In Re Detention of Coppin

238 P.3d 1192
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedAugust 16, 2010
Docket64963-9-I
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 238 P.3d 1192 (In Re Detention of Coppin) 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 Detention of Coppin, 238 P.3d 1192 (Wash. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

238 P.3d 1192 (2010)

In re the DETENTION OF John Paul COPPIN, Appellant.

No. 64963-9-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

August 16, 2010.

*1194 Jodi R. Backlund, Backlund & Mistry, Olympia, WA, for Appellant.

Brooke Elizabeth Burbank, Jana Ranae Hartman, Assistant Attorney General, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

COX, J.

¶ 1 The sexually violent predator act (SVPA), chapter 71.09 RCW, is civil in nature and provides for the right to demand a trial before a 12-person jury.[1] But the right to a jury trial in a civil case may be waived. Whether to refuse a jury demand after such waiver is a question addressed by the trial court's sound exercise of discretion.[2]

¶ 2 Here, John Coppin did not make a jury demand until the morning of his trial. Moreover, he expressly waived, on the record during a court hearing and in writing, his right to a jury six days before his trial. We hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying his request for a jury on the first morning of his trial. We also hold that the evidence was sufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that he had previously been convicted of a "crime of sexual violence," as required by the SVPA. His other claims, which we discuss in the unpublished portion of this opinion, are without merit. We affirm.

¶ 3 The facts of this case are undisputed. In 1982, Coppin was convicted in California of two counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and one count of oral copulation. In 1988, Coppin was convicted of two counts of statutory rape in the first degree in Washington. Based on these latter convictions, a trial court sentenced him to an exceptional sentence of 300 months of total confinement.

¶ 4 In November 2005, while Coppin was still in total confinement for his Washington convictions, the State commenced this proceeding to commit him as a sexually violent predator (SVP). The State simultaneously filed its written Demand for Jury Trial, dated November 22, 2005, requesting a trial by a jury of 12 persons. Coppin did not file a jury demand.

¶ 5 On October 31, 2007, the trial court set the case for trial on January 22, 2008. The State withdrew its jury demand at a hearing on January 16, 2008. Coppin did not object. At that same hearing, he expressly waived his right to have his case heard by a jury of 12, and the court accepted his waiver. Accordingly, the judge stated his intent to proceed with a bench trial the following week.

¶ 6 Six days later, on the first morning of the scheduled trial, Coppin sought to withdraw his earlier express waiver of a jury trial and requested that the case be heard by a jury. Following argument by counsel for both sides, the trial court denied Coppin's requests and proceeded with a bench trial.

¶ 7 At the conclusion of the trial, the judge found beyond a reasonable doubt that Coppin was an SVP and ordered that he be involuntarily committed for treatment.

¶ 8 Coppin appeals.

JURY TRIAL

¶ 9 Coppin argues that the order of commitment was entered in violation of his right to a jury trial under both former RCW 71.09.050(3) and article I, section 21 of the *1195 Washington constitution. We disagree and hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Coppin's request for a jury on the first morning of trial.

¶ 10 The SVPA is civil in nature.[3] When a person who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense may meet the statutory criteria of a sexually violent predator, the department of corrections must refer the person to the appropriate prosecuting agency three months before his or her anticipated release from total confinement.[4] The State, through the appropriate prosecuting agency, may file a petition alleging that the person is a sexually violent predator and stating sufficient facts to support the allegation.[5]

¶ 11 Upon the filing of such a petition, "the judge shall determine whether probable cause exists to believe that the person named in the petition is a sexually violent predator."[6] If such determination is made, the judge shall direct that the person be taken into custody.[7]

¶ 12 The statute also provides for a trial on the allegations of the petition.[8]

¶ 13 "The civil rules `govern the procedure in the superior court in all suits of a civil nature'" with the exceptions set out in Superior Court Civil Rule (CR) 81.[9] In pertinent part, CR 81 states that "[e]xcept where inconsistent with rules or statutes applicable to special proceedings, these rules shall govern all civil proceedings."[10] "`Proceedings under chapter 71.09 RCW are special proceedings within the meaning of CR 81.'"[11]

Waiver of Jury Trial

¶ 14 Washington's SVPA provides that the respondent as well as others involved in an SVP commitment proceeding may demand a 12-person jury trial. The legislature provided in former RCW 71.09.050(3) (1995), which was in effect at the time of Coppin's trial, as follows:

The person, the prosecuting attorney or attorney general, or the judge shall have the right to demand that the trial be before a twelve-person jury. If no demand is made, the trial shall be before the court.

¶ 15 Likewise, the state supreme court has promulgated a civil rule of procedure, CR 38, "JURY TRIAL OF RIGHT," which provides:

(-) Defined. A trial is the judicial examination of the issues between the parties, whether they are issues of law or fact.
(a) Right of Jury Trial Preserved. The right of trial by jury as declared by article I, section 21 of the constitution or as given by a statute shall be preserved to the parties inviolate.
(b) Demand for Jury. At or prior to the time the case is called to be set for trial, any party may demand a trial by jury of any issue triable of right by a jury by serving upon the other parties a demand therefor in writing, by filing the demand with the clerk, and by paying the jury fee required by law. If before the case is called to be set for trial no party serves or files a demand that the case be tried by a jury of twelve, it shall be tried by a jury of six members with the concurrence of five being required to reach a verdict.
....
(d) Waiver of Jury. The failure of a party to serve a demand as required by this rule, to file it as required by this rule, and to pay the jury fee required by law in accordance with this rule, constitutes a waiver by him of trial by jury. A demand for trial by jury made as herein provided *1196 may not be withdrawn without the consent of the parties.

¶ 16 Here, the State filed its written Demand for Jury Trial on November 22, 2005, seeking a jury of 12, pursuant to "CR 38 and RCW 71.09.050(3)."[12] Coppin never demanded a jury until the morning of the first day of his trial on January 22, 2008.

¶ 17 It appears that this case was initially set for trial to begin on February 25, 2008. At a status conference in October 2007, the court advanced the trial date to January 22, 2008.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
238 P.3d 1192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-detention-of-coppin-washctapp-2010.