Wicks v. United States, No. 17-CM-746

226 A.3d 743

Keith A. WICKS, Appellant,

v.UNITED STATES, Appellee.

No. 17-CM-746

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Argued March 10, 2020

Decided April 30, 2020

Chantal Jean-Baptiste for appellant.

Edward G. Burley, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Jessie K. Liu, United States Attorney, and Elizabeth Trosman and Chrisellen R. Kolb, Assistant United States Attorneys, were on the brief, for appellee.

Before Beckwith and Easterly, Associate Judges, and Long, Senior Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia.^*

Easterly, Associate Judge:

After Keith A. Wicks was observed reselling tickets outside its stadium, the Washington Nationals Baseball Club, LLC ("Washington Nationals"), barred him from its "property and grounds" at "1500 S. Capitol Street SE." A few weeks later, Mr. Wicks was arrested and charged with unlawful entry, D.C. Code § 22-3302(a)(1) (2012 Repl. & 2019 Supp.), when he walked onto a sidewalk running along the north side of the stadium’s structure. Mr. Wicks was found guilty after a bench trial. On appeal he argues that the government’s evidence was insufficient to establish either that the sidewalk was private property or that he had the requisite state of mind to enter it against the will of its owner. We agree and reverse his conviction.

Recognizing that, generally, "sidewalk[s are] for the use of everyone alike," Chvala v. District of Columbia Transit Sys., Inc ., 306 F.2d 778, 781 (D.C. Cir. 1962), we are confronted with a situation where Mr. Wicks’s charged conduct—walking on a sidewalk—hardly looks like a crime; rather, it is an activity that law-abiding individuals engage in every day throughout the District. It was the government’s burden to prove that Mr. Wicks in fact committed a crime, specifically the charged crime of unlawful entry. We conclude the government failed to prove the elements of unlawful entry beyond a reasonable doubt. First, it did not prove that the sidewalk was actually private property. Although the government’s sole witness testified that this sidewalk belonged to the Washington Nationals, his testimony also revealed that he had no reliable foundation for that assertion. Indeed, the trial court acknowledged the "limits" to this witness’s knowledge. Second, the government did not prove that Mr. Wicks knew or even should have known his presence on the sidewalk was against the will of the Washington Nationals because it did not prove that Mr. Wicks was told, in any form or fashion, that what looked like a public thoroughfare was the private property of the Washington Nationals where he did not have permission to be.

I. Facts

The sole witness for the government at trial was Metropolitan Police Department Officer Nathan Clarke, who worked part-time for the Washington Nationals. Officer Clarke described his duties as: "handl[ing] disorderly[ attendees,] ... facilitat[ing] the egress and ingress of patrons coming in to watch the ballgame[,] and whatever other assignments that the Washington Nationals have that are police related." One game-day evening on June 14, 2016, while Officer Clarke was monitoring fans coming into the stadium, he saw Mr. Wicks selling tickets "right outside the center field gate." Officer Clark testified that the "sidewalk area" outside the center field gate on the south side of N Street, SE "is owned and operated by the Washington Nationals." Officer Clarke explained that when he "initially" saw Mr. Wicks, Mr. Wicks was "on the sidewalk"; Officer Clarke stated that Mr. Wicks "then" moved "onto the street on N Street itself on public space."

Officer Clarke testified that he "responded to that center field gate area ... to assist" another officer, Detective Bemiller, "with his contact with Mr. Wicks." They "asked [him] to come to the Washington Nationals security office." Inside the security office, Mr. Wicks was served with a copy of a one-page, form "Barring Notice,"¹ which was read aloud to him and which stated:

The below named person was found on the premises owned, occupied or managed by Washington Nationals Baseball Club, LLC. This same person is hereby warned to stay off the property and grounds thereof known as Washington Nationals Baseball Club, LLC, at (address) 1500 S. Capitol Street SE .... There are no exceptions to this notice. Failure to heed this warning shall result in the prosecution for Unlawful Entry under D.C. Code § 22-3302.

Information identifying Mr. Wicks as the "Barred Individual" was added by hand in the spaces provided, as was the reason for issuing the notice: "scalping."

The remaining section of the form was devoted to signature lines, for the "Barred Individual" (this was left blank, and a check mark and notation by Officer Clarke indicated that Mr. Wicks had refused to sign), the "Authorized Agent or Owner" (signed by Lamar Graham² ), and "Witness" (signed by both Detective Bemiller and Officer Clarke). The last line of the form stated: "Barring Notice is in effect for 5 years unless cancelled in writing[.] Attach Picture if Available." No picture or other documentation was attached.

Officer Clarke testified that he was working again at the Washington Nationals stadium a few weeks later, on July 1, 2016, when he saw Mr. Wicks on N Street SE,³ which the officer acknowledged was "public space." Using his cell phone, Officer Clarke recorded Mr. Wicks as he "walked onto the Washington Nationals’ property in front of the will call office, the sidewalk" and began selling tickets. Officer Clarke then left his post and arrested Mr. Wicks for unlawful entry.

On cross-examination, defense counsel probed the basis for Officer Clarke’s assertion that the "south side of N Street on the sidewalk" was Washington Nationals property. When counsel asked if Officer Clarke had ever "seen any documents that depict[ ] what is the Washington Nationals’ property and what is not," Officer Clarke specifically denied having seen any "official document" showing that the sidewalk belonged to the Washington Nationals, and he gave no other indication that he had received any training on this subject. He testified he had "only seen documents posted online," but he could not immediately "recollect" what they were or where he had seen them. After requesting a moment to reflect, he replied, "I want to say DCRA," apparently referring to the website for the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. He then asserted that "they have a diagram of the ... Washington Nationals’ property posted online," but when asked if this diagram "show[ed] how many feet from the abutment of the building belongs to the Washington Nationals," he testified he could not "recall."⁴

Testifying in his own defense, Mr. Wicks stated that he was a Washington Nationals fan who frequently attended games. He denied ever being presented with the barring notice, though he agreed that it correctly stated his date of birth. He also testified that he believed that the sidewalk on the south side of N Street "next to the ballpark" was "public space to [his] awareness."

Crediting Officer Clarke’s testimony, the trial court found "the evidence established beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Wicks crossed the sidewalk and approached the will call window," and thus that he had "entered unlawfully onto the private property of the Washington Nationals" and committed the crime of unlawful entry.

II. Analysis

Mr. Wicks argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for unlawful entry under D.C. Code § 22-3302(a)(1) (making it a crime for "[a]ny person ... without lawful authority [to] enter, or attempt to enter, any private dwelling, building, or other property, or part of such dwelling, building, or other property, against the will of the lawful occupant or of the person lawfully in charge thereof").

"We review challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence de novo ...." Foster v. United States , 218 A.3d 1142, 1144 (D.C. 2019). In so doing, we "consider[ ] all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, ... according deference to the factfinder to weigh the evidence, determine credibility, and draw justifiable inferences of fact." Id . Even so, it is our obligation to ensure that "the evidence in a criminal prosecution [is] strong enough that a [trier of fact] behaving rationally really could find it persuasive beyond a reasonable doubt." Rivas v. United States , 783 A.2d 125, 134 (D.C. 2001) (en banc). "Slight evidence is not sufficient evidence," id. ; likewise, evidence that "establish[es no] more than the speculative possibility that the elements are present" will not suffice, Grayton v. United States , 50 A.3d 497, 503 (D.C. 2012) (internal quotation marks omitted); accord Slater-El v. United States , 142 A.3d 530, 538 (D.C. 2016) ("Although a fact-finder is entitled to draw a vast range of reasonable inferences from evidence, the fact-finder may not base a verdict on mere speculation." (internal quotation marks omitted)).

In Ortberg v. United States , 81 A.3d 303 (D.C. 2013), this court clarified that the elements of unlawful entry are (1) the defendant entered onto private property, id. at 307 & n.4 ; (2) "the physical act of entry [was] purposeful and voluntary—not accidental or mistaken," id. at 308 ; (3) the entry was unauthorized, i.e., "without lawful authority and against the will of [the] owner or lawful occupant," id. at 307 (footnote omitted); and (4) the defendant "knew or should have known that his entry was unwanted," id. at 308. Mr. Wicks claims that the evidence was insufficient as to the first and fourth elements.

A. Entry onto Private Property

In issuing its verdict, the trial court stated that it was "not prepared to assume that" the entirety of the sidewalk on the south side of N Street SE, including the brick border closest to the street, "is public property."⁵ Instead, it determined that when "Mr. Wicks crossed the sidewalk and approached the will call window" on July 1, 2017, he "entered unlawfully onto the private property of...