Opinion ID: 2635712
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: An unpreserved erroneous self-defense jury instruction must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether it was a manifest error affecting a constitutional right

Text: ¶ 16 Having identified the manifest constitutional error test, it is next necessary to examine how to apply the manifest constitutional error exception to an alleged incomplete self-defense jury instruction. [2] Generally, unpreserved claims of error involving jury instructions are subject to an analysis of whether the error is manifest constitutional error. See Scott, 110 Wash.2d 682, 757 P.2d 492; State v. Salas, 127 Wash.2d 173, 181-83, 897 P.2d 1246 (1995). Jury instructional errors that we have held constituted manifest constitutional error include: directing a verdict, State v. Peterson, 73 Wash.2d 303, 306, 438 P.2d 183 (1968); shifting the burden of proof to the defendant, State v. McCullum, 98 Wash.2d 484, 487-88, 656 P.2d 1064 (1983); failing to define the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, State v. McHenry, 88 Wash.2d 211, 214, 558 P.2d 188 (1977); failing to require a unanimous verdict, State v. Carothers, 84 Wash.2d 256, 262, 525 P.2d 731 (1974); and omitting an element of the crime charged, State v. Johnson, 100 Wash.2d 607, 623, 674 P.2d 145 (1983), overruled on other grounds by State v. Bergeron, 105 Wash.2d 1, 711 P.2d 1000 (1985). In contrast, instructional errors not falling within the scope of RAP 2.5(a), that isnot constituting manifest constitutional errorinclude the failure to instruct on a lesser included offense, State v. Kwan Fai Mak, 105 Wash.2d 692, 745-49, 718 P.2d 407 (1986); and the failure to define individual terms, Scott, 110 Wash.2d at 690-91, 757 P.2d 492. ¶ 17 In the context of self-defense jury instructions, however, we provided a more universal statement. In State v. LeFaber, 128 Wash.2d 896, 900, 913 P.2d 369 (1996), without explanation, we stated, A jury instruction misstating the law of self-defense amounts to an error of constitutional magnitude and is presumed prejudicial. Since LeFaber, while this court has not used this statement to review an unpreserved erroneous self-defense jury instruction, the Court of Appeals has used this statement in several cases to address those types of claims. See State v. Birnel, 89 Wash.App. 459, 470, 473, 949 P.2d 433 (1998); State v. Cowen, 87 Wash.App. 45, 50-51, 939 P.2d 1249 (1997). Examining the cases cited by LeFaber and the underlying logic for the blanket rule, we hold LeFaber's per se rule is no longer justified and appellate courts should determine on a case-by-case basis whether an unpreserved claim of error regarding a self-defense jury instruction constitutes a manifest constitutional error. ¶ 18 In stating erroneous self-defense jury instructions are constitutional and presumed prejudicial, the LeFaber court relied upon two cases: McCullum, 98 Wash.2d 484, 656 P.2d 1064 and State v. Wanrow, 88 Wash.2d 221, 237, 559 P.2d 548 (1977). It appears this court believed that McCullum stood for the proposition that erroneous self-defense jury instructions are automatically of constitutional magnitude and that Wanrow held the error was presumptively prejudicial. LeFaber, 128 Wash.2d at 900, 913 P.2d 369. Those characterizations are inaccurate. ¶ 19 In McCullum, this court reviewed an unpreserved claim that the self-defense instruction provided improperly placed the burden of proof on the defendant. 98 Wash.2d at 496, 656 P.2d 1064. In determining the error was a manifest error affecting a constitutional right, this court held the defendant raised a constitutional due process claim that must be addressed even absent an objection because the jury instruction relieved the State of its burden of disproving the self-defense in a murder prosecution. Id. at 488, 656 P.2d 1064. The court then proceeded to hold it was error to provide a self-defense instruction that placed the burden of proof upon the defendant. Id. at 496-97, 656 P.2d 1064. [3] Since McCullum ultimately struck down the instruction as improperly shifting the burden to the defendant, that particular self-defense instruction is no longer permissible. The justification for reviewing the jury instruction in McCullum thus does not automatically apply to the current self-defense jury instruction. As a result, the LeFaber court imprecisely stated a self-defense jury instruction was automatically of a constitutional magnitude without further analyzing whether the instruction shifted the burden or whether some other constitutional interest was at stake. ¶ 20 In Wanrow, this court held when there is error in a self-defense jury instruction requested by the prosecution, the error is presumed to have been prejudicial. 88 Wash.2d at 235-37, 559 P.2d 548. As the claim of error in Wanrow appears to have been preserved, its holding was not in the context of determining whether a claim of error regarding a self-defense jury instruction overcame the preservation requirements. Its focus was limited to determine what presumptions exist in a harmless error analysis of a self-defense instruction antagonistic to the defendant's interests. Thus, under Wanrow, situations could exist where a defendant or the trial court propose an erroneous jury instruction and the instruction is not presumptively prejudicial. Again, the statement in LeFaber oversimplifies a more nuanced area of the law. ¶ 21 Additionally, there is nothing in the case law suggesting an erroneous self-defense jury instruction is akin to other types of erroneous jury instructions that we have deemed automatically of a constitutional magnitude. As noted above, the examples of manifest constitutional errors in jury instructions include: directing a verdict, shifting the burden of proof to the defendant, failing to define the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, failing to require a unanimous verdict, and omitting an element of the crime charged. On their face, each of these instructional errors obviously affect a defendant's constitutional rights by violating an explicit constitutional provision or denying the defendant a fair trial through a complete verdict. In contrast, instructional errors not falling within the scope of RAP 2.5(a), that isnot constituting manifest constitutional error-include the failure to instruct on a lesser included offense and failure to define individual terms. In each of those instances, one can imagine justifications for defense counsel's failure to object or where the jury could still come to the correct conclusion. Looking at those prior cases, there is nothing about erroneous self-defense jury instructions, in whatever form, automatically putting them in the group of cases where we reviewed the error as compared to the group where we did not. ¶ 22 In addition to not having precedential support, the statement in LeFaber has since created a logically problematic situation for appellate courts. Given other jury instruction errors are not automatically of a constitutional magnitude or presumptively prejudicial, the trial court could provide an erroneous instruction on the definition of an element of a crime and not have the error reviewed by an appellate court because it is not of a constitutional magnitude or actually prejudicial. See Scott, 110 Wash.2d at 691-92, 757 P.2d 492 (holding an incomplete instruction of the definition of knowledge in an instruction on accomplice liability for burglary did not amount to a manifest error affecting a constitutional right). On the other hand, pursuant to LeFaber, appellate courts can review any unpreserved error in a trial court's self-defense jury instruction, regardless of the type of claim or prejudice occurring at trial. Using the current uniform instructions, LeFaber's statement is unnecessarily broad in its scope such that it creates an unfair benefit to defendants who have any error in their self-defense instructions. To be logically consistent, we hold appellate courts should analyze unpreserved claims of error involving self-defense instructions on a case-by-case basis to assess whether the claimed error is manifest constitutional error.