State Of Washington v. Ryan Brett Johnson, 74262-1

Background

On Jan. 1, 2015, Ryan Brett Johnson and accomplice Billy Jo Arnold entered Anthony Williams's bedroom after Kona (a roommate) unlocked the door; the men wore scarves, took Williams's wallet and phone, and Arnold struck Williams in the head with a 2x4, requiring 11 staples.
Kona had called Arnold earlier about Williams's $2,500 casino win and texted/called a cell number (509-631-2672) multiple times around the robbery; police linked that number to Johnson via Google/Facebook and LexisNexis searches and obtained AT&T records via a Tulalip Tribal Court warrant served on AT&T in Texas.
Arnold pled guilty and testified against Johnson; surveillance video from the casino showed Johnson with Arnold after the robbery; the State introduced Kona's Sprint records and testimony tying calls to (509) 631-2672 to the timeline.
Johnson was convicted by a jury of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, and second-degree assault (special verdict: armed with a deadly weapon); sentenced to 135 months.
On appeal the court addressed (1) whether the Tribal Court had authority to issue the out-of-state AT&T search warrant and whether admission of those records (first raised on appeal) was harmless, (2) admissibility/authentication of Detective Sallee's testimony re: Facebook and LexisNexis searches, (3) sufficiency of evidence for burglary, and (4) whether robbery and assault convictions violate double jeopardy (merger doctrine).

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Authority of Tulalip Tribal Court to issue warrant for AT&T records located in Texas	State relied on the Tribal Court warrant and resultant records to link Johnson to the number	Johnson argued Tribal Court lacked authority to issue warrant for nontribal member's out-of-state records; suppression required	Even assuming lack of authority, any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because overwhelming untainted evidence supported guilt
Admission/authentication of Facebook evidence	State: Detective Sallee's Google search and observation of Facebook images are admissible and corroborative	Johnson: Facebook page was not authenticated; testimony should be excluded/struck	Court: Johnson waived timely objection to Facebook testimony; no motion to strike and court reserved ruling; testimony allowed and not stricken
Admissibility of LexisNexis search results	State: LexisNexis is a reliable police database; it returned Johnson's name and SSN tied to the phone number	Johnson: Insufficient foundation that LexisNexis results were accurate/authenticated	Court: Sufficient foundation shown; allowed testimony that the search returned Johnson's name and SSN (but not that the phone belonged to him)
Double jeopardy — merger of robbery and assault convictions	State: Assault had an independent purpose/effect (separate injury) so convictions may both stand	Johnson: Assault was used to elevate robbery to first degree; convictions merge under the merger doctrine	Held: Assault second-degree conviction merged into robbery first-degree conviction (double jeopardy violation); remanded for resentencing

Key Cases Cited

Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000) (jury must find every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt)
In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970) (State must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt)
State v. Guloy, 104 Wn.2d 412 (1985) (overwhelming untainted evidence test for harmless constitutional error)
State v. Freeman, 153 Wn.2d 765 (2005) (merger doctrine and analysis of whether offenses have independent purpose)
In re Pers. Restraint of Francis, 170 Wn.2d 517 (2010) (double jeopardy principles under Washington law)
State v. Kier, 164 Wn.2d 798 (2008) (merger analysis when jury verdict does not reveal which theory elevated an offense)
State v. Mutch, 171 Wn.2d 646 (2011) (requirement that it be manifestly apparent jury was not imposing multiple punishments when multiple acts are charged)