State v. Parkinson
State v. Parkinson
Opinion
¶ 1 Defendant Michael Roy Parkinson appeals his convictions for assault against a police officer and failing to respond to an officer's command to stop. Defendant argues that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by proposing erroneous jury instructions. Because Defendant has not demonstrated that any such errors were prejudicial, we affirm his convictions.
¶ 2 Two Murray City detectives, driving in unmarked police vehicles, initiated a traffic stop after Defendant followed the car in front of him too closely and failed to use his turn signal for at least two seconds before changing lanes. 1 Responding to the emergency lights and siren of the first detective's vehicle, Defendant pulled over. The first detective approached the driver's side of Defendant's vehicle while the second detective positioned himself at the passenger side. Both detectives were dressed in plain clothes, but the second detective had a badge visibly hanging from his neck on a lanyard. The first detective explained why they pulled Defendant over and asked Defendant for his license, registration, and proof of insurance, which Defendant immediately provided.
¶ 3 While the first detective returned to his vehicle to check Defendant's license, a sergeant arrived at the scene, also in plain clothes and wearing his badge on a lanyard around his neck. The sergeant had called Defendant's parole officer, leaving a message that officers intended to search Defendant's vehicle. When he informed Defendant of his intent to search the vehicle pursuant to Defendant's parole agreement, Defendant disagreed with the officers on whether they had the authority to do so, insisting that only his parole officer could conduct the search. The sergeant then attempted to coax Defendant out of the vehicle, to no avail. During the coaxing, Defendant asked the sergeant, "[W]ho are you, like what's your name?" Defendant testified at trial that the sergeant told him his name and that he worked for Murray City Police.
¶ 4 During the sergeant's attempts to get Defendant to exit his vehicle, Defendant repeatedly revved the engine and reached for the gearshift knob. In a final attempt to get Defendant to exit the vehicle, the sergeant placed his hands on Defendant's left hand and shoulder. The first detective returned to Defendant's vehicle and reached over to try and turn off the ignition, but Defendant put the car into drive and "accelerated at a high rate of speed," causing the first detective to grab hold of the steering wheel, forcing the car toward the curb. The driver's side door shut on the sergeant and the first detective, causing them to be dragged along the road. The officers yelled for Defendant to stop, but Defendant continued driving until he went up and over the curb. Dislodged from the car due to the impact with the curb, the first detective's ankle hit the curb and his chest hit the rear door of the vehicle, and both the sergeant and the first detective fell under the vehicle.
¶ 5 Defendant drove away from the scene. He left his car in a nearby parking lot and departed on foot. He did not call 911 to report that he had been accosted by persons of questionable legitimacy. Instead, he made his way to a friend's house and stayed there for a few days. He was arrested at his home four days after the incident and charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer, a second degree felony,
see
¶ 6 At trial, Defendant's counsel proposed jury instructions on the elements of both crimes. The proposed assault instruction failed to include the statutory element that Defendant acted "with knowledge that the person is a peace officer."
Id
. § 76-5-102.4(2)(a) (2017). Likewise, Defendant's proposed failure-to-respond-to-officer's-signal instruction did not include the mens rea requirements that Defendant "knowingly received a visual or audible sign from a police officer" and that Defendant "intended to flee or elude a peace officer."
State v. Bird
,
¶ 7 Citing
State v. Garcia
,
¶ 8 But we can consider the matter as it is framed by Defendant's appellate counsel, in the context of an ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
See
State v. Johnson
,
¶ 9 To prevail on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, Defendant "must show: (1) that counsel's performance was objectively deficient, and (2) a reasonable probability exists that but for the deficient conduct defendant would have obtained a more favorable outcome."
State v. Clark
,
¶ 10 Defendant argues that failure to provide an accurate instruction on the basic elements of a crime cannot be harmless error and invariably requires reversal. We recognize that there are a number of cases, outside the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel context, presuming that such an error "can never be harmless" and constitutes clear error, requiring reversal.
See
State v. Jones
,
¶ 11 Our decision in
State v. Liti
,
¶ 12 Instead, the burden is on the defendant to demonstrate that "there is a
reasonable probability
that, absent the errors, the factfinder would have had a reasonable doubt respecting guilt."
Strickland
,
¶ 13 The State was required to prove at trial that Defendant had "knowledge" that the officers were police officers and that he "knowingly received" a signal to stop from a police officer.
See
State v. Bird
,
¶ 14 First, Defendant testified that he pulled over because he saw emergency lights activated in the vehicle behind him. And when asked for his license, registration, and insurance, he produced his documentation without question because he believed he was being given a ticket for a traffic violation. Although Defendant challenges the testimony of the officers that they were wearing badges and had identified themselves upon approaching Defendant in his vehicle, Defendant testified that he specifically asked the sergeant who he was and that the sergeant replied that he was with Murray City Police. And the sergeant told Defendant that, following consultation with his parole officer, whom the sergeant named, Defendant's vehicle would be searched pursuant to his parole agreement-Defendant's parole status and the name of his parole officer being the type of information that would be available to law enforcement officers but not to random mischief makers.
¶ 15 Second, Defendant's behavior after fleeing the scene indicates that he knew he had been stopped by police officers. Defendant did not return home for four days, and during this time, he made no effort to report the incident and complain that he had been stopped by vigilantes, pranksters, or imposters posing as police officers.
¶ 16 It is exceedingly unlikely that based on the evidence before it, a properly instructed jury would have reasonably doubted whether Defendant knew that the two detectives and their sergeant were police officers. Because there is not a substantial possibility that a different verdict would have resulted from jury instructions containing the necessary mental states for each count, we conclude that Defendant did not suffer any prejudice as a result of the challenged jury instructions. His ineffective assistance of counsel challenges are, therefore, unavailing.
¶ 17 Affirmed.
"On appeal, we review the record facts in a light most favorable to the jury's verdict and recite the facts accordingly."
State v. Holgate
,
Defendant's appellate counsel astutely perceived the problems with the deficient jury instructions and has briefed the appeal thoroughly and effectively. But Defendant is dissatisfied with appellate counsel's performance and has filed several motions seeking the appointment of new counsel. We are at a loss to understand Defendant's dissatisfaction, and we deny Defendant's latest motion for the appointment of new counsel.
Defendant argues that there is evidence of a reasonable probability of a different outcome because the district court believed there was sufficient evidence to justify submitting a self-defense instruction to the jury. The court's decision to give this instruction rested on Defendant's testimony that "he had serious questions about whether [the men] were police officers." But the Utah Supreme Court stated in
State v. Garcia
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Utah, Appellee, v. Michael Roy PARKINSON, Appellant.
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published