Opinion ID: 2590657
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Woods' Motion for Deposition and for Protective Order

Text: ¶ 34 Woods requests an order from this court allowing him to take the deposition of the person who allegedly made the anonymous phone calls regarding alternate juror Lynnell McFarland. This, according to Woods, would allow him to investigate the juror misconduct claim further. Woods also seeks a protective order for the person he would depose because of that person's alleged fear of the McFarlands. ¶ 35 As indicated above, the alleged misconduct of the two alternate jurors did not cause prejudice to Woods. Therefore, a deposition would serve no purpose. The motion, therefore, is denied. 4. JURY RECEIVING EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE ¶ 36 Woods claims that he was denied a fair trial and the right of confrontation when the trial court denied his pretrial motion to have the victims' family members remove black and orange remembrance ribbons while in the courtroom. Woods argues that the presence of these ribbons constituted extrinsic evidence of victim impact that could not be challenged at trial. ¶ 37 During jury voir dire, Woods asked the trial court to order the spectators to remove the ribbons from their persons. Outside of the presence of the jury pool, the trial court asked for comment from some of the spectators who were wearing the ribbons. One stated that it is [j]ust representative of my daughter and the tragedy that has taken place. VRP at 570. After the questioning of some of the spectators, the trial court declined to order removal of the ribbons. The trial court did, however, state that if it were necessary at some time to give a jury instruction regarding the ribbons, then it would give such an instruction. ¶ 38 A defendant has a fundamental right to a fair trial. U.S. CONST. amends. VI and XIV, § 1. When a courtroom arrangement is challenged as inherently prejudicial, the question to be answered is whether an unacceptable risk is presented of impermissible factors coming into play. Holbrook v. Flynn, 475 U.S. 560, 570, 106 S.Ct. 1340, 89 L.Ed.2d 525 (1986). In other words, all a court may do in such a situation is to look at the courtroom scene presented to the jury and determine whether what they saw was so inherently prejudicial as to pose an unacceptable threat to the defendant's right to a fair trial. Id. at 572, 106 S.Ct. 1340. ¶ 39 In support of his claim, Woods relies on Norris v. Risley, 918 F.2d 828 (9th Cir.1990). In Norris, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that because women spectators were wearing buttons inscribed with Women Against Rape the defendant was deprived of a fair trial. It reached this conclusion because the buttons announced the spectators' conclusion about the defendant's guilt and amounted to unacceptable risk of... impermissible factors coming into play. Id. at 834. The present circumstance, in our judgment, is distinguishable from Norris. Here, the black and orange ribbons did not contain any inscription. They were simply ribbons that the wearers indicated they wore in memory of the victims. In examining a color copy of the ribbon, it is our view that they do not express any conclusion about Woods' guilt or innocence. ¶ 40 Furthermore, the record shows that Woods never sought a cautionary jury instruction from the trial court. There is also nothing in the record to suggest that any juror was influenced by the fact that the ribbons were worn by the family of the victims. In fact, juror Randall Thornburg stated in a declaration that he understood that the wearing of the ribbons was a sign of their mourning their loss of a daughter or loved one. It was something like a football team wearing an armband when a teammate has died. Decl. of Randall Thornburg at 2. In a certificate, Thornburg clarified his statements in his declaration and stated, I thought the ribbons were nice, but they did not influence my decision or that of the other jurors. Certificate of Randall Thornburg at 1. ¶ 41 Many courts have used the Holbrook standard and have found that no inherent prejudice exists so as to taint the defendant's right to fair trial from the wearing of buttons or other displays. See, e.g., Buckner v. State, 714 So.2d 384, 389 (Fla.1998) (spectators holding up victim's picture was not inherently prejudicial); Pachl v. Zenon, 145 Or.App. 350, 929 P.2d 1088, 1093 (1996) (spectators wearing buttons with inscription Crime Victims United was not prejudicial and counsel was not ineffective for failing to challenge the issue); State v. Braxton, 344 N.C. 702, 477 S.E.2d 172, 177 (1996) (spectators wearing badges with victim's picture on them was not prejudicial). In most cases involving violent crime, there is at least one grieving family present at the trial and the presence of such persons should not come as any surprise to the jury members. See, e.g., State v. Richey, 171 W.Va. 342, 298 S.E.2d 879, 889 (1982) (We must assume that a jury has the fortitude to withstand this type of public scrutiny, and cannot presume irreparable harm to the defendant's right to a fair jury trial by the presence of spectators who may have some type of associational identity with the victim of the crime.). We conclude, in sum, that Woods does not meet the burden of proving that his right to a fair trial was prejudiced by the trial court's action in allowing members of the victims' families to wear the black and orange ribbons in the courtroom. 5. WOODS IN RESTRAINTS ¶ 42 Woods claims that he was denied due process because the jury allegedly saw him in restraints in the courtroom. We recognize that it is well settled law that a prisoner is entitled to be brought into the presence of the court free from restraints. State v. Damon, 144 Wash.2d 686, 690, 25 P.3d 418, 33 P.3d 735 (2001); Corley v. Cardwell, 544 F.2d 349, 352 (9th Cir.1976); State v. Williams, 18 Wash. 47, 50, 51, 50 P. 580 (1897) (if defendant remains in restraints, `the jury must necessarily conceive a prejudice against the accused, as being in the opinion of the judge a dangerous man, and one not to be trusted, even under the surveillance of officers' (quoting State v. Kring, 64 Mo. 591 (1877))). Restraints are to `be used only when necessary to prevent injury to those in the courtroom, to prevent disorderly conduct at trial, or to prevent an escape.' Damon, 144 Wash.2d at 691, 25 P.3d 418 (quoting State v. Hartzog, 96 Wash.2d 383, 400, 635 P.2d 694 (1981)). ¶ 43 In examining the record, we do not find any factual support for Woods' claim that the jury saw him in restraints in the courtroom during the course of the trial. Woods bases his claim in this regard entirely on the declaration of juror Thornburg. In his declaration, Thornburg stated, I remember seeing Mr. Woods in handcuffs twice when they took him out of the courtroom. Decl. of Randall Thornburg at 1. However, in a latter certificate, Thornburg clarified his statements and attested that The Declaration states that I twice saw Dwayne Woods transported in handcuffs when he left the courtroom. That is not correct. I explained to the attorneys on the telephone that I saw some television footage of the trial after it was completed and noticed that he was transported in handcuffs. It was no big deal to me to see that on television. I never at any time saw him in restraints during my service as a juror. I never heard any other juror mention anything about restraints either. Mr. Woods was always in the courtroom when the jury entered and left. We never saw him transported to or from the courtroom. Certificate of Randall Thornburg at 1. In light of Thornburg's certificate, Woods' reliance on the earlier declaration is unwarranted. There is, in short, nothing in the record to support a conclusion that the jury saw Woods in restraints in the courtroom. Indeed, it appears that great pains were taken to make sure that Woods was never restrained in the presence of the jury. In fact, certificates provided to the court suggest that all restraints were removed from Woods when he arrived in the courtroom before the jury was seated. See Certificate of John F. Driscoll, Jr. (Spokane County Prosecutor Chief Criminal Deputy) at 1; Certificate of Mark Henderson (Spokane County Sheriff Detective) at 1; Certificate of Thomas Warner (Spokane County Deputy Sheriff) at 1. These certificates also suggest that restraints were not placed on Woods until the jury had retired to the jury room. While restraints were used on Woods during transport, this was not in the presence of jurors. Certificate of Thomas Warner at 1. There is no merit to this claim. 6. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL ¶ 44 Woods asserts that he received ineffective assistance of counsel during his trial proceedings. Woods prefaces this claim by stating that his trial attorneys lacked proper training to handle capital cases, were unprepared and disorganized, and were overburdened because they possessed heavy caseloads and could not fully concentrate on Woods' case. He also indicates that his investigator was overburdened and possessed no training or expertise. ¶ 45 Effective assistance of counsel is guaranteed by both the federal and state constitutions. See U.S. CONST. amend VI; WASH. CONST. art. I, § 22. To prove ineffective assistance of counsel, the petitioner must first show deficient performance. State v. Hendrickson, 129 Wash.2d 61, 77, 917 P.2d 563 (1996). Deficient performance is not shown by matters that go to trial strategy or tactics. Id. at 77-78, 917 P.2d 563. The petitioner must also show prejudice `that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable.' Id. at 78, 917 P.2d 563 (quoting Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984)). This second element is proved when there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, the result of the trial would have been different. Id. at 78, 917 P.2d 563. If either part of this test is not met, the claim fails. Because of the large number of issues within this claim, we will first deal with Woods' claims of ineffective assistance of counsel during the guilt phase. We will then discuss the claim as it relates to the sentencing phase.