In re the Personal Restraint of Copland

309 P.3d 626, 176 Wash. App. 432
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 5, 2013
DocketNo. 28165-5-III
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 309 P.3d 626 (In re the Personal Restraint of Copland) 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 the Personal Restraint of Copland, 309 P.3d 626, 176 Wash. App. 432 (Wash. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Kulik, J.

¶1 After a long day of drinking with friends, Walter William Copland fatally shot one of his friends in the head. A Benton County jury convicted him of first degree manslaughter, with a firearm sentencing enhancement. In this timely petition, he seeks relief from personal restraint, contending (1) his constitutional right to a public trial was violated when some potential jurors were interviewed pri[436]*436vately in chambers and (2) new evidence supports vacation of his judgment and sentence and the setting of a new trial. We conclude that Mr. Copland’s contentions are without merit. Accordingly, we dismiss the petition.

FACTS

¶2 On September 15, 2005, Mr. Copland and his friend John Stevens drank together most of the day. They eventually ended up on Mr. Stevens’s back patio, where they were joined by a mutual friend, A1 Anthis. At around 8:00 that night, Mr. Copland said to Mr. Anthis, “You know, I could shoot you or kill you.” Report of Proceedings (RP) at 689. Mr. Anthis replied, “Well, bring it on.” RP at 689. Mr. Copland then walked up to Mr. Anthis, put a gun to his temple, and shot him. Mr. Stevens witnessed the shooting and called 911. Afterward, Mr. Copland made several statements admitting that he fired the fatal shot.1

¶3 The State charged Mr. Copland with first degree murder and first degree manslaughter, both crimes committed while armed with a deadly weapon, “to-wit: .22 caliber handgun.” Resp. Br., App. A. At trial, the defense was that Mr. Copland lacked the mental capacity to commit either crime due to intoxication. The jury found him guilty of first degree manslaughter and found by special verdict that he was armed with a firearm. He was sentenced to 150 months, including a 60-month firearm enhancement. This court affirmed his judgment and sentence on appeal. State v. Copland, noted at 140 Wn. App. 1006, 2007 WL 2254420, 2007 Wash. App. LEXIS 2341, review denied, 163 Wn.2d 1036 (2008). The mandate was filed on June 23, 2008.

¶4 On June 15, 2009, Mr. Copland filed this timely petition for relief from personal restraint. After the response brief and the reply brief had been filed, the petition was stayed pending the mandate in State v. Wise, 176 [437]*437Wn.2d 1, 288 P.3d 1113 (2012). In supplemental briefing filed during the stay, Mr. Copland challenged the firearm enhancement. The stay was lifted on January 11, 2013, and the parties were asked to address the applicability of Wise, State v. Paumier, 176 Wn.2d 29, 288 P.3d 1126 (2012), and In re Personal Restraint of Morris, 176 Wn.2d 157, 288 P.3d 1140 (2012) (plurality opinion).

¶5 Relief by way of a collateral challenge to a judgment and sentence is extraordinary. In re Pers. Restraint of Coats, 173 Wn.2d 123, 132, 267 P.3d 324 (2011). A personal restraint petition filed within one year after the judgment and sentence is final generally may challenge the conviction on any grounds, but must meet a high standard. Id. The petitioner must show with a preponderance of the evidence that he or she was actually and substantially prejudiced by a violation of constitutional rights, or that his or her trial suffered from a nonconstitutional defect that inherently resulted in a complete miscarriage of justice. Id.; In re Pers. Restraint of Brett, 142 Wn.2d 868, 874, 16 P.3d 601 (2001). Additionally, the petitioner may not renew an issue that was raised and rejected on direct appeal unless the interests of justice require relitigation of that issue. In re Pers. Restraint of Yates, 177 Wn.2d 1, 17, 296 P.3d 872 (2013) (quoting In re Pers. Restraint of Davis, 152 Wn.2d 647, 671, 101 P.3d 1 (2004)). Washington courts have limited the relief considered in the “interests of justice” to cases where an intervening change in the law or some other circumstance justified the failure to raise a crucial argument on appeal. Id. (quoting In re Pers. Restraint of Stenson, 142 Wn.2d 710, 720, 16 P.3d 1 (2001)). A petitioner who renews an issue may not merely present different factual allegations or raise different legal arguments. Id. (quoting Davis, 152 Wn.2d at 671).

ANALYSIS

¶6 Right to a Public Trial. Mr. Copland contends his constitutional right to a public trial was violated when some [438]*438of the potential jurors were interviewed privately in the judge’s chambers. The State contends Mr. Copland waived his right to raise the public trial issue because he did not raise it on appeal. But a petitioner may raise issues in a collateral challenge that were not raised on appeal, including arguments that the criminal proceeding violated constitutional law. See RAP 16.4(c)(2).

¶7 The state and federal constitutions guarantee criminal defendants a right to a public trial. See Const, art. I, § 22 (the “accused shall have the right... to have a speedy public trial”); U.S. Const, amend. VI (“the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial”); In re Pers. Restraint of Orange, 152 Wn.2d 795, 804, 100 P.3d 291 (2004). Additionally, article I, section 10 of the Washington Constitution guarantees the public’s open access to judicial proceedings (“[j]ustice in all cases shall be administered openly”). The public trial right is so important that its violation is considered a structural error, meaning it affects the framework within which the trial proceeds. Wise, 176 Wn.2d at 5-6. A violation of the public trial right is presumed prejudicial on direct appeal, even when the violation is not preserved by objection. Id. at 16.

¶8 Although vital, the right to a public trial is not absolute. Id. at 9; Paumier, 176 Wn.2d at 34-35. A trial court may close a courtroom if it first balances the public trial right against competing rights and interests, using the five criteria established in State v. Bone-Club, 128 Wn.2d 254, 258-59, 906 P.2d 325 (1995).2 Wise, 176 Wn.2d at 10. As summarized in Wise, the Bone-Club criteria require the trial [439]*439court, on the record, to at least (1) state the public trial right that will be lost by moving proceedings into a private room, (2) identify the compelling interest that motivates the closure, (3) weigh the competing rights, (4) give an opportunity to object, and (5) adopt the least restrictive alternative of closure. Id. Although a trial court may close all or part of a trial after considering the alternatives, it must “ ‘resist a closure motion except under the most unusual circumstances.’ ” Id. at 11 (quoting Bone-Club, 128 Wn.2d at 259).

¶9 It is well settled that the public trial right extends to jury selection. Id. Relevant to this case, the right applies to the questioning of individual prospective jurors. Id. (citing State v. Momah, 167 Wn.2d 140, 151-52, 217 P.3d 321 (2009); State v. Strode, 167 Wn.2d 222, 227, 217 P.3d 310 (2009) (plurality opinion)). Mr. Copland contends the trial court did not consider the

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Bluebook (online)
309 P.3d 626, 176 Wash. App. 432, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-personal-restraint-of-copland-washctapp-2013.