In Re Candelario

118 P.3d 349
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 16, 2005
Docket31048-1-II
StatusPublished

This text of 118 P.3d 349 (In Re Candelario) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Candelario, 118 P.3d 349 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

118 P.3d 349 (2005)

In re the Matter of the Personal Restraint Petition Of Victor L. CANDELARIO, Petitioner.

No. 31048-1-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

April 18, 2005.
Publication Ordered July 16, 2005.

*350 Richard Alan Linn, Linn-Barnes Law Office PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

Randall Avery Sutton, Kitsap Co. Prosecutor's Office, Port Orchard, WA, for Respondent.

ORDER GRANTING PETITION

¶ 1 Victor L. Candelario seeks relief from personal restraint imposed following his 1999 jury conviction of second degree felony murder based on the predicate offense of assault. He argues that his conviction must be vacated under In re Andress, 147 Wash.2d 602, 56 P.3d 981 (2002).[1] He further argues that the State cannot retry him on the alternative charge of second degree intentional murder because the guilty finding on the felony murder charge and a special verdict rendered by the jury establish that he was acquitted of that charge.

¶ 2 The State concedes that petitioner's felony murder conviction must be vacated, but it argues that because the jury did not come to a unanimous agreement on the alternative charge of second degree intentional murder, double jeopardy does not bar the State from retrying petitioner on that charge.

*351 BACKGROUND

¶ 3 The State originally charged petitioner with second degree murder, alleging alternative means of intentional murder or felony murder with the predicate offense of second degree assault. Petition Exh. 2. A jury convicted petitioner of intentional murder. On appeal, this court reversed the conviction due to an instructional error and remanded for a new trial. Petition Exh. 5 (State v. Candelario, No. 21435-1-II, 91 Wash.App. 1041, 1998 WL 352528 (unpublished opinion, filed 7/2/1998)).

¶ 4 On remand, the jury found petitioner guilty of second degree murder and returned the following special verdict:

If you found the defendant, VICTOR L. CANDELARIO, guilty of the crime of Second Degree Murder, then you shall answer the following questions:
1. Were you able to unanimously agree beyond a reasonable doubt that:
(a.) The defendant, VICTOR L. CANDELARIO committed intentional Murder of JUANITA MARIE CANDELARIO (Alternative A)?
____ Yes ____ No X No Unanimous Agreement
(b.) The defendant, VICTOR L. CANDELARIO, committed Felony Second Degree Murder of JUANITA MARIE CANDELARIO (Alternative B)?
X Yes ____ No ____ No Unanimous Agreement

¶ 5 Petitioner appealed. In June 2000, this court affirmed the conviction. Candelario, 101 Wash.App. 1002, 2000 WL 713929, No. 24236-2-II (unpublished opinion, filed 6/2/2000).

¶ 6 On October 24, 2002, our Supreme Court held in Andress that second degree assault could not be the predicate felony for a second degree felony murder charge. 147 Wash.2d at 604, 56 P.3d 981. Petitioner then filed this personal restraint petition.

DISCUSSION

I. FELONY MURDER

¶ 7 Petitioner argues, and the State concedes, that his felony murder conviction must be vacated under Andress because it was based on the predicate offense of assault. We agree.

II. CHARGES ON REMAND

¶ 8 Petitioner and the State do not, however, agree on whether the State may pursue a second degree intentional murder charge on remand. The State argues that the special verdict shows that the jury did not acquit petitioner of the intentional murder charge and that it may, therefore, renew this charge on remand unless the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support that charge. Response at 19-24. Petitioner responds that the felony murder conviction and the special verdict imply that the jury acquitted him on the intentional murder charge and, therefore, double jeopardy precludes the State from renewing the intentional murder charge on remand. Reply at 3-7.

A. Double Jeopardy

¶ 9 The United States Constitution and the Washington State Constitution provide that the State may not put a criminal defendant in jeopardy twice for the same offense. U.S. Const. amend. V; Wash. Const. art. 1, § 9; State v. Corrado, 81 Wash.App. 640, 645, 915 P.2d 1121, (1996), review denied, 138 Wash.2d 1011, 989 P.2d 1138 (1999). "Generally, [double jeopardy] bars trial if three elements are met: (a) jeopardy previously attached, (b) jeopardy previously terminated, and (c) the defendant is again in jeopardy `for the same offense.'" Corrado, 81 Wash.App. at 645, 915 P.2d 1121 (citations omitted). The issue here is whether jeopardy terminated on the second degree intentional murder charge.

1. Implied Acquittal

¶ 10 Once jeopardy attaches, it does not terminate until the defendant is expressly or implicitly acquitted or a conviction becomes unconditionally final. State v. Hescock, 98 Wash.App. 600, 604-05, 989 P.2d *352 1251 (1999) (citing Justices of Boston Mun. Court v. Lydon, 466 U.S. 294, 306-07, 104 S.Ct. 1805, 80 L.Ed.2d 311 (1984)); Corrado, 81 Wash.App. at 646-47, 915 P.2d 1121. But double jeopardy does "not bar retrial after a jury is unable to reach a verdict on a charge because there has been no final adjudication on the charge." State v. Ahluwalia, 143 Wash.2d 527, 541, 22 P.3d 1254 (2001); see also State v. Despenza, 38 Wash.App. 645, 654, 689 P.2d 87 (1984) ("A hung jury is not the equivalent of an acquittal for purposes of double jeopardy.") (citing State v. Russell, 101 Wash.2d 349, 351, 678 P.2d 332 (1984)).

¶ 11 Petitioner argues that under State v. Ramos, 124 Wash.App. 334, 101 P.3d 872 (2004); State v. Linton, 122 Wash.App. 73, 93 P.3d 183 (2004), and Hescock, 98 Wash.App. at 611, 989 P.2d 1251, this court must find that he was implicitly acquitted of the intentional murder charge. Reply at 3-5. But these cases are factually distinguishable from petitioner's case. In these cases, one of three things occurred: (1) the finder of fact was silent as to whether it had acquitted the defendant on an alternate charge, (2) the finder of fact expressly found that the State had failed to prove the at least one element of the alternate charge, or (3) an appellate court vacated the defendant's conviction for a lesser included offense. Ramos, 124 Wash.App. at 342-43, 101 P.3d 872

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Related

Justices of Boston Municipal Court v. Lydon
466 U.S. 294 (Supreme Court, 1984)
State v. Russell
657 P.2d 338 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1983)
State v. Myers
941 P.2d 1102 (Washington Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Russell
678 P.2d 332 (Washington Supreme Court, 1984)
State v. Hescock
989 P.2d 1251 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1999)
State v. Corrado
915 P.2d 1121 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1996)
State v. Salinas
829 P.2d 1068 (Washington Supreme Court, 1992)
State v. Despenza
689 P.2d 87 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1984)
State v. Ramos
101 P.3d 872 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2004)
State v. Linton
93 P.3d 183 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2004)
State v. Daniels
103 P.3d 249 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2004)
In Re Hinton
100 P.3d 801 (Washington Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Davis
67 P.2d 894 (Washington Supreme Court, 1937)
State v. Myers
133 Wash. 2d 26 (Washington Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Berlin
947 P.2d 700 (Washington Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Ahluwalia
22 P.3d 1254 (Washington Supreme Court, 2001)
In re the Personal Restraint of Andress
56 P.3d 981 (Washington Supreme Court, 2002)
In re the Personal Restraint of Hinton
152 Wash. 2d 853 (Washington Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Candelario
101 Wash. App. 1002 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2000)
State v. Linton
122 Wash. App. 73 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2004)

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118 P.3d 349, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-candelario-washctapp-2005.