State v. Merritt
| Docket Number | 38763-1-III |
| Decision Date | 28 November 2023 |
| Parties | STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. CLAUDE L. MERRITT, Appellant. |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
1
STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent,
v.
CLAUDE L. MERRITT, Appellant.
No. 38763-1-III
Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3
November 28, 2023
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
LAWRENCE-BERREY, A.C.J.
Claude L. Roy Merritt appeals his convictions for first degree felony murder, second degree felony murder, first degree manslaughter, first degree kidnapping, tampering with physical evidence, unlawful disposal of remains, and failure to notify the coroner of the location of human remains.
He raises several worthy issues on appeal and the State correctly concedes to most of the issues. We accept the State's concessions. This leaves only two contested issues. We conclude that the coroner notification statute, as applied to the facts here, violated Merritt's right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We also conclude that the State, when charging felony murder, need not list the elements of the predicate felony. We remand for resentencing.
FACTS
Just after midnight on September 15, 2020, Jason Fox sent two text messages to his former roommate: "22 Yergens rd" and "Just incade [sic] anything happens to me." Ex. 147. The next day, a relative reported Fox missing.
22 Yergens Road is a partially forested, 50-acre property abutting the Pend Oreille River, consisting of multiple buildings, a wedding venue, a shop with two apartments on the upper floor, and a tiny house. At the time, several people lived at 22 Yergens Road, including Claude Merritt, Riley Hillestad, and Matthew Raddatz-Freeman and his wife, Amanda Pierson.
On September 17, the day after Fox was reported missing, law enforcement went to the rural property looking for him. The officers encountered Merritt, along with some of the other residents, and questioned them about Fox's whereabouts. Merritt told the officers he had not seen Fox in about two weeks.
On September 21, law enforcement requested an emergency ping of Fox's cell phone. The ping did not return a location, but the phone provider notified law enforcement that Fox's phone was last active in the vicinity of 22 Yergens Road. Based on this information, law enforcement returned to the rural property where they again encountered Merritt and the other residents. Merritt's story changed. He told the
deputies that Fox was at the property the night in question but was escorted off after a conflict and drove away. The next day, Fox's car was found abandoned in a remote wooded area outside of Libby, Montana.
On October 3, law enforcement and a team of human remains detection dogs searched the rural property with the permission of one of the property owners. The next day, after an extensive search, they found Fox's body buried in a wooded area with his hands tied with a strap behind his back. Fox's skull was fractured on the right side and depressed into his cranial cavity.
A forensic pathologist conducted an autopsy. The doctor concluded that Fox's death was caused by a strike to the right side of his head with a relatively heavy and blunt object, but he was unable to determine what type of object caused the injury.
On November 7, law enforcement developed a plan to locate and interview the persons of interest in the murder of Fox, including Merritt. Pend Oreille County Sheriff's Deputy Travis Stigall, along with two other deputies, interviewed Merritt. During the interview, Merritt told Deputy Stigall that Fox went to the property on September 14 and that there was a conflict between Fox and Raddatz-Freeman. Raddatz-Freeman wanted to beat up Fox, but Merritt told the deputy that he intervened and followed Fox off the property. Deputy Stigall told Merritt that Fox had been killed, to which Merritt replied, "I
know I didn't do it. Like 100%. I would not hurt that kid for the life of me at all." Rep. of Proc. (RP) at 1635. At that point, Merritt's story again changed.
Deputy Stigall asked Merritt who would have killed Fox. Merritt replied without hesitation that it was Raddatz-Freeman and Hillestad and described how they used their hands and feet and "[b]eat the shit out of him." RP at 1637. Merritt said this occurred inside the shop building, that he was present, and he was told that if he said anything, he would "'be right there with [Fox].'" RP at 1638.
Merritt told Deputy Stigall that Raddatz-Freeman and Hillestad closed all the doors and locked him inside the shop and that Hillestad stood with his gun and said nobody was going anywhere. Merritt explained that when he told the group he invited Fox out to the property, Hillestad became upset and started yelling. The next thing Merritt knew, Fox was beat up and the others tied up Fox to take him outside.
Merritt told Deputy Stigall that Fox was walking when they took him outside the shop, but he did not know what happened after that. He said only Raddatz-Freeman and Hillestad led Fox outside. Merritt said he heard a skid steer[1] running after that, until around 2:00 a.m. in the morning. He believed Raddatz-Freeman and Hillestad were going
to bury Fox in the woods because he heard them talk about burying Fox there. He said Raddatz-Freeman and Hillestad told him to clean up the blood from the shop floor, and he cleaned the blood using Pine Sol. The next morning, September 15, Raddatz-Freeman told Merritt that Fox had been killed.
Procedure
The State charged Merritt with three homicide offenses: count 1, first degree felony murder; count 2, second degree felony murder; and count 3, first degree manslaughter as a principal and/or accomplice. In addition, the State charged him with various other offenses: count 4, first degree kidnapping; count 5, unauthorized removal or concealment of a body; count 6, tampering with physical evidence; count 7, unlawful disposal of remains; and count 8, failure to notify a coroner.
In the middle of Merritt's trial, Raddatz-Freeman entered into a plea deal which, for a reduced sentence, required him to testify. Raddatz-Freeman testified that on the night of Fox's murder, both he and Fox were inside the shop, along with Merritt, Hillestad, and another individual, Kevin Belding. He testified that Hillestad hit and then kicked Fox in the face. He said Merritt also grabbed Fox by the back of the head and kneed him in the face. Raddatz-Freeman did not know who tied up Fox but said Merritt led Fox through the back door of the shop.
Raddatz-Freeman testified that Merritt put Fox on the back of a Ranger-a four-wheel drive, side-by-side utility vehicle-and that someone drove it back into the tree line. He said he eventually followed the Ranger and saw Merritt standing in the bed of the Ranger, stomping on something. He also saw Hillestad digging a hole using the skid steer. Once the hole was dug, Merritt took Fox out of the Ranger's bed, walked him to the hole, and placed him on his knees.
Raddatz-Freeman testified that he told Merritt that he should stop what he was doing and leave. Merritt then drove away in the Ranger. Raddatz-Freeman said he left but returned soon after. He saw Hillestad in the skid steer, which was stationary, with the bucket of the machine on Fox, with Fox's legs kicking wildly. At that point, Raddatz-Freeman got back inside the Ranger and drove away without trying to stop Hillestad.
Raddatz-Freeman testified that a few days later, the group all got together because Hillestad wanted to tell them, just once, what happened. Hillestad told them he had pushed Fox into the hole and was planning on covering him with the dirt when Fox got out of the hole and ran. Hillestad said that he chased Fox down with the skid steer, that Fox tripped and fell, and that he scooped Fox up in the bucket of the skid steer and put
him in the hole.[2] Raddatz-Freeman testified that they agreed, if questioned, to all say they had not seen Fox for a couple of months.
At the close of the State's case, Merritt moved to dismiss count 5, unauthorized removal or concealment of a body, arguing that the information failed to include the mens rea element of the crime. The State conceded and stipulated to dismissal of count 5. Later, the jury returned guilty verdicts on counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8, and a not guilty verdict on count 7.
Sentencing
At sentencing, the parties debated whether double jeopardy and merger required a number of convictions to be omitted from the judgment and sentence, and whether a California conviction for unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle should be included in Merritt's offender score. The trial court mostly agreed with the State. The court listed all of the convictions in the judgment and sentence, omitted those that merged from the offender score, and included the California conviction in the offender score.[3]
The court found Merritt to be indigent and imposed a $500.00 victim penalty assessment (VPA) and a $100.00 DNA collection fee. It entered an order for restitution in the amount of $1,993.62 and interest on that amount at the rate applicable to civil judgments.
Merritt timely appealed.
ANALYSIS
DOUBLE JEOPARDY
Merritt contends the sentencing court violated double jeopardy by including the convictions and sentences for counts 2 and 3 in his judgment and sentence. The State concedes error. We accept the State's concession.
We review issues of double jeopardy de novo. State v. Womac, 160 Wn.2d 643, 649, 160 P.3d 40 (2007). A double jeopardy claim may be raised for the first time on appeal. State v. Jackman, 156 Wn.2d 736, 746, 132 P.3d 136 (2006).
The double jeopardy clause of the United States Constitution and the Washington Constitution prohibit the imposition of multiple punishments for the same criminal conduct. State v. Turner, 169 Wn.2d 448, 454, 238 P.3d 461 (2010); U.S. Const. amend. V; Wash. Const. art I, § 9. In instances where a jury finds a defendant guilty of multiple counts for the same conduct, the trial court does not...
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