Opinion ID: 2634746
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: elements of a crime

Text: ¶ 9 Bound in a nutshell, Miller argues that the validity of the no-contact order is an element of the crime of violating such court order. Since his counsel proposed an instruction that said so explicitly, he asks that his conviction be overturned. The State argues that the validity of the underlying order is not an element of the crime of violating such court order or, in the alternative, any error is harmless. ¶ 10 We review questions of law and jury instructions de novo. Hue v. Farmboy Spray Co., 127 Wash.2d 67, 92, 896 P.2d 682 (1995). ¶ 11 The elements of a crime are those facts that the prosecution must prove to sustain a conviction. BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 559 (8th ed.2004). It is proper to first look to the statute to determine the elements of a crime. Cf. State v. Emmanuel, 42 Wash.2d 799, 820, 259 P.2d 845 (1953). The statute says in relevant part that [w]henever an order is granted ... and the ... person to be restrained knows of the order, a violation .... is a class C felony if the offender has at least two previous convictions. RCW 26.50.110(1), (5). Nothing in the statute requires the State to prove the validity of a Washington no-contact order. Even if we were to find the statute to be ambiguous, justifying resort to extrinsic sources, the parties have not brought to our attention any evidence in the legislative history indicating intent that the validity of a no-contact order was intended to be an element of the crime, nor have we uncovered any such evidence by independent research. See Dep't of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, L.L.C., 146 Wash.2d 1, 10, 43 P.3d 4 (2002) (inappropriate to resort to extrinsic sources if statute is clear). We do not find support in the statute for the position that a valid order is an element of the crime of violating a no-contact order.