Opinion ID: 2544396
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: State v. Phipps and Baker

Text: Charges against Linniell Phipps and Lechaun Baker stemmed from a series of events that occurred in the early morning of March 11, 1997. Curtis Rodgers was visiting two men who lived in a Federal Way motel room. While Rodgers and another man were in the bathroom discussing a drug deal, two men came in through the front door of the room. One of them wore a mask and held a pistol. The gunman told the occupants of the motel room to lie down on the floor and ordered both men out of the bathroom. The man who accompanied the gunman demanded the keys to a truck that belonged to Alice Manchester, a woman present in the room. The two men left with Rodgers at gunpoint and drove away in the truck. After going a short distance, the gunman removed his mask and got out of the truck with Rodgers. The other man remained in the driver's seat. The gunman shot Rodgers twice in the abdomen, and the victim fell to the ground. When the driver urged the gunman to hurry up, the gunman fired a shot that grazed the victim's scalp. The two men then left. Rodgers survived after emergency medical treatment and surgery. He was able to identify the gunman as Linniell Phipps and the driver who accompanied him as Phipps' half-brother, Leehaun Baker. Others who had been present in the motel room also identified Phipps and Baker. On March 23, 1997, Phipps and Baker were stopped and arrested in Phipps' car. When police searched the car, they found the gun used to shoot Rodgers. On July 14, 1997, a jury found Phipps and Baker guilty of attempted murder in the first degree, first degree robbery, first degree kidnapping, and first degree burglary, with a firearm sentence enhancement for each count.