State v. Wentz
| Decision Date | 08 May 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 72438-5.,72438-5. |
| Citation | 68 P.3d 282,149 Wash.2d 342 |
| Parties | STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Gerald Lee WENTZ, Petitioner. |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
David Gasch, Spokane, for Petitioner.
Steven Tucker, Spokane County Prosecutor, Kevin Korsmo, Deputy, Spokane, for Respondent.
Defendant Gerald Lee Wentz claims the State produced insufficient evidence to support his conviction for first degree burglary. At the close of his bench trial, the judge found that by entering a locked, six-foot high fence, Wentz had entered a building for the purposes of the burglary statute. The Court of Appeals affirmed. A "fenced area" is included in the statutory definition of building, and the statute is unambiguous. Therefore, we affirm.
On the evening of May 29, 1999, police responded to a residential alarm at Patrick Wheeler's home in Spokane. One of the responding officers, Deputy James Melton, found Wentz hiding in the backyard. The officer testified that Wentz said he took a pickup truck from his brother's home in The Dalles, Oregon, without permission that morning. He said he drove the truck to a friend's house and broke in, taking a handgun and some ammunition. Thus prepared, he drove to Spokane, where he intended to confront1 his ex-wife and sometime girl friend, Janet McFadden, and her new boyfriend, Wheeler.
Wentz told police that upon arriving in Spokane, he proceeded to Wheeler's house, noting McFadden's car in the driveway. He also confirmed that she was there by calling and hanging up when she answered. Parking the truck in a lot a few blocks away, he then walked by and around the house several times. He waited for nightfall before trying to enter Wheeler's home.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Wentz, his brother telephoned McFadden in Spokane. Thereafter, she immediately fled, driving back to The Dalles. Wheeler was working a 24-hour shift. Consequently, the house was empty when Wentz arrived.
Officer Melton testified that Wentz told him he climbed the fence into the backyard and found an unlocked sliding door. When he slid it partway open, an alarm sounded. Instead of going into the house, he hid in the boat that was parked on a trailer in the backyard. He decided to wait under the boat's cover until McFadden and Wheeler returned.
A six-foot solid wood fence surrounds the backyard. The fence has two gates, both of which were padlocked. Both Wentz and the police officer who apprehended him had to climb the fence to enter the backyard. Wheeler kept his boat inside the fence next to his house.
Wentz was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, one count of possession of a stolen firearm, one count of possession of stolen property other than a firearm, and one count of first-degree burglary. At the close of the trial, the judge found Wentz guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on all counts. The Court of Appeals, Division Three, affirmed the convictions. We granted review solely as to the burglary count.
Is the term "fenced area" in the statutory definition of "building" in RCW 9A.04.110(5) subject to the main purpose test announced in State v. Roadhs, 71 Wash.2d 705, 707-09, 430 P.2d 586 (1967)?
Do the qualifying words "used for lodging of persons or for carrying on business therein, or for the use, sale or deposit of goods" apply to the term "fenced area" in RCW 9A.04.110(5)?
We are asked to determine the correct construction of "fenced area" in the statutory definition of building in RCW 9A.04.110(5). Construction of a statute is a question of law that we review de novo under the error of law standard. City of Pasco v. Pub. Employment Relations Comm'n, 119 Wash.2d 504, 507, 833 P.2d 381 (1992). This court has the ultimate authority to say what a statute means. State v. Elgin, 118 Wash.2d 551, 555, 825 P.2d 314 (1992). However, we are under an obligation to give effect to the intent of the legislature, and where the language of a statute is clear, legislative intent is derived from the language of the statute alone. Waste Mgmt. of Seattle, Inc. v. Utils. & Transp. Comm'n, 123 Wash.2d 621, 629, 869 P.2d 1034 (1994).
Whether Wentz had entered Wheeler's home was a factual dispute at trial, but the trial court made no finding he had. It nonetheless concluded that Wentz was guilty of first degree burglary based, in part, on the following written findings of fact:
Clerk's Papers (CP) at 33, 36-37, 44. Wentz challenges the sufficiency of these findings to support his first degree burglary conviction. To determine whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and ask whether any rational fact finder could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Green, 94 Wash.2d 216, 221, 616 P.2d 628 (1980) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979)).
The trial court entered no written findings regarding whether the fence around Wheeler's backyard was erected mainly for the purpose of protecting property therein, the test announced in State v. Roadhs. The issue in Roadhs was whether a defendant who unlawfully entered a fenced area could be charged under the burglary statute. Defendant and two other men were apprehended within a public utility district warehouse compound. The compound was fully enclosed by building walls and a cyclone fence topped by barbed wire. The men had cut the barbed wire and climbed over the fence. Defendant was convicted of second degree burglary. He appealed, claiming that the enclosure was not a building under the burglary statute. The second degree burglary statute in effect at the time provided:
Every person who, with intent to commit some crime therein shall, under circumstances not amounting to burglary in the first degree, enter the dwelling house of another or break and enter, or, having committed a crime therein, shall break out of any building or part thereof, or a room or other structure wherein any property is kept for use, sale or deposit, shall be guilty of burglary in the second degree....
Former RCW 9.19.020 (1909) (emphasis added). As the statute addressed unlawful entry into either a building or a structure, the court first analyzed whether a fenced area was a building. The statutory definition of "building" stated:
The word "building" shall include every house, shed, boat, watercraft, railway car, tent or booth, whether completed or not, suitable for affording shelter for any human being, or as a place where any property is or shall be kept for use, sale or deposit.
Former RCW 9.01.010(18) (1909). Because the statute listed specific items, the court reasoned that the omission of "fenced area" from the building definition was intended by the legislature. Roadhs, 71 Wash.2d at 707-08, 430 P.2d 586 ().
The court then turned to the issue of whether a fenced area was a structure. "Structure" was not defined by statute. The court reasoned that the ordinary meaning of "structure" was very broad, conceivably applying to anything from "a building" to "an apple box." Id. at 708, 430 P.2d 586. Therefore, the court interpreted the general term, "structure," in a manner consistent with the specific term, "building." Id. (). In doing so, it concluded that:
Were the fence a mere boundary fence or one erected for the sole purpose of esthetic beautification, it would not constitute a `structure' as that term was intended to be interpreted by the legislature. However, where the fence is of such a nature that it is erected mainly for the purpose of protecting property within its confines and is, in fact, an integral part of a closed compound, its function becomes analogous to that of a `building' and the fence itself constitutes a `structure' subject to being burglarized.
Id. at 708-09, 430 P.2d 586. This became the test to analyze whether a defendant who entered a fenced area had entered a "structure" and could, therefore, be convicted of burglary. State v. Livengood, 14 Wash.App. 203, 209, 540 P.2d 480 (1975) (quoting Roadhs, 71 Wash.2d at 708-09, 430 P.2d 586).
In 1975, the legislature enacted a new criminal code, Title 9A RCW. Laws of 1975, 1st Ex.Sess., ch. 260. This legislation made sweeping changes to the burglary laws. The statutory definition of "building" now reads:
"Building", in addition to its ordinary meaning, includes any dwelling, fenced area, vehicle, railway car, cargo container, or any other structure used for lodging of persons or for carrying on business therein, or for the use, sale or deposit of goods....
RCW 9A.04.110(5). Under the current statutory scheme for...
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