State v. Morris
| Docket Number | 83157-7-I |
| Decision Date | 22 January 2024 |
| Parties | STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. DAVID LEE MORRIS, Appellant. |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
A jury convicted David Lee Morris of murder in the first degree with a deadly weapon enhancement for stabbing his former girlfriend, Gabrielle Garcia, in a food court in front of their five-year-old son. On appeal, Morris contends the trial court erred by (1) excluding testimony of an expert witness in violation of his right to present a defense, (2) overruling his GR 37 challenge, (3) conducting voir dire via Zoom, (4) denying his motion for mistrial, (5) giving a first aggressor jury instruction, (6) imposing an exceptional sentence, and (7) imposing a victim penalty assessment and DNA fee. Finding no error, we affirm the conviction. However we remand for Morris to move to have the victim penalty assessment and DNA fee stricken.
David Lee Morris and Gabrielle Garcia met online and began dating in May 2012. Shortly thereafter, Garcia became pregnant. She gave birth to their son, G.M., in February 2013. At that time, Morris was an infantryman in the Army and deployed in Afghanistan; he was still stationed there when G.M. was born. Although Morris and Garcia had been engaged when he deployed, they separated shortly after he returned in June 2013. In early 2014, Morris was stationed in Germany and stayed there until June 2015, when he was honorably discharged for unsatisfactory performance. After leaving the Army, Morris moved in with his mother in Texas.
In March 2016, Morris and Garcia began dating again and Garcia moved to Texas with G.M. to be with Morris. Six months later they separated again and Garcia moved back to Seattle with G.M. After her return to Seattle, Garcia hired a lawyer to write a parenting plan so that she could maintain custody of G.M.
In the meantime, Morris became fixated on getting back together with Garcia, and his behavior toward her quickly escalated into obsession, harassment, and hatred. Morris was particularly jealous of Garcia's relationships with other men and he believed that her alleged promiscuity was harming G.M. Garcia started to limit her communication with Morris, and began relying on her father, Joe Garcia, as an intermediary. Despite this, Morris continued to inundate Garcia and her father with threatening text messages and e-mails.[1] By August 2018, Morris's messages became even more troubling-he threatened suicide and claimed that G.M. would be "better off in foster care" than with Garcia.
In September 2018, a parenting plan was entered giving Garcia full custody of G.M. and permitting Morris to have limited phone contact and in-person visits. In October 2018, Garcia obtained an anti-harassment order to restrain Morris from continuing to contact her. The same day that the anti-harassment order was issued, Morris e-mailed Garcia about his plans to visit G.M. in Seattle. In the e-mail, he also threatened to surveil Garcia and to convey inappropriate information about her to G.M.
After a hearing in late October 2018, a permanent anti-harassment order was entered against Morris. Morris was in Seattle at that time for a scheduled visit with G.M. Unbeknownst to Garcia, Morris had been fired from his job in Texas and had planned to stay in Seattle and sleep in his car until he found work in the city.
On November 1, following a barrage of messages from Morris Garcia reported to her lawyers and to law enforcement that Morris had violated the anti-harassment order.
On November 2, 2018, Garcia and G.M. were scheduled to meet Morris at Seattle Center for a visit. That morning, Garcia's lawyers had e-mailed Morris about his violation of the anti-harassment order and cautioned him to follow the order; Morris responded in an agitated and angry manner. Around 3:30 p.m., Garcia met Morris at the Pacific Science Center. Morris tried to talk to Garcia about their relationship but Garcia refused, and Morris got upset.
Garcia and Morris eventually left the Science Center and headed to the food court located in the Armory. At the Armory, Garcia ordered a cheese pizza at MOD Pizza for G.M. While she was ordering, G.M. came to the counter and asked Garcia to buy him a treat. When Garcia told G.M. that he needed to eat his pizza first, G.M. became upset and started yelling. Morris came over and told Garcia to "[j]ust buy [G.M.] the cake." Garcia, Morris, and G.M. then proceeded to a table to eat the pizza.
Minutes later, several Armory employees and food court patrons heard Garcia scream and witnessed Morris pinning her up against the wall, stabbing her repeatedly in the neck. G.M. was less than three feet away. Morris quickly left the building. Bystanders tried to save Garcia's life by applying pressure to her neck with towels and clothing but she later died in surgery at Harborview Medical Center.
Outside the Armory, a witness approached Morris, drawing his firearm to keep Morris from fleeing. Other witnesses told Morris to drop the knife, and Morris repeatedly told them that he had killed the woman he loved and asked that they shoot him. Another passerby pepper sprayed Morris.
Police arrived on the scene and subdued Morris. Morris immediately began to tell officers that he had murdered Garcia. Officers advised Morris of his Miranda[2] rights. Morris continued to relay details about the murder to officers, telling them that he "was trying to make her death quick" but that if Garcia survived, she'd "probably use this to victimize herself the rest of her life." When a responding officer asked Morris if he understood why he'd been arrested, Morris replied:
Morris was transported to an interview room at the Seattle Police Department headquarters and read his Miranda rights again. When left alone in the interview room, Morris started talking to himself about the stabbing. He ranted that he wanted "revenge" against Garcia, that she was "evil" for having an abortion, that she was promiscuous, and that she "deserved to die." When the detective returned, Morris spoke freely for several hours about his relationship problems with Garcia and his motivations for killing her. Morris told the detective that he debating killing Garcia and ultimately decided that G.M. would be better off being raised by another family. Morris also acknowledged that his son was likely traumatized; he stated that he hoped his son would either repress the events or "eventually get over it with therapy." Throughout the interview, Morris fixated on Garcia's relationships with other men and what he perceived to be promiscuity as a justification for killing her.
Morris also provided the detective a detailed account of his plan for killing Garcia. He told the detective that when he first got to the Science Center, he had "briefly thought about just taking her out right there, taking it and knifing her." Morris stated that he had "remembered all the horrible things [Garcia] had done, and how much had been cut out of [his] life." Once they got to the food court, Morris told the detective that he "was really starting to let out [his] anger at her." He called Garcia a "whore" and told her she was being a "coward" about her anxiety. Morris also told the detective that he started seriously thinking about killing Garcia several months earlier, in April or May.
Morris explained that when Garcia got up to use the restroom, he thought she was going to call her lawyer and report him for violating the anti-harassment order. He decided then to act. Morris told the detective: Morris then explained how he pulled out his knife, confronted Garcia, and started stabbing her. Morris claimed that he was "trying to be humane" and "kill her quickly," but that "no plan is perfect."
Morris was later charged with murder in the first degree with a deadly weapon enhancement. The State also alleged several aggravating factors, including that it was a crime of domestic violence, that Morris had committed it within the sight or sound of his minor child, and that the crime had a destructive and foreseeable impact on persons other than Garcia.
Morris's initial defense was one of insanity. He claimed that he suffered a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-induced flashback that made it impossible for him to discern that he was stabbing Garcia and not a burka[3]-clad woman he'd encountered while deployed Afghanistan. Before trial, the State moved to exclude Morris's expert witness, Dr. Mark Whitehill, on the grounds that Dr. Whitehill was unable to testify that Morris's mental disorder met the requirements for a defense of insanity or diminished capacity. The trial court granted the motion, reasoning that because Dr. Whitehill concluded that neither defense was available to Morris, the testimony was irrelevant.
At trial, Morris proceeded on a theory of self-defense. He testified that he experienced a PTSD-induced flashback that led him to believe Garcia was a burka-wearing woman from whom he needed to protect himself and G.M. He claimed that his confessions to police were lies.
The jury rejected Morris's self-defense claim and convicted him as charged. The State requested an exceptional upward sentence, while Morris requested an exceptional downward sentence. The court imposed an exceptional upward sentence of 464...
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