Court Opinion

ID: 9527769
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:34:01.053444+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:26:11.423283
License: Public Domain

Ringold, A.C.J.
(dissenting)—I respectfully dissent because the trial court erred in failing to submit to the jury a cautionary instruction regarding police dog tracking evidence. The only fault the majority finds with regard to the proposed instruction is the reference to corroborating evidence which "clearly connects the accused with the commission of the offense."
Tracking Evidence Instructions
In State v. Loucks, 98 Wn.2d 563, 656 P.2d 480 (1983), the court held that tracking dog evidence is not sufficient by itself to support a criminal conviction. Corroborating evidence which identifies the defendant as the perpetrator must also be presented. Loucks, at 567-68. Later that same year, this court in State v. Wagner, 36 Wn. App. 286, 673 P.2d 638 (1983) held that if tracking dog evidence is presented, the jury must be informed that the evidence requires corroboration, otherwise the jury may erroneously rest its conviction upon the tracking dog evidence alone. Wagner, at 288.
At the close of trial, Ellis submitted the following jury instruction to the trial court:
The jury must view evidence concerning a police dog track with caution. Evidence concerning a police dog track is insufficient, standing alone, to support a conviction for Burglary 2.
*337To sustain its burden of proof, the State must introduce other evidence which clearly connects the accused with the commission of the offense. If the State has not introduced such evidence, it has not borne its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and you must find the defendant not guilty.
Ellis cited Loucks as authority for the instruction, but the trial court refused to give it. In light of State v. Wagner, supra, it is evident that an instruction embodying the principles of Loucks should have been given. The State argues, however, that the failure to give the instruction in this case was not reversible error.
The State contends that while the first part of the proposed instruction is supported by State v. Wagner, the second paragraph which explains the burden of proof and the jury's duty if the burden is not met is objectionable. The State maintains that the second paragraph is argumentative and, therefore, the trial court did not err in refusing to give it.
An argumentative instruction is:
An instruction which singles out or unduly emphasizes a particular issue, theory, or defense, or one which tends to invade the province of the jury with regard to the weight, probative effect, or sufficiency of the evidence or the inferences to be drawn therefrom.
Black's Law Dictionary 137 (4th ed. 1968).
Though the instruction proposed by Ellis went beyond the language approved in State v. Wagner, supra, it is not argumentative. Black's Law Dictionary, supra. Loucks and its progeny teach that without other evidence connecting a defendant to the offense, there is insufficient evidence to convict. Considering the State's burden of proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, describing the "connection" as "clear" imposes no additional burden on the State. Contrary to the majority's assertion, it does not imply "that the other evidence must be sufficient by itself to convict the accused."
The additional language merely instructed the jury of its duty under the law if the State failed to sustain its burden. This is far removed from cases where the defendant *338attempted to put his argument in the court's instructions. See, e.g., State v. Birdwell, 6 Wn. App. 284, 297, 492 P.2d 249, review denied, 80 Wn.2d 1009, appeal dismissed, cert. denied, 409 U.S. 973, 34 L. Ed. 2d 237, 93 S. Ct. 346 (1972); State v. Lane, 4 Wn. App. 745, 748, 484 P.2d 432 (1971); State v. Hayes, 3 Wn. App. 544, 545, 475 P.2d 885 (1970). Use of the adverb "clearly" did not change the principles reflected in the instruction.1 Accordingly, the State's argument that the proposed instruction is improperly argumentative is without merit.
Waiver op Objection
Though not considered by the majority, it is necessary to consider the principal arguments made by the State to support the trial court's ruling. The State contends that Ellis should not be permitted to argue that State v. Wagner, supra, controls his case because Ellis failed to cite Wagner in his argument to the trial judge. The State notes that an instruction may not be challenged on appeal on a different ground than that asserted at trial. The State then reasons that since Wagner was not cited to the trial court, it cannot be cited on appeal.
First, when Ellis submitted the proposed instruction to the court, he cited State v. Loucks, supra, as authority. As already noted, Loucks held that tracking dog evidence alone is not sufficient to support a criminal conviction. Corroborating evidence which identifies the defendant as the perpetrator must also be presented. Loucks, at 567-68. Accordingly, Ellis' argument on appeal is essentially the same as the one he made to the trial court absent citation to State v. Wagner.
Second, it would be absurd to confine the legal arguments on appeal to citation of only those authorities previously presented to the trial court. Granted, if Wagner were cited to the trial judge, he may indeed have ruled differently. Nonetheless, the argument presented to the trial *339court was the same as that asserted on appeal. See Nickerson v. Anacortes, 45 Wn. App. 432, 437, 725 P.2d 1027 (1986) (citation to all supporting authority at trial is not a prerequisite to preserving for appeal an issue raised in the trial court).
Harmless Error
The State in its brief argues that this case need not be reversed because the failure to provide the jury with the proposed instruction was harmless. Ellis responds that to determine whether the instructional error was harmless, this court must apply a constitutional harmless error analysis. State v. Bockman, 37 Wn. App. 474, 483, 682 P.2d 925 (1984).
The failure to instruct the jury on the need for corroborating evidence in this case is subject to a constitutional harmless error analysis. State v. Bockman, supra. Under a constitutional harmless error analysis, the error must be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Jones, 101 Wn.2d 113, 125, 677 P.2d 131 (1984). The test to determine whether a constitutional error is harmless was articulated in State v. Guloy, 104 Wn.2d 412, 705 P.2d 1182 (1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1020, 89 L. Ed. 2d 321, 106 S. Ct. 1208 (1986), where the court adopted the "overwhelming untainted evidence" test. Under this test the appellate court looks only at the untainted evidence to determine whether it is so overwhelming that it necessarily leads to a finding of guilt. Guloy, at 426; State v. Jackson, 42 Wn. App. 393, 398, 711 P.2d 1086 (1985).
Ellis argues that application of this standard to his case reveals that the error cannot be considered harmless. The State argues:
There was ample evidence independent of the dog track of Ellis upon which this jury convicted. The officers testified that in the vicinity of Dunlap School at 3:00 a.m., there was little or no other traffic. Officer Rix heard people running inside the building. Officer Beaver saw the two black males flee the south alcove of the school and scale the fence. Chapman, the other apprehended *340suspect, matched the description Officer Beaver broadcast to all units. Chapman's fingerprint matched one recovered at the school. Ellis admitted under oath that he and Chapman were friends. Ellis's claim that he was out jogging at 3:00 a.m. lacked credibility when compared to the totality of evidence. In sum, then, the court's failure to instruct the jury that dog tracking evidence alone was insufficient was harmless error.
The problem revealed by the State's own characterization of the testimony is that besides the tracking dog evidence, there is little to support an identification of Ellis as the perpetrator. The description by Officer Beaver of the two fleeing black men was that one was wearing a brown leather jacket and darker pants. When apprehended, Chapman was wearing a brown leather jacket and jeans. As described by Officer Beaver, the other man was wearing a dark top and lighter colored pants. Ellis wore dark gray pants and a rust-colored jacket that morning.
Absent the tracking evidence, this is the only evidence identifying Ellis as the man seen fleeing the school building. This fact immediately distinguishes Ellis' case from State v. Bookman, supra, in which a witness also identified the defendant as the man he saw leaving a burglarized dentist's office. Bookman, at 484 n.3. It cannot be said that overwhelming untainted evidence of Ellis' guilt was presented to the jury. The failure to provide the requested instruction was not harmless error.
I would therefore reverse and remand.
Review denied by Supreme Court October 6, 1987.

 The bench and bar are prone to overuse the word "clear" as an adverb or adjective for emphasis.