Court Opinion

ID: 9597780
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:02:49.223893+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:39.463789
License: Public Domain

Durham, J.
(dissenting) — So confused is the majority's analysis, and so wrong the result it reaches, that I am at a loss to understand what objective is being pursued. Presumably, the court's role in this case is to determine, consistently with controlling case law, how Collicott's offender score should be calculated. Rather than follow controlling precedent, however, the majority suggests new abstractions and formulations. The result is not a clarification of our recent — and unanimous — decision in this area, but an obfuscation that leaves the law both unclear and unpredictable.
In State v. Dunaway, 109 Wn.2d 207, 743 P.2d 1237, 749 P.2d 160 (1987), we adopted the following analysis for determining when crimes "encompass the same criminal conduct" under RCW 9.94A.400(l)(a):
[T]rial courts should focus on the extent to which the criminal intent, as objectively viewed, changed from one crime to the next. . . . [P]art of this analysis will often include the related issues of whether one crime furthered the other and if the time and place of the two crimes remained the same.
*413Dunaway, at 215. We also held that crimes involving multiple victims can never encompass the same criminal conduct. Dunaway, at 215.
The majority in this case concludes that Collicott's burglary, rape and kidnapping offenses all encompassed the same criminal conduct. Yet, in so holding, the majority wholly ignores the questions that Dunaway says must be answered. The majority never considers whether any of Collicott's crimes furthered the others or if they were committed at different times and places. In fact, the majority forgoes any analysis of criminal intent at all, even though this intent forms the crucial consideration under the Dun-away test. Proper analysis of these Dunaway factors reveals that Collicott's three crimes did not encompass the same criminal conduct. Moreover, because the burglary involved a victim who was not involved in the other two crimes, additional reason exists for treating the burglary separately. Accordingly, I dissent.
I
Criminal Intent
Under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (SRA), RCW 9.94A, a defendant's presumptive sentence range is calculated from two factors, one of which is the severity of his criminal history. RCW 9.94A.360; RCW 9.94A.370. As a general rule, when a defendant is sentenced for a particular offense, the trial court is to include in the criminal history not only the defendant's prior convictions, but also any other "current" offenses for which the defendant is contemporaneously being sentenced. RCW 9.94A.400(l)(a). The SRA, however, makes the following exception: if the trial court determines that "some or all of the current offenses encompass the same criminal conduct then those current offenses shall be counted as one crime." (Italics mine.) RCW 9.94A.400(l)(a).
By itself, the phrase "the same criminal conduct" is open to a variety of interpretations. The Court of Appeals has *414focused on the extent to which the defendant's intent changes from one crime to the next. See, e.g., State v. Edwards, 45 Wn. App. 378, 725 P.2d 442 (1986); State v. Boze, 47 Wn. App. 477, 735 P.2d 696 (1987). This test, adopted in State v. Dunaway, supra, is an objective one in that courts will not treat multiple crimes as one merely because the offender claims to have been motivated by a single subjective intent, such as a need for money or an intent to harass another. See State v. Calloway, 42 Wn. App. 420, 424, 711 P.2d 382 (1985); State v. Huff, 45 Wn. App. 474, 478-79, 726 P.2d 41 (1986); Dunaway, at 216-17. The determination of intent involves two subsidiary issues: did one crime further another and were they committed at the same time and place. Answering these questions requires more than a simple analysis of the elements of the crimes charged; courts must also look at the crimes as they occurred to determine the extent to which the acts constituting each crime overlapped in time and place and furthered the acts constituting another crime.
The majority completely ignores these principles in its analysis. Instead, it conjures up a new "element sharing" test. According to the majority, the determination of when two crimes encompass the same criminal conduct is dependent only on the extent to which the elements of the two crimes overlap.2
This is not how we interpreted the SRA's "same criminal conduct" provision in Dunaway. There, we held that the *415determination of whether or not an offender's multiple crimes should be treated as one offense for sentencing purposes depends on whether the offender's actions show that his criminal intent varied amongst the several crimes. In some cases, analysis of the elements of the separate crimes may be relevant to this determination.3 Nothing we said in Dunaway, and no other authority or reason, supports the majority's view that element sharing is determinative in and of itself, however.
The majority's reformulation of the Dunaway test expands the scope of the "same criminal conduct" exception far beyond that previously envisioned. Professor Boerner indicates that the exception should be narrowly construed and that it should apply to "relatively few situations." D. Boerner, Sentencing in Washington § 5.8(a), at 5-17 (1985). The type of case in which the exception is applicable, he notes, is when a defendant is charged with second degree burglary and possession of property stolen in the same burglary. See D. Boerner, at 5-17. Indeed, Professor Boerner concludes that the exception is "essentially limit[ed]" to the context of burglaries, where a single criminal objective can be easily discerned. D. Boerner, at 5-18.
Here, it cannot fairly be said that Collicott had only a single criminal objective. Armed with a knife, Collicott entered a residential counseling center, intending to commit theft, and stole some of the center's electronic equipment. While inside, he encountered a woman who was spending the night at the center. He hit her over the head, took her to another room, tied her up and raped her. Afterward, he forced her to accompany him as he drove to a house where he could get a gun. She was able to escape when he left the car to enter the house. Collicott was *416charged with burglary, rape and kidnapping, all in the first degree. He pleaded guilty to all three counts. As does the majority, I will analyze the relationship between the burglary and the rape before addressing the relationship of each of these offenses to the kidnapping.
The crime of first degree burglary was completed upon Collicott's entry into the counseling center, armed with a deadly weapon, and intending to commit theft. None of these acts in any way furthered the commission of the rape. These same facts show that the crime of first degree burglary was completed before the rape was committed. The two crimes were committed in separate areas as well, in that Collicott took the woman to another room to rape her. It seems irrefutable that the burglary and rape should be treated separately.
Turning to the kidnapping charge, an objective viewing of the facts reveals a further change in Collicott's intent. The kidnapping did not begin until both the burglary and rape were completed, and it took place away from the center where the other two crimes occurred.4 Thus, the kidnapping could not have furthered the rape or burglary. Nor is there any reason to believe the rape furthered the subsequent kidnapping. In light of these factors, Collicott's criminal intent changed when he kidnapped the visitor. Thus, like the other offenses, the kidnapping offense also should be treated separately.
My conclusion as to the kidnapping count finds support from Dunaway and its companion cases. Dunaway got in a car with two women at the Alderwood Mall, showed them a gun, and forced them to drive him to Seattle. He took *417money from each of them, and in Seattle told one of the women to enter a bank and withdraw money for him. When she failed to return after a short time, he left the area. He pleaded guilty to four counts: one count of first degree kidnapping and one count of first degree robbery for each victim. Dunaway, at 211-21. We held that the two crimes committed against each victim encompassed the same criminal conduct.5 The crimes of kidnapping and robbery occurred at the same times and places: the kidnapping began when he ordered the women to drive to Seattle, the robberies occurred en route, and the kidnapping ended later after the failed attempt to have the money withdrawn from the bank. Moreover, because his conviction for first degree kidnapping depended on his intent to commit robbery, Dunaway's criminal intent did not change between the two crimes. Dunaway, at 217. By contrast, Collicott's kidnapping was committed merely to facilitate escape from his other felony, the rape already having been completed. Thus, while Dunaway's intent did not change between the two crimes, Collicott's did.
Additional insights can be drawn from the two cases consolidated with Dunaway and analyzed therein — State v. Green and State v. Franklin. Green robbed a doughnut shop at gunpoint, took an employee toward a back room, knocked him down, and then shot him twice. Franklin robbed a pizza parlor, forced the employee to kneel behind the counter, and then stabbed her twice in the back. Both defendants were convicted of first degree robbery and attempted first degree murder. Dunaway, at 210-11. In each instance, we held that the crimes were separate in nature, because the robberies were completed before the murders were attempted, and that neither crime furthered the other. We expressly rejected the notion that one crime *418furthers another when it is committed to escape the consequences of the first. Dunaway, at 217.
Simply put, Dunaway held that the commission of one crime merely to escape the consequences of another crime represents a change in intent. The same principle applies in the present case: kidnapping a victim in order to facilitate flight from a previous felony represents a change in criminal intent.
Because Collicott's criminal intent changed between each crime, they must all be separately considered.
II
Multiple Victims
My objections to the majority's reasoning extend into one additional area. Dunaway established that crimes involving multiple victims are treated separately. Dunaway, at 215. When a person commits one crime against one victim and a second crime against another victim, his conduct is more dangerous and is deserving of stronger punishment than if only a single victim is involved. Dunaway, at 215.
Collicott's rape and kidnapping involved only one victim — the center's overnight visitor. Due to the peculiar definition of first degree burglary, however, his burglary involved two victims. Burglary in the first degree is defined as:
A person is guilty of burglary in the first degree if, with intent to commit a crime against a person or property therein, he enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling and if, in entering or while in the dwelling or in immediate flight therefrom, the actor or another participant in the crime (a) is armed with a deadly weapon, or (b) assaults any person therein.
RCW 9A.52.020(1). The owner of the counseling center was the victim of the unlawful entry as well as the target of the crime he intended to commit there — theft. The visitor was the victim of the assault. Therefore, the first degree burglary in this particular case victimized more than one individual.
*419The majority today alters the multiple victim rule with its conclusion that there was only one "central victim" in Collicott's three crimes. Dunaway itself gives no indication that only "central" victims are to be counted. Admittedly, in some cases a victim might be so tangentially involved that he should not be considered in applying the multiple victim rule. This, however, is not such a case. The facts described above show that the center was directly victimized by the burglary. Indeed, Collicott fully satisfied the elements of first degree burglary before he even assaulted the center's visitor. Accordingly, the multiple victim rule mandates the conclusion that the burglary did not encompass the same criminal conduct as the other two crimes, providing an additional reason to treat the burglary separately from the other two crimes.
I would affirm the Court of Appeals.
Callow, C.J., and Brachtenbach and Andersen, JJ., concur with Durham, J.
Reconsideration denied June 28, 1989.

The majority takes pains to differentiate its analysis from that of the merger doctrine. Nevertheless, by refusing to incorporate the issue of criminal intent into the theory of "element sharing", the majority exhibits a confused reliance on merger principles. Under the merger doctrine, if one crime is used to elevate the degree of another crime, the first crime merges into the second, unless the injuries caused by the crimes are separate and distinct. State v. Vladovic, 99 Wn.2d 413, 662 P.2d 853 (1983); State v. Johnson, 92 Wn.2d 671, 600 P.2d 1249 (1979), cert. dismissed, 446 U.S. 948 (1980); State v. Davis, 47 Wn. App. 91, 98, 734 P.2d 500, review denied, 108 Wn.2d 1029 (1987). Merger principles involve comparison of the elements of crimes, without consideration of criminal intent. It is that intent upon which Dunaway focuses, a difference that the majority has failed to recognize.

For example, evidence of a single criminal intent could be found if an element of crime A is that the offender committed that crime with intent to commit crime B. See State v. Dunaway, 109 Wn.2d 207, 217, 743 P.2d 1237, 749 P.2d 160 (1987) (holding that robbery and kidnapping encompassed the same criminal conduct where the kidnapping charge was raised to the first degree because the kidnapping was committed with intent to commit robbery).

Washington case law precludes any argument that the kidnapping for which Collicott was convicted actually began before the rape, that is, when Collicott took the visitor into another room to rape her. Any restraint and movement of the victim incidental to the crime of rape is not separately punishable as a kidnapping. State v. Johnson, 92 Wn.2d 671, 680-81, 600 P.2d 1249 (1979), cert. dismissed, 446 U.S. 948 (1980). Because Collicott's acts in restraining and moving his victim prior to the rape merged into the rape offense under Johnson, Collicott's conviction of kidnapping can only relate to his acts in forcing the visitor to accompany him in the car after the rape was completed.

The multiple victim rule, however, mandated that the two crimes involving one victim be treated separately from those involving the other victim. Dunauiay, at 217.