State v. Mollet
State v. Mollet
Opinion of the Court
¶1 Sufficient evidence exists to support a conviction for rendering criminal assistance by concealment under RCW 9A.76.050(1) and .070(1) if the defendant conceals another by making an affirmative misrepresentation to police officers that is not a mere false disavowal of knowledge. Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, there was sufficient evidence that Megan Mollet intended to conceal Joshua Blake by affirmatively misstating that she had not seen him and providing police with a false alibi for herself. Additionally, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence that Mollet inscribed a memorial to Blake on her jail cell that included the words “White Power.” Therefore, we affirm.
FACTS
¶2 Just after midnight on February 23, 2012, Washington State Patrol Trooper Tony Radulescu stopped Blake’s truck on Highway 16 in Gorst and called in the license plate number. Blake was driving, and Mollet, a longtime family friend of Blake, was sitting in the passenger seat. Trooper Radulescu approached the vehicle on the passenger side and asked Blake for his license and registration. Blake shot Trooper Radulescu, who died as a result of the injury.
¶3 Blake and Mollet then drove to a property on Sidney Road in Port Orchard. Their mutual friends lived in a small house on the property, and Mollet was staying in a larger
¶4 Shortly after the shooting occurred, police officers discovered Trooper Radulescu’s body. Sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m., police began searching for Blake’s truck. Thirty to 45 minutes later, they found it abandoned on the Sidney Road property, parked in a field where the brush was taller than the cab of the truck. Police officers cleared six people from the two houses on the Sidney Road property, including Mollet, and began to interview them. One of the officers explained to Mollet and some of the other residents that Blake’s truck was found on the property, that Blake was suspected of killing the trooper, and that they needed help getting any information possible.
¶5 Mollet spoke with two officers and told them that she did not know Blake and did not know anything about a trooper being shot. She also stated that she had not seen Blake on the property and that she had spent the evening helping a friend move in Belfair.
¶6 The State charged Mollet by amended information with rendering criminal assistance in the first degree and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. Mollet testified that she lied to the police because Blake threatened to kill her if she said anything. The jury convicted Mollet on both counts.
¶7 Mollet appeals.
DISCUSSION
Sufficiency of the Evidence
¶8 Mollet argues that the State violated her Fourteenth Amendment
¶9 In a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and analyze whether “ ‘any rational fact finder could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ”
¶10 Mollet was charged with rendering criminal assistance in the first degree under RCW 9A.76.070(1), which provides, “A person is guilty of rendering criminal assistance in the first degree if he or she renders criminal assistance to a person who has committed or is being sought for murder in the first degree or any class A felony or equivalent juvenile offense.” The term “renders criminal assistance” is defined by RCW 9A.76.050:
As used in RCW 9A.76.070, 9A.76.080, and 9A.76.090, a person “renders criminal assistance” if, with intent to prevent, hinder, or delay the apprehension or prosecution of another person who he or she knows has committed a crime or juvenile offense or is being sought by law enforcement officials for the commission of a crime or juvenile offense or has escaped from a detention facility, he or she:
(1) Harbors or conceals such person; or
*706 (2) Warns such person of impending discovery or apprehension; or
(3) Provides such person with money, transportation, disguise, or other means of avoiding discovery or apprehension; or
(4) Prevents or obstructs, by use of force, deception, or threat, anyone from performing an act that might aid in the discovery or apprehension of such person; or
(5) Conceals, alters, or destroys any physical evidence that might aid in the discovery or apprehension of such person; or
(6) Provides such person with a weapon.
Therefore, a person renders criminal assistance if she knows that another person has committed a crime and she intends to prevent, hinder, or delay the apprehension or prosecution of that other person and undertakes one of the listed six actions.
¶11 In State v. Budik, the defendant was convicted of rendering criminal assistance under the fourth category, “deception.”
¶12 Most important to our analysis, the Budik court considered the legislative intent behind the entire statute.
¶13 When a person conceals another by means of false statements, Budik provides guidance. Even though Budik was prosecuted under the deception prong, the court analyzed the statutory intent of the entire statute. Therefore, the court’s statement that harboring or concealing a person requires some affirmative act or statement is not dicta. Consistent with Budik, if the State alleges a defen
¶14 The distinction between a mere false disavowal and an affirmative misrepresentation is critical to analyzing whether a person has rendered criminal assistance in this context. Falsely stating “I don’t know” or ‘T didn’t see anything” is a mere false disavowal of knowledge.
¶15 In Tipton v. State, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that a witness’s false statement that she “didn’t know anything about [a murder]” did not make her an accomplice to the murder.
¶16 In State v. Clifford, the Oregon Supreme Court reversed the defendant’s conviction for accessory after the fact based on his false statement to police that he either “had not seen” or “had not seen ... for a long time” a murder and kidnapping suspect.
¶17 In Stephens v. State, the Wyoming Supreme Court considered whether a defendant harbored or concealed a burglar when he falsely told police that he “did not know anything about [the burglary].”
¶18 Finally, in People v. Plengsangtip, the California Court of Appeals considered whether there was probable cause to support a charge of accessory to murder based on false statements by the defendant.
¶19 Here, the State presented testimony from two officers about Mollet’s statements during their search for Blake. Officer Cory Manchester testified that Mollet told him that she did not know Blake, that earlier in the night she was in Belfair helping a friend move, and that she returned to the Sidney Road house at 1:00 a.m. Officer Douglas Dillard testified that in her separate conversation with him, Mollet said she spent most of the day helping Andrew Bartlett move from Belfair and that she got back around 11:00 p.m. and went straight to bed. In response to Officer Dillard reading Mollet her Miranda
¶20 Mollet’s statements that she did not know Blake and that she did not know anything about the shooting were mere false disavowals of knowledge. They are equivalent to the statements in Budik that the defendant did not know the identity of the shooter.
¶21 But Mollet’s false statements that she was helping a friend move that night and that she did not see Blake
¶22 Mollet argues that these statements were personally exculpatory and did not have the effect of concealing Blake. But whether she made the statements in order to protect herself or to conceal Blake was a question for the jury. There was evidence that Mollet knew Blake most of her life and had a close relationship with him. Drawing all inferences in favor of the State, there was sufficient evidence to show that she gave police a false alibi and lied about seeing Blake that night in order to conceal him.
¶23 Mollet points out that in Budik, the defendant made an additional affirmative false statement that he did not see the shooter because he was leaning over to pick up a beer when the shooting occurred.
¶25 Unlike Tipton and Stephens, Mollet’s statements went beyond a mere false statement that she did not know anything. Similar to Plengsangtip, Mollet’s false alibi and statements that she had not seen Blake at the Sidney Road residence were affirmative misrepresentations. Mollet argues that the statements in Plengsangtip were factually distinguishable because the defendant admitted to being at the crime scene at the time of the crime but denied seeing anything. But this factual distinction is not material. Mollet’s false statements worked to conceal Blake by affirmatively misrepresenting her whereabouts during the murder and her connection to Blake and his truck, which was found in the brush on the property where she was staying and where she was questioned by police.
¶26 Mollet argues that the State did not show precisely how her concealment impaired the police investigation. But the concealment prong of RCW 9A.76.050 does not require
Admission of Evidence
¶27 Mollet argues that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence that she wrote “White Power” as part of a memorial to Blake on a desk in her jail cell because it was more prejudicial than probative. We disagree.
¶28 The admissibility of evidence is within the discretion of the trial court, and a reviewing court will reverse only when the trial court abuses its discretion.
¶29 Evidence is “relevant” if it has “any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.”
¶30 Here, Mollet memorialized Blake by writing “White Power RIP [Rest in Peace] Josh Blake 6-23-83 to
¶31 The fact that Mollet memorialized Blake in this way supported an inference that she was very close to him and that she intended to prevent the police from apprehending him. It was relevant evidence. The admission of the phrase “White Power” as part of the memorial was prejudicial, but it was within the discretion of the trial court to determine the extent of the prejudice and to weigh the danger of unfair prejudice in comparison to the probative value. Given Mollet’s explanation why she wrote “White Power,” and especially because the photograph was consistent with a motive to conceal Blake, Mollet does not establish that the trial court abused its discretion.
¶32 Mollet argues that the trial court did not perform a proper ER 403 balancing analysis because it did not identify the purpose for which the evidence was offered, consider its relevance, or weigh its probative value against its prejudicial effect. But the record reflects the trial court’s careful consideration of these factors. The State offered a photograph of the memorial at issue here and a photograph of another jail cell writing by Mollet that simply read “White Power.” In specifically considering the “White Power” exhibit, the trial court explained that it was not admissible under ER 403 because it did not refer to Blake or shed light on Mollet’s relationship with him. In contrast, the trial court admitted the memorial because it showed that Mollet had “an affinity, a relationship, ... a closeness of mind” with Blake and was relevant to her relationship with him.
¶33 Mollet argues that this evidence was also improperly admitted under ER 404(b), which regulates the admission of evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts to prove the character of a person. But because this evidence was admitted for the limited purpose of proving Mollet’s relationship with Blake and not to prove her character, this rule is not applicable.
¶34 We affirm the trial court.
Review denied at 181 Wn.2d 1028 (2014).
A “flophouse” is slang for a house where people stay temporarily and use drugs.
U.S. Const, amend. XIV.
State v. Budik, 173 Wn.2d 727, 733, 272 P.3d 816 (2012) (quoting State v. Engel, 166 Wn.2d 572, 576, 210 P3d 1007 (2009)).
Id. (quoting State v. Ervin, 169 Wn.2d 815, 820, 239 P.3d 354 (2010)).
Budik, 173 Wn.2d at 734 (quoting RCW 9A.76.050).
Report of Proceedings (RP) (May 15, 2012) at 16.
173 Wn.2d 727, 734, 272 P.3d 816 (2012).
The Supreme Court also traced the history of the statute. Id. at 736. It explained that the crime of serving as an accessory after the fact was replaced by the crime of rendering criminal assistance in 1975 and that the new statute embodies many of the same principles underlying the accessory crime. Id. It then examined cases from other jurisdictions involving the crime of accessory after the fact to determine whether a false disavowal of knowledge alone could result in conviction. Id. at 736-37.
See id. at 730-31.
Id. at 737-38.
Id. at 736-37.
126 Tex. Crim. 439, 443, 72 S.W.24 290 (1934).
Id. at 444.
2 63 Or. 436, 438, 442, 502 P.2d 1371 (1972).
734 P.2d 555, 556 (Wyo. 1987).
Id. at 838-39. This is consistent with federal law. See 39 Am. Juh. 2d Harboring Criminals § 3 (2008) (“Under the federal statute prohibiting the harboring or concealment of a person for whom an arrest warrant or process has been issued under any law of the United States, there must be shown some affirmative physical act tending to conceal the offender. Indeed, any physical act of providing assistance to aid a person in avoiding detection and apprehension will make out a violation of harboring a fugitive from arrest. A mere false statement, absent further acts of concealment, is insufficient to render a person guilty under the federal statute, although the contrary has been held under other statutes. The mere failure to come forward with information, or to furnish active aid to law enforcement authorities, is insufficient for conviction.” (footnotes omitted)).
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966).
RP (May 23, 2012) at 162.
Id. at 163.
See Budik, 173 Wn.2d at 731.
Id. at 740 n.5.
Clifford, 263 Or. at 442.
Cf. Budik, 173 Wn.2d at 738-40 (to prove rendering criminal assistance by-deception, the State had to show that the defendant’s deception prevented or obstructed police from performing an act that might aid in the discovery or apprehension of the suspect).
State v. Atsbeha, 142 Wn.2d 904, 913-14, 16 P.3d 626 (2001).
ER 401.
State v. Rice, 48 Wn. App. 7, 12, 737 P.2d 726 (1987).
ER 403.
Suppl. Clerk’s Papers at 33.
RP (May 24, 2012) at 241.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.