Opinion ID: 1360803
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: State v. McFarland

Text: At about 10:30 p.m., April 23, 1990, Alan Rogers heard his dogs barking, indicating to him that someone was at his door. When he opened the door, he saw two masked men holding sawed-off shotguns. One of the masked men was of average size, while the other was somewhat larger. The men forced their way in, ordered Rogers to lie on the floor, and brought the other two family members into the living room. Alan Roger's wife, Suzanne, was forced to lie on the floor at the feet of her mother, Doris Logan. The men demanded money of Alan Rogers. When Rogers told them he had none, the smaller man kicked and hit him several times, finally taking him to the bedroom where the man again demanded money. Rogers testified he was told he had four seconds to cooperate or the man would kill him; the man then began a four-second countdown. Rogers kept a bucket beside the bed, containing change, personal belongings, and a .22 caliber Derringer-type pistol. He picked up the bucket and told the man it contained money. Rogers then got the pistol, grabbed the man's shotgun, spun around behind him, and shot him repeatedly with the Derringer until the man ceased struggling and fell on the bed. The man died at the scene and was later identified as Patrick Flick. Believing the shots had killed her husband, Suzanne jumped up and ran out of the house, screaming for help. Rogers went into the hallway intending to shoot the larger masked man but, finding his Derringer empty, retreated. The man fled, firing the shotgun as he left the house. He climbed over a neighbor's fence and ran down an alley, still carrying the sawed-off shotgun when witnesses lost sight of him. At no time did any victim or witness see the man's face. The first 911 emergency call from Rogers was received at 10:42 p.m. on April 23, 1990, saying shots had been fired, and the first police officer arrived at 10:45 p.m. Witnesses described the larger masked man as 5'11 to 6'2 tall and 180 to 220 pounds, and wearing dark clothing. Rogers testified the man had a mustache visible through his ski mask and sounded like an older person, probably in his late 40's. The next day police put James McFarland's house under surveillance. When he left the house and drove away in his car, McFarland was stopped and arrested. The police had no arrest warrant, but they believed McFarland to be the larger masked man involved in the attempted robbery at the Rogers' residence. At the time of the arrest, the police investigation had developed the following information linking McFarland with the crime: (1) he was 50 years old, 6'0 tall, and weighed about 220 pounds, which was consistent with the witnesses' descriptions; (2) a police dog tracked the scent of the larger masked man to the end of the alley where he appeared to have gotten into a car that leaked motor oil, and McFarland drove a car that leaked oil; and (3) McFarland had been seen with Flick shortly before the attempted robbery. McFarland was read his rights and questioned following his arrest. Responding to questioning, he stated Flick had borrowed his car the previous evening while McFarland was attending a class at Bates Vocational School. Flick returned with the car around 9:40 p.m., and they went to Flick's parents' residence, drank a few beers, and examined two shotguns produced by Flick. Flick then injected himself with heroin and made a telephone call. There was no evidence at trial suggesting McFarland injected or ingested any heroin. The two men returned to the car, Flick carrying the two shotguns into the car with him. McFarland said he did not ask Flick what he intended to do with the weapons. McFarland and Flick then drove to the parking lot of the 38th Street Pub Tavern, where they met an unidentified, heavy-set white man with whom Flick left, taking the shotguns with him. McFarland then went home, arriving there sometime between 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. [1] After McFarland's arrest and questioning, the police investigation developed additional information linking him to the crime: (1) McFarland's blood type and blood enzyme analysis matched a blood spot on a stocking mask recovered near the crime scene, a match shared by.4 percent of Caucasians and.2 percent of African-Americans; and (2) a court-ordered examination of McFarland by Dr. Harold Boyd revealed a head wound consistent with the location of the blood spot on the stocking mask and old enough that McFarland likely had the wound on the night of the assaults on the Rogerses. Trial counsel moved to suppress certain evidence and challenged the State's efforts to obtain certain physical evidence, but counsel did not challenge the warrantless arrest or move to suppress any evidence based on an illegal arrest. McFarland was convicted of the charged crimes. On appeal, McFarland's new counsel alleged prosecutorial misconduct, double jeopardy, and insufficient evidence, but he did not challenge the legality of McFarland's arrest. McFarland filed a pro se brief in which he claimed ineffective assistance of trial counsel and challenged the legality of his arrest. McFarland's pro se brief to the Court of Appeals was the first time his warrantless arrest was challenged. The Court of Appeals, Division Two, affirmed McFarland's conviction. State v. McFarland, 73 Wn. App. 57, 867 P.2d 660 (1994). The court held his failure to object to the warrantless arrest at trial waived his Fourth Amendment right to challenge the admission of evidence and inculpatory statements made following his arrest. The court held this waiver was per se deficient conduct by counsel because it was neither a tactical decision nor sensible trial strategy. The court concluded, however, that it could not determine whether McFarland was prejudiced by this waiver, because it could not determine from the record whether the trial court would have granted a motion to suppress the evidence and statements obtained after McFarland's arrest. Because this determination involved matters outside the record, the Court of Appeals denied relief and held McFarland could only challenge his warrantless arrest and the evidence obtained following that arrest in a separate personal restraint petition under RAP 16.3.