State v. Wolter
| Decision Date | 27 May 2015 |
| Docket Number | 45041-1-II |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. DENNIS LEE WOLTER, Appellant. |
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Dennis Lee Wolter appeals his convictions for aggravated first degree murder and witness tampering, claiming that (1) the trial court erred by admitting a number of statements he made to investigating officers, (2) the trial court improperly dismissed a juror during his trial, and (3) the jury's finding of one of the aggravating circumstances must be reversed due to instructional error and insufficient evidence. We hold that (1) the trial court did not err in admitting Wolter's statements, (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the juror, and (3) Wolter's challenge to the aggravating circumstance is moot. We affirm.
In May 2011, a neighbor called 911 to report a loud and violent argument between Wolter and his girlfriend, Kori Fredericksen. Vancouver police officers responded and, after investigating, arrested Wolter. The State charged Wolter with domestic violence fourth degree assault and domestic violence malicious mischief for the incident. At his first appearance for the charges, the Clark County District Court issued a no-contact order prohibiting Wolter from contacting Fredericksen.
Little more than a week after that first arrest, Officer Stefan Hausinger of the Camas Police Department stopped Wolter for speeding early in the morning on a deserted stretch of highway. When Hausinger approached the vehicle to speak with Wolter, he immediately smelled alcohol. Hausinger also noticed that Wolter's eyes were bloodshot, which led Hausinger to believe Wolter was intoxicated. More alarmingly when Wolter produced his license and handed it to him Hausinger noticed blood on Wolter's hands and face. On closer inspection, Hausinger noticed "more blood, not just on his hands and face, but all over his body." 2 Verbatim Report of Proceedings. (VRP) at 201.
Hausinger asked Wolter "what had happened and ... if he was okay." 2 VRP at 201. Wolter explained that the blood was not his, but instead had come from his dog, who had been hit by a car in Portland. Wolter's story was quite detailed, providing the dog's breed, name, age, and the facts of the accident. Wolter stated that the dog's blood had soaked him and his clothing when he had picked it up to take it to a 24-hour veterinary clinic, where it died and was disposed of.
Hausinger returned to his car, requested back-up so that he could perform field sobriety tests on Wolter, and requested a check on Wolter's license, which turned up a felony arrest warrant matching Wolter's name and date of birth. Hausinger then asked dispatch to confirm the warrant.
When back-up arrived, Hausinger again approached Wolter's car and asked him to step out and perform several voluntary field sobriety tests. Wolter assented and two of the tests indicated that alcohol consumption had impaired his ability to drive. Hausinger then asked Wolter to provide a voluntary preliminary breath test. Wolter again assented and the test disclosed a blood alcohol content below the legal limit.
After finishing the field sobriety tests, Hausinger told Wolter he needed to verify the story about the dog before Wolter could leave and asked how he could do so. Wolter gave Hausinger the name of a friend he said he had been with and also told Hausinger that the receipt from the veterinary clinic's disposal of the dog's body was in his truck and would confirm his story.
By this point, Officer William Packer and Sergeant Douglas Norcross had arrived. Hausinger and Norcross discussed the situation while Packer stood with Wolter at the back of Wolter's truck. Packer, who believed that Wolter had received the Miranda[2] warnings, asked Wolter about the blood, and Wolter repeated his story about his dog.
Hausinger and Norcross decided that a search for the receipt might resolve the situation. Hausinger informed Wolter of his Ferrier[3] rights and asked for permission to search the truck, which Wolter gave. While Hausinger performed the search, Norcross replaced Packer at the back of Wolter's truck and "just kind of engaged [Wolter] in conversation." 2 VRP at 280. Wolter again told the same story about his dog. Norcross, who found it odd that Wolter would have been travelling on the old highway instead of the new, main one, asked Wolter about his route. Wolter stated that he had needed to relieve himself and had been looking for an isolated place to do so. Packer, meanwhile, attempted to verify Wolter's story by contacting veterinary clinics in Portland. He was able to find one clinic matching Wolter's description, but it denied that Wolter had come in that night.
Hausinger's search of Wolter's truck failed to turn up a receipt for a veterinary clinic visit. Hausinger did, however, find the no-contact order issued by the Clark County District Court forbidding Wolter from contacting Fredericksen. When asked about the order, Wolter assured the officers that the court had rescinded it that day because Fredericksen had recanted her story.
The officers then conferenced on how to proceed. By this point, Wolter had told the officers that he had been on his way to visit Fredericksen. Norcross ordered an officer to try to contact her by phone and, when that failed, by driving to find her apartment complex. The officers also decided to ask the Vancouver police officers to perform a welfare check at Wolter's residence "to make sure that there was nobody at the house who was injured or in need of any medical help, due to the amount of blood" on Wolter and his clothing. 2 VRP at 220.
While waiting for the results of the welfare check, dispatch confirmed the existence of the warrant, and Hausinger confirmed that the description on the warrant matched Wolter. Hausinger placed Wolter under arrest for both the warrant and negligent driving, handcuffed him, and read him the Miranda warnings. Wolter told Hausinger that he understood his rights and was willing to waive them. Hausinger then transported Wolter to the Camas Police Department for further questioning.
At the Camas Police Department, Hausinger received word that Vancouver police officers had discovered a "probable crime scene" at Wolter's house. 2 VRP at 230. Meanwhile, still bothered by Wolter's odd choice of a route home, Norcross traveled up the highway, looking for anything out of place on the side of the road. Approximately a mile up the road from where Hausinger stopped Wolter, Norcross found a bloody shoe on the road's shoulder. Norcross stopped, got out of his car, peered over the road's shoulder, and discovered Fredericksen's body down the steep embankment adjacent to the road.
After booking Wolter, Vancouver police detectives gave him the Miranda warnings and Wolter again agreed to waive them and speak with police. After questioning Wolter about his dog and other matters, the detectives told him that they wanted to test his clothing to make sure the blood was canine and not human. The request resulted in the following exchange touching on Wolter's right to counsel:
After a brief aside, one of the detectives asked Wolter about his request for counsel, saying, "So, for clarification, you're saying that when we get to this point of dealing with your clothing, that's where you need your attorney present with you[?]" 3 VRP at 381. Wolter responded, 3 VRP at 382.
After that exchange, the detectives began explicitly asking Wolter whether Fredericksen was dead and whether he had killed her. They hinted that they had discovered Fredericksen's body, told him that Vancouver police detectives had found the bloody scene at his house, and made clear to him that they would use the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) evidence covering him to prosecute him for murder. Wolter continued to assert his innocence until he finally ended the interview by invoking his right to counsel.
After that interview, police transported Wolter to the Clark County Jail with another arrestee, Danielle Williams. When Williams asked Wolter what police had arrested him for, he replied "Murder." 11A VRP at 2171. Williams then realized that she knew Wolter because she had dated Fredericksen's stepson, and she asked Wolter whom he had killed. Wolter told her that he had killed Fredericksen and done so because "she had narced on him." 11A VRP at 2173. Wolter later contacted Fredericksen's stepson from jail and asked him, obliquely, to convince...
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