FACTS

Diane was beaten and raped on October 4, 1997. Diane and her boyfriend, Leonard Stubbs, were in downtown Seattle on the day of the incident. After drinking a couple of beers, they had an argument. Diane split up with Stubbs, intending to meet him later that night at Nightwatch, an organization that helps homeless people find shelter for the night. Diane spent most of the day in Belltown. She then bought a beer and started walking to Nightwatch. As she walked along Western Avenue toward Nightwatch, she saw Eddie Lawrence underneath the Alaska Way Viaduct. Diane did not know Lawrence.

Lawrence asked Diane if she had a cigarette. Diane let him roll a cigarette from her tobacco. He then asked for a drink of her beer, and she gave him the bottle. He asked her where she was going. She replied that she was going to Nightwatch to meet her boyfriend. Lawrence asked if she wanted to "party," saying he would buy rock cocaine. She declined, and reiterated that she was going to Nightwatch to meet her boyfriend.

When Diane started to leave, Lawrence grabbed her ponytail and said, "[y]ou are not going anywhere, bitch; [w]e're partying." She repeatedly screamed for help as he dragged her under the viaduct. Lawrence said, "shut up" and slammed her face against the cement. He then dragged her to a cement wall as she screamed, "[h]elp, I'm being raped." Lawrence ripped at her clothing, and choked her to get her to stop screaming. In an attempt to get Lawrence to stop, Diane said, "[f]uck me, I've got AIDS." There were blankets spread out under the viaduct. Lawrence pulled down Diane's pants and held her down. He got on top of Diane, held her by the throat, and forced sexual intercourse. When Lawrence finished, Diane began to leave. Lawrence then apologized to Diane for his actions.

Diane walked about three to four blocks to Nightwatch. When she walked in, she met a volunteer screener. Diane told the screener that she had just been raped. Diane did not want the volunteer to call the police. Diane had a warrant for her arrest, and was concerned she would be taken to jail.

Stubbs was already at Nightwatch. He saw Diane across the room, crying and upset. Stubbs walked over to Diane and she told him that she had just been raped, and told him the details of the assault.

Stubbs and the screener encouraged Diane to call the police. She initially hesitated because she had an outstanding warrant for her arrest, but later agreed to call 9-1-1. The police and an ambulance arrived at Nightwatch. The police observed a lump on Diane's forehead, and a bruise on her neck. The medics transported her to Harborview Medical Center.

A few weeks after the rape, Stubbs pointed Lawrence out at a downtown establishment as a possible suspect in the case. Diane immediately recognized Lawrence as the person who had raped her. Stubbs called the police, and he was arrested.

The State charged Lawrence with rape in the second degree. Lawrence denied the charge, claiming that it was consensual. He also raised the defense of diminished capacity. A jury disbelieved him and found him guilty as charged. The sentencing court found that among Lawrence's prior sex crime convictions, a 1974 New York conviction for attempted rape in the first degree was comparable to attempted rape in the second degree in Washington. Accordingly, the court imposed a sentence of life in prison under Washington's "Two Strikes" law.

ANALYSIS

I. COMPETENCY TO STAND TRIAL

After his arrest, the trial court committed Lawrence to Western State Hospital for an evaluation to determine whether he was competent to stand trial. The trial court later conducted a competency hearing. Three experts testified. The experts agreed that Lawrence has an IQ of 60, which classifies him as mildly retarded. The experts disagreed, however, whether Lawrence's limited mental capacity together with a slow thought process prevented him from having the competence to stand trial. The experts noticed "latencies," or long periods of time in which Lawrence did not respond to questions. The latencies would sometimes last as long as ten minutes. While the experts noticed that Lawrence took a long time to answer questions, his latency of response depended on the topic being discussed. For instance, there was a significant delayed response when Lawrence described that he had been sexually abused at a young age. Most of Lawrence's responses, however, were not delayed.

The trial court agreed with the State's experts, and found that Lawrence possessed the requisite degree of competence to stand trial. Lawrence assigns error to this finding.

It is fundamental that no "incompetent person may be tried, convicted, or sentenced for the commission of an offense so long as such incapacity continues." RCW 10.77.050. Indeed, "the conviction of an accused while he is legally incompetent violates his constitutional right to a fair trial under the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause." State v. Minnix, 63 Wash.App. 494, 497, 820 P.2d 956 (1991). A defendant is competent if he has the capacity to understand the nature of the proceedings against him and to assist in his own defense. State v. Wicklund, 96 Wash.2d 798, 800, 638 P.2d 1241 (1982). In reviewing a trial court's decision on competency, we grant the trial court great deference. See State v. Dodd, 70 Wash.2d 513, 514, 424 P.2d 302 (1967)

. We will not reverse the trial court unless we find that the court abused its discretion. State v. Ortiz, 104 Wash.2d 479, 482, 706 P.2d 1069 (1985).

In this State, our courts have upheld a trial court's finding of competency to stand trial even where the defendant has a low IQ, rending the defendant mildly retarded. See Minnix, 63 Wash.App. at 499,

820 P.2d 956 (IQ of 49 to 67); Ortiz, 104 Wash.2d at 482,

706 P.2d 1069 (IQ of 49 to 59). Lawrence claims that his case is different than a case involving only a developmental disability. He acknowledges that he "did demonstrate a basic, minimal understanding of the charges against him, the nature of the proceedings, and the parties involved. The evidence showed, however, that he was incapable of assisting his attorney, because his mental impairment and response latencies made communication during trial impossible."

The record on appeal does not support the factual finding that Lawrence seeks. Dr. Joanne Ito, a psychologist from Western State Hospital, found that while it occasionally took Lawrence a considerable time to answer questions, Lawrence had the capacity to respond. She also found that Lawrence was also fully aware of his own self-interest, and was able to follow his attorney's directives.

Lawrence's own expert's testimony also supports the trial court's finding of competency. Dr. John Petrich agreed that Lawrence understood the charges against him, was able to give a detailed factual account of the State's allegations, and was able to tell Dr. Petrich his version of the events, namely that he and the victim had consensual sex.

The fact that Lawrence was unable to respond promptly, or that he had a slow thought process, does not prove that he was unable to comprehend what was being said, or unable to communicate his thoughts to counsel. The trial court accommodated Lawrence's slow thought process by allowing longer periods of consultations between Lawrence and his counsel. Based on Lawrence's ability to articulate to the experts a description of the allegations and his version of what happened on the night of the alleged rape, we conclude that he had the ability to assist his counsel in a defense. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that Lawrence was competent to stand trial.

II. EXCITED UTTERANCES

Lawrence asserts that Stubbs' testimony about the statements that Diane had made to him shortly after the rape was inadmissible hearsay. He argues, as he did below, that these statements were not excited utterances because Diane reflected on her arrest warrant shortly before she made her statements to Stubbs. Because Diane resisted calling the police when the screener at Nightwatch encouraged her to, Lawrence claims that Diane had the opportunity and ability to fabricate her story if she so inclined. We review the trial court's decision to admit the testimony under the abuse of discretion standard. State v. Briscoeray, 95 Wash.App. 167, 171-72, 974 P.2d 912, 914-15, review denied, 139 Wash.2d 1011, 994 P.2d 848 (1999). Abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court's decision is arbitrary or rests on untenable grounds or untenable reasons. State v. McDonald, 138 Wash.2d 680, 696, 981 P.2d 443 (1999).

Hearsay is generally inadmissible. ER 802; State v. Chapin, 118 Wash.2d 681, 685, 826 P.2d 194 (1992). But there is an exception for excited utterances. ER 803(a)(2).

This exception is based on the idea that "under certain external circumstances of physical shock, a stress of nervous excitement may be produced which stills the reflective faculties and removes their control." The utterance of a person in such a state is believed to be "a spontaneous and sincere response to the actual sensations and perceptions already produced by the external shock," rather

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