Title: State v. Bell

State: washington

Issuer: Washington Supreme Court

Document:

83 Wn.2d 383 (1974) 518 P.2d 696 THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, Appellant, v. WILLIAM MILTON BELL, Respondent. No. 42829. The Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc. January 24, 1974. FINLEY, J. The respondent, Dr. William M. Bell, was convicted of two counts of unlawfully selling dangerous drugs. The majority of a panel of the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court upon the basis of an inappropriate jury instruction. State v. Bell, 8 Wn. App. 670, 508 P.2d 1398 (1973). The state, as a matter of right pursuant to ROA II-2, appeals that decision. Dr. Bell, at the time of his arrest, conducted his practice as an osteopathic physician in Seattle. On March 1, 1971, two police officers in street dress visited his office and asked for diet pills by the trade name Bamadex. The officers were asked if they were patients, and they replied in the affirmative. Dr. Bell then sold each of them 30 tablets of the diet pills for $5. One of the ingredients in Bamadex is an amphetamine which is a dangerous drug regulated by the provisions of RCW chapter 69.40. Dr. Bell was charged with the sale of dangerous drugs and arrested on March 9, 1971. On July 27, 1971, he was brought to trial in Superior Court for King County. In effect at the time of the alleged sale was RCW 69.40.060 (repealed May 21, 1971), which reads in pertinent part: (Italics ours.) Also in effect was RCW 69.40.064: (Italics ours.) In the intervening period between the drug sale and trial, the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, RCW chapter 69.50, came into effect on May 21, 1971. A section thereof, RCW 69.50.308 reads in pertinent part: (Italics ours.) The respondent contends and it seems to us that the effect of instruction No. 9, given to the jury by the trial court, approximated and may have been worded in terms of the requirements of the newer statute, RCW 69.50.308 (which was not in effect at the time of the alleged offense), *386 rather than in terms of the requirements of RCW 69.40.060 and RCW 69.40.064 which were in effect when the alleged offense occurred on March 1, 1971. An exception to instruction No. 9 was taken in behalf of Dr. Bell on the ground that it imposed more stringent requirements than were legally appropriate relative to the dispensing of dangerous drugs. The language of the trial court's instruction No. 9 stated: A panel of the Court of Appeals, per Callow, J., found that the above instruction did indeed impose an impermissibly stricter standard than that required by RCW chapter 69.40 as codified at the time of the alleged sale. Thus, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial with jury instructions to be appropriately guided by RCW chapter 69.40 as formerly constituted. In his dissent, Judge Williams of the Court of Appeals persuasively reasoned that RCW 69.40.060 and RCW 69.40.064 should be read in pari materia. He stated: State v. Bell, supra at 677-79. The evaluation of Judge Williams on this point in the above-referenced dissent is analytically interesting and engaging. The italicized portions of RCW 69.40.060 would indicate that the sale of dangerous drugs is restricted to those sold pursuant to the written or oral order of prescription of a physician. Furthermore, a valid prescription under RCW 69.40.064 is one issued for a legitimate medical purpose. Thus, when read in conjunction, the statutes would seem to indicate that a physician may lawfully issue a prescription only when it is issued in furtherance of a legitimate medical purpose. The italicized provisions of RCW 69.50.308 (d) require that the dispensation of controlled substances must not only be for a legitimate medical purpose, but in addition, must be issued in good faith and in the course of the practitioner's professional practice. Thus, if the words "for therapeutic purposes" can be fairly equated to "legitimate medical purpose," jury instruction No. 9 substantially reiterates *388 the threefold requirements of RCW 69.50.308. In this regard we note that in its brief, the state concedes that it would have been preferable if the trial court had couched its instruction in the provisions of RCW chapter 69.40 as of March 1, 1971, but argues that the oversight of the trial court was not reversible error. [1] In essence, the dissenting opinion of Judge Williams suggests that the requirements added by RCW 69.50.308 of good faith and in the course of the practitioner's professional practice may be subsumed and should be included in a pari materia reading of RCW 69.40.060 and RCW 69.40.064. Were this not a criminal prosecution, we might be inclined to agree that possibly the legislature had sub silentio intended that the sale of dangerous drugs must be made in good faith by physicians in the course of their professional practice. While such an interpretation of the provisions of RCW chapter 69.40 is legalistically possible, such a reading would be an extreme and unwarranted construction of the literal meaning of the applicable statutory provisions. We think fundamental fairness in a criminal case dictates against such a possible but strained interpretation. Therefore, we think with proper judicial restraint we must constrain ourselves and the trial court to a literal and strict interpretation of the criminal statutes applicable in this case at the time of trial. See 1 R. Anderson, Wharton's Criminal Law and Procedure § 19 (1957, Supp. 1973). For the reasons indicated, instruction No. 9, approximating the more specific restrictions upon physicians contained in the language of RCW 69.50.308, the new statute not yet in effect, constituted reversible error. Upon retrial, an appropriate instruction should be given employing or closely approximating the language of RCW 69.40.060 and RCW 69.40.064. [2-4] With regard to the remaining issues raised in this appeal, we adopt as correctly dispositive, the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals as follows: State v. Bell, supra at 675-76. The majority opinion of the Court of Appeals is affirmed and the cause remanded for retrial. It is so ordered. HALE, C.J., and ROSELLINI, HUNTER, HAMILTON, STAFFORD, WRIGHT, UTTER, and BRACHTENBACH, JJ., concur.