Opinion ID: 1116120
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: jury instruction on intentionally

Text: Finally, the defendants contend that the trial court erred in not instructing the jury that an accomplice to murder must act intentionally. RCW 9A.08.020(3)(a) provides that A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of a crime if: (a) With knowledge that it will promote or facilitate the commission of the crime, he (i) solicits, commands, encourages, or requests such other person to commit it; or (ii) aids or agrees to aid such other person in planning or committing it; ... The trial court's instructions to the jury concerning accomplice liability included the above statutory language. [14] Defendants assert that, in order to convict an accomplice for aggravated murder, the State must show that the accomplice had the intent that the victim would be killed. The statute has no such requirement. Moreover, our Court of Appeals has recently addressed this same question where the trial court gave the same instructions: RCW 9A.08.020(3)(a) states that an accomplice is one who aids a principal: [w]ith knowledge that it will promote or facilitate the commission of the crime ... (Italics ours.) The accomplice statute implicitly demonstrates that the State need not prove that the principal and accomplice share the same mental state. There was no error as to the instruction concerning the mental state of the accomplice. State v. Bockman, 37 Wn. App. 474, 491, 682 P.2d 925 (1984). We agree with the Court of Appeals and uphold the trial court's instructions. We affirm the murder convictions of Jim Ramil and Ben Guloy. DOLLIVER, C.J., and UTTER, ANDERSEN, CALLOW, and DURHAM, JJ., concur. BRACHTENBACH, J. (concurring) I agree with the majority's analysis, including its adoption of the overwhelming untainted evidence test to determine if constitutional error is harmless. However, in adopting this test, I carefully distinguish those situations in which constitutional error may never be harmless. There are some constitutional violations which undermine the fundamental fairness of the judicial process to such an extent that they require automatic reversal. Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 543-44, 71 L.Ed.2d 379, 102 S.Ct. 1198 (1982) (Stevens, J., dissenting). Such errors include the admission of an involuntary confession, Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 398, 57 L.Ed.2d 290, 98 S.Ct. 2408 (1978); Payne v. Arkansas, 356 U.S. 560, 567-68, 2 L.Ed.2d 975, 78 S.Ct. 844 (1958) and the knowing use by the prosecutor of perjured testimony, Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103, 112, 79 L.Ed. 791, 55 S.Ct. 340, 98 A.L.R. 406 (1935). Other constitutional errors potentially affect a trial in such a way that it is impossible for an appellate court to later evaluate the error to determine whether or not it was harmless. This type of error includes the failure to provide counsel for an indigent defendant, Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 344, 9 L.Ed.2d 799, 83 S.Ct. 792, 93 A.L.R.2d 733 (1963); White v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 59, 60, 10 L.Ed.2d 193, 83 S.Ct. 1050 (1963); the failure to determine that a defendant is competent to stand trial, Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 387, 15 L.Ed.2d 815, 86 S.Ct. 836 (1966); discrimination in the selection of a jury, Whitus v. Georgia, 385 U.S. 545, 17 L.Ed.2d 599, 87 S.Ct. 643 (1967); and financial interest by a judge in the outcome of a trial, Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510, 532, 71 L.Ed. 749, 47 S.Ct. 437, 50 A.L.R. 1243 (1927). An appellate court can only speculate as to how the trial or the fact finder's perception of the trial would have differed had such constitutional errors not occurred. However, the admission of inadmissible evidence is not among the constitutional errors which the court must always find to be prejudicial. The court is ordinarily in a position to judge the possible effect of admitting a particular piece of evidence within the context of all the evidence presented at trial. Rushen v. Spain, 464 U.S. 114, 128 n. 7, 78 L.Ed.2d 267, 104 S.Ct. 453 (1983) (Stevens, J., concurring). UTTER, PEARSON, and ANDERSEN, JJ., concur with BRACHTENBACH, J. GOODLOE, J. (concurring in part, dissenting in part) I agree with all of the majority opinion, except that section addressing the defendants' right to a speedy trial. I would hold the defendants were denied a speedy trial under CrR 3.3. CrR 3.3(i) provides: (i) Dismissal With Prejudice. A criminal charge not brought to trial within the time period provided by this rule shall be dismissed with prejudice. The time period provided in the rule for defendants, in the position of Ramil and Guloy, who are not released from jail pending trial, is not later than 60 days after the date of arraignment. CrR 3.3(c)(1). As directed in CrR 3.3(a), [i]t shall be the responsibility of the court to ensure a trial in accordance with this rule to each person charged with having committed a crime. I agree with the majority that the 60-day period started on June 10, 1981. Majority opinion, at 428. However, even using this date, the defendants were not brought to trial within 60 days. The trial court was not faced with a dilemma. On July 30, defendant Guloy sought a 5-day continuance. Had the requested 5-day continuance been granted, both defendants would have been brought to trial within the applicable 60-day speedy trial rule. Nothing in the record explains why a request for a 5-day continuance became an order for an 11-day continuance. The fact that it did violates the speedy trial rule. I dissent from this section.