Pierce County burglary conviction reversed due to insufficient evidence

May 17, 2024 – Marshall L. Middlestaedt spent 1 year in prison before being released from custody following the reversal of a second-degree burglary conviction in Pierce County. Middlestaedt was represented by Washington Appellate Project attorney, Matthew Catallo.

In April 2022, Middlestaedt was arrested for second-degree burglary after property owners called the police to report what appeared to be intruders cutting the chain to one of their padlocked gates. At jury trial, witnesses including one of the property owners and one police officer testified that the property could be entered by simply walking through the gaps next to another gate on the property, without needing to open the gate itself. Despite the chain being cut, nothing was taken from the property and no one entered the house on the property. Though Middlestaedt’s defense attorney from the Department of Assigned Counsel suggested for jurors to hear instruction for a lesser offense of trespassing, the court declined and the jury found Middlestaedt guilty of burglary.

Catallo argued on appeal that because the property was not entirely enclosed, only partially fenced, by law the property did not count as a building so Middlestaedt could not have committed a burglary. Pierce County agreed and conceded that the Court of Appeals should reverse and dismiss the burglary conviction. The Court in their May 7, 2024 opinion accepted the State’s concession, reversed the conviction and dismissed the case with prejudice.

When asked how his client responded to the news, Catallo said “elated, and he was very eager to leave when he realized that he was essentially held on an invalid conviction.”

Middlestaedt’s case demonstrates the importance of the appeals process in uncovering errors, even non-malicious mistakes, that lead to wrongful convictions, and remedying them as quickly as possible. “I, frankly, just think no one realized that this was a big issue,” Catallo said. ” It just seems like a mistake. That’s why the process is important. I’m not saying it’s a mistake that can be made lightly, of course, but the process is important so we can uncover errors like this and rectify them.”

For more information about this case, please read “Technicality? Pierce County man’s burglary conviction tossed for insufficient evidence” written by Peter Talbot of The News Tribune.