Court Opinion

ID: 9566261
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:35:38.026921+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:34:17.772775
License: Public Domain

Pekelis, J.
(concurring) — I concur in the result, but do not agree with the majority's interpretation of WPIC 3.01 and its conclusion that the trial court's answer to the jury inquiry was proper.
In my opinion, the trial court's response that "the jury is free to determine the use to which it will put evidence presented during trial" misstates the law. In approving this response, the majority holds that the jury was able to consider knowledge gained in deciding one count when deciding the other count. It is able to reach this conclusion because it erroneously reads WPIC 3.01 as "merely" requiring that the jury "deliberate" on each count separately.
First, the majority is mistaken since both instruction 5, given by the trial court here, and WPIC 3.01 itself do not use the word "deliberate," but the word "decide." This in itself seems significant.
Furthermore, the majority's conclusion at page 861 that "in the absence of a limiting instruction . . . [t]he jury was . . . free to consider any evidence relevant to [either] count . . . in deciding [that] count"1 totally eviscerates WPIC 3.01. The majority fails to recognize that WPIC itself is a limiting instruction; thus, there is no requirement that the defendant request or the trial court give another one. WPIC 3.01 tells the jury that the evidence of each crime is to be considered only for a "limited purpose,” i.e., only on *866the count to which it pertains. See, e.g., State v. Easta-brook, 58 Wn. App. 805, 814-15, 795 P.2d 151 (concluding jury "capable of compartmentalizing the evidence" because, inter alia, "jury was instructed to decide each count separately"), review denied, 115 Wn.2d 1031 (1990).
Although there appear to be no cases in which WPIC 3.01 itself is interpreted, a review of the case law on severance indicates that WPIC 3.01 was intended as a necessary safeguard in preventing the jury from merging or cumulat-ing evidence in joined trials.
In State v. Smith, 74 Wn.2d 744, 755, 446 P.2d 571 (1968), the Supreme Court (quoting Drew v. United States, 331 F.2d 85, 88 (D.C. Cir. 1964)), cert. granted, vacated in part, 408 U.S. 934 (1972) explained the danger from joining offenses as follows:
The argument against joinder is that the defendant may be prejudiced for one or more of the following reasons: (1) he may become embarrassed or confounded in presenting separate defenses; (2) the jury may use the evidence of one of the crimes charged to infer a criminal disposition on the part of the defendant from which is found his guilt of the other crime or crimes charged; or (3) the jury may cumulate the evidence of the various crimes charged and find guilt when, if considered separately, it would not so find. . . .
In State v. Harris, 36 Wn. App. 746, 750, 677 P.2d 202 (1984), the court set out the four prejudice-mitigating factors to be considered in deciding whether joinder in a particular case was improper:
(1) The strength of the State's evidence on each count, (2) clarity of defenses to each count, (3) the court properly instructs the jury to consider the evidence of the crime, arid (4) the admissibility of the evidence of the other crimes even if they had been tried separately or never charged or joined.
The third factor is clearly satisfied if WPIC 3.01 is given. Read in context with the other prejudice-mitigating factors, it is evident that "properly instructs the jury to consider the evidence" means a warning to the jury not to use the evidence in any way it wishes.
The Supreme Court's recent pronouncement in State v. Bythrow, 114 Wn.2d 713, 790 P.2d 154 (1990) confirms the fact that the purpose of WPIC 3.01 is to compartmentalize *867and limit the use of the evidence elicited on each count to that count. In holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to sever, the court stated:
the jury was not likely in this case to confuse which count particular evidence was introduced to establish. When evidence concerning the other crime is limited or not admissible, our primary concern is whether the jury can reasonably be expected to "compartmentalize the evidence" so that evidence of one crime does not taint the jury's consideration of another crime. . . . We must insure that the trial court properly instructed the jury on the limited admissibility of evidence, . . . and will determine whether the jury appeared to have followed the instructions.
(Italics ours.) Bythrow, 114 Wn.2d at 721 (quoting United States v. Johnson, 820 F.2d 1065,1071 (9th Cir. 1987)). See also State v. Ramirez, 46 Wn. App. 223, 730 P.2d 98 (1986) (conviction reversed because jury may well have "cumu-lated evidence" or used evidence in count 1 to infer criminal disposition to base guilt on count 2).
In summary, I read WPIC 3.01 as a broad limiting instruction. I recognize that there will be times in a joined trial when evidence elicited on one count may properly be considered in deciding the other count, for example, if the evidence has a proper "purpose" as defined under ER 404(b). Even under these circumstances, however, the trial court would not simply let the jury consider the evidence admitted under ER 404(b) for any purpose. Rather, the trial court would give a jury the specific limiting instruction applicable to consideration of evidence admitted under ER 404 (b). Thus, the jury would be instructed that the evidence was to be used by it only for the limited purpose for which it was admitted, i.e, to show intent, knowledge, or absence of mistake, and not for the purpose of showing that the defendant acted in conformance with a criminal propensity.
Despite my disapproval of the trial court's response to the jury, whether the error was harmless is decided under the nonconstitutional error standard. I believe there is overwhelming evidence of the defendant's knowledge in *868count 2 itself, and therefore I would conclude that the error was harmless.
[6]

Deciding what is "relevant" legally is not a task usually relegated to the jury. As explained by the court in State v. Holmes, 43 Wn. App. 397, 400, 717 P.2d 766, review denied, 106 Wn.2d 1003 (1986), matters which are logically relevant are not necessarily legally relevant.