Court Opinion

ID: 9631191
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:31:21.145538+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:07:49.944922
License: Public Domain

Dolliver, J.
(dissenting) — The majority, relying on State v. Mak, 105 Wn.2d 692, 718 P.2d 407, cert. denied, 479 U.S. 995 (1986), contends the error here was not of constitutional magnitude and asserts that even if it were it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. I disagree with both these sentiments. Throughout its opinion the majority confuses speculation with certainty and what is with what is desired.
Initially, I note the majority, after an inconclusive and somewhat pejorative discussion, seems to agree that at the time of the trial the elements of first degree statutory rape and indecent liberties were not the same. While this may be a technical matter, as the majority complains, this court recently has again honored the principle that "[t]he accused, in [a] criminal prosecution[], has a constitutional right to be apprised of the nature and cause of the accusation against him." State v. Pelkey, 109 Wn.2d 484, 488, 745 P.2d 854 (1987) (quoting State v. Ackles, 8 Wash. 462, 464, 36 P. 597 (1894)). I also note the majority in Pelkey refused to adopt a rule requiring "prejudice" to the defendant before the constitutional right could be exercised. See State v. Pelkey, supra at 491-92 (Durham, J., concurring).
State v. Mak, supra, is not controlling and is readily distinguishable from this case. In Mak, a lesser included instruction of felony murder was given when the charged crime was aggravated murder in the first degree. Mak *351requested the felony murder instruction, but was convicted of the charged offense, aggravated murder in the first degree. Mak argued that the felony murder lesser included instruction was constitutional error requiring reversal. We rejected that argument because the instruction, not objected to at trial, became the law of the case. Any error was invited error and harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
The significant difference which distinguishes the case before the court is that Bailey was not convicted of the higher crime of first degree statutory rape with which he was charged. Rather, he was convicted of the lesser included offense which was improperly given to the jury. Consequently, Bailey was convicted of an offense to which he was not given notice of the elements. In Mak, the defendant was convicted of the charged crime and thus had the required notice of all the elements. Therefore, the error was not that of giving an instruction which is not technically a lesser included offense, as the majority suggests, but rather a constitutional error of omitting an element of the crime charged.
On the issue of constitutional error beyond a reasonable doubt, after considering both this test and the contribution test, this court has adopted the overwhelming evidence test. State v. Guloy, 104 Wn.2d 412, 425-26, 705 P.2d 1182 (1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1020 (1986). Under either test the error was not harmless.
While the majority states there was overwhelming evidence of Bailey's guilt, it overlooks the fact that the jury found Bailey was not guilty of first degree statutory rape. If the error had not been committed and the lesser included instruction had not been given, a claim that the jury would have convicted on the higher charge is sheer speculation. Nor can it be known Bailey benefited from the lesser included instruction; he may have been acquitted without it.
As to the statement of the majority that there was overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt as to indecent liberties and therefore the error was harmless, this argument *352is dangerous. Without the error, the jury would not have even been instructed as to indecent liberties and the defendant would not have been convicted of that offense. Because this case deals with an error, not as to evidence improperly admitted, but as to the giving of a lesser included instruction, the overwhelming evidence test does not appear to, nor should it be, fashioned for these types of errors.
The majority prefers to look at the case from the desired result backward to the trial. This completely turns things around. Looking at the case properly, i.e, forward from the trial to the conviction, a defendant is entitled to the constitutional protections now in place. This the majority fails to do. The majority deals with certitudes gained only by viewing the case after the trial; I would prefer to honor constitutional rules during the trial.
It may well be these constitutional protections need to be reexamined and rethought. This should be done, however, in a straightforward manner, not by the method here chosen by the majority.
Utter and Dore, JJ., and Pearson, J. Pro Tern., concur with Dolliver, J.