Court Opinion

ID: 9855513
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:26:37.865864+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:36:06.785497
License: Public Domain

Dore, J.
(dissenting)—The majority holds that the trial court's instruction on the elements of vehicular homicide is a misstatement of the law and that this constitutes reversible error. I disagree. The instruction, since it reflects the language of the vehicular homicide statute and implies a causal connection between defendant's drinking and the injury, is not a misstatement of the law. Even if the instruction interpreting the elements of vehicular homicide was erroneous, the error is harmless. Therefore, I would uphold the jury's conviction of Mr. MacMaster for vehicular homicide.
RCW 46.61.520(1) provides:
When the death of any person ensues within three years as a proximate result of injury proximately caused by the driving of any vehicle by any person while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug, as defined by RCW 46.61.502, or by the operation of any vehicle in a reckless manner or with disregard for the safety of others, the person so operating such vehicle is guilty of vehicular homicide.
The trial court issued instruction 5 which in pertinent part provides:
To convict the defendant of the crime of vehicular homicide, each of the following elements of the crime must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt:
(1) That on or about the 22nd day of April, 1985, the defendant operated a motor vehicle;
(2) That at the time, the defendant:
(a) operated the motor vehicle and was under the influence of, or affected by intoxicating liquor, and thereby proximately caused injury to Rhonda Raber, or
*240(Italics mine.) Clerk's Papers, at 61. This instruction mirrors the vehicular homicide statute. Furthermore, the instruction's language, "and thereby proximately caused injury to", expresses a causal connection between the defendant's drinking and the resulting injury. Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1968) defines "thereby" as "in consequence of that..."
Furthermore, instruction 9 defines the term "proximate cause" to mean that cause "which, in a direct sequence, unbroken by any new independent cause, produces the death," and further instructs the jury of the necessity of a causal connection between the act' and the death of the person involved. Instructions 5 and 9 make it implicit that the operation of the vehicle in an intoxicated condition must be the proximate cause of the death. I find that the instructions contained a proper statement of the law.
Jury instructions are considered sufficient when they contain a proper statement of the law and the instructions read as a whole allow counsel to argue their theory of their case. Smith v. McDaniel, 53 Wn.2d 604, 610, 335 P.2d 582 (1959); State v. Wanrow, 88 Wn.2d 221, 236, 559 P.2d 548 (1977).
The majority suggests that the trial court's oral ruling on the causation element precluded defendant from arguing his theory of the case. However the prosecutor did not feel so constrained and argued the causal requirement was required in order to convict defendant of vehicular homicide in his closing argument. His argument, then, notwithstanding the trial court's ruling, opened the door for the defendant to argue that the facts in this case did not establish causation. Furthermore, the instructions combined with the prosecutor's closing argument, which preceded defendant's closing argument, did not put defendant in the improper position of trying to convince the jury on what the law was, as the majority claims.
In light of the instructions' language and the prosecutor's closing argument, the defendant was not limited in arguing any causation theory he wanted to make. Further, the *241record does not show that the court denied defendant an opportunity to argue his causation theory. As the Court of Appeals noted, defense counsel did not attempt to argue causation to which an objection was made, nor is there any instruction by the court prohibiting defense counsel to so argue. Defense counsel could have argued the causal effect of alcohol under instructions 5 and 9.
In sum, the instructions adequately advised the jury of the rule of law applicable to the issue of the case and allowed defense counsel to argue his theory of the case. Consequently, the trial court did not err when it gave instructions 5 and 9.
In any event, any alleged error from the instructions that the majority finds to exist is not prejudicial. In order for error to be prejudicial it must affect the outcome of the trial. Brown v. Spokane Cy. Fire Protec. Dist. 1, 100 Wn.2d 188, 196, 668 P.2d 571 (1983); Wanrow, 88 Wn.2d at 237. Here, the prosecutor argued the necessity for a causal connection between the victim's death and the defendant's drinking by stating in pertinent part:
The other element that's also involved in number 2 was that the reckless driving, the driving while under the influence or the disregard for the safety of others was the proximate cause of the injuries. And the state would answer that question for you by asking another question. Why did Mrs. Raber die? Why did she receive those injuries? ... To that the state says we have produced evidence to you beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. MacMaster was driving under the influence, disregard for the safety of others or recklessly.
. . . while [MacMaster] was ... at [the tavern]—we know that Marian Pittser was in the lounge and was engaged in a conversation with him and we think that this conversation is an indication of affecting either his driving or intoxication . . .
... So we know Mr. MacMaster, according to Mr. Garza, is going 80 miles an hour. That's just 2 miles before the turn around, the cut-off.
. . . one of the most important pieces of evidence that exists is . . . the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Laib and that was that they saw the light, they saw the light from at least a half a mile back. They came and they slowed down and they made the pass without any problem. Mr. Laib was of course disturbed *242about it, but he acted as a reasonable person. He said he was in a hurry to get home to watch a T.V. program. He was in a hurry. But, he was not drinking, he did what I think a common person would have done and what the law expects. You come on a situation that is unanticipated, maybe cause you some problems. You just don't go ahead and drive through something you don't know what's about, you slow up. And when he slowed up, apprised the situation, there was no problem.
. . . We would concede in many cases at night, if you're driving, you have a moving light it can cause some problems. I mean there's no argument about that. But, the Oldsmobile was not moving. It sat there. It was not in any way deceiving anybody.
In other words, if Mr. MacMaster's vision acuity had not been affected by his alcohol, there shouldn't have been any particular problem.
... if you were driving the legal speed limit and if you were not intoxicated or under the influence, there would still be more than adequate time to avoid taking another person's life and that's just exactly what he did.
Now, [MacMaster] says that he thought the Oldsmobile was an one-eyed bandit making a pass and so he headed for the ditch. Members of the jury, how can that be when we know that the Oldsmobile was not moving? The one-eyed bandit. We submit that if that's the way he thought it was, he can blame it upon his drinking. The testimony is that one of the first things, one of the things your visual acuity, your perception and your response time is affected by the alcohol.
Closing Arguments of Counsel, at 6-20. Thus, the "causal connection" element was argued to the jury. Therefore, this error, if any, in the instruction could not have affected the outcome of the trial since the prosecutor persuasively argued the causal connection element.
Finally, there is sufficient evidence that the jury could find that the defendant operated his vehicle in an intoxicated condition which was the proximate cause of the fatal accident. The evidence demonstrates that Mr. MacMaster had several beers before the accident. Subsequent to the accident he was belligerent and using profane language on the people helping him. Further, the one person who was charged with his care for the first hour after the accident *243testified that MacMaster was drunk, not simply that he had been drinking. Not only was the defendant affected by his drinking, he was legally intoxicated. The defendant's blood alcohol registered .13 percent. Finally, the prosecutor argued to the jury that defendant's visual acuity, perception and response time was affected by the alcohol, proximately causing the accident beyond a reasonable doubt.
Conclusion
The jury received adequate instructions informing them of the crime of vehicular homicide. These instructions reflected the language of RCW 46.61.520(1) and implied the requirement of a causal connection between defendant's intoxication and the resulting accident. Even if the instructions were erroneous, the defendant was not prejudiced. The prosecutor argued proximate cause in his closing argument and the defendant could have similarly argued.
I would affirm defendant's conviction.