In re the Personal Restraint of Gilbert

617 P.2d 455, 27 Wash. App. 286, 1980 Wash. App. LEXIS 2226
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 22, 1980
DocketNo. 8125-0-I
StatusPublished

This text of 617 P.2d 455 (In re the Personal Restraint of Gilbert) 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 Gilbert, 617 P.2d 455, 27 Wash. App. 286, 1980 Wash. App. LEXIS 2226 (Wash. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinions

Dore, J.

Petitioner collaterally attacks his conviction for second degree murder.

Issue

Should the holding of State v. Rogers, 83 Wn.2d 553, 520 [287]*287P.2d 159, cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1053, 42 L. Ed. 2d 650, 95 S. Ct. 633 (1974), invalidating RCW 9.41.030,1 be applied retroactively on a personal restraint petition?

Procedure

Petitioner was convicted of second degree murder in September 1969. The jury made a special finding that at the time the offense was committed, he was armed with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to a term of 20 years of confinement.

This court affirmed petitioner's conviction. State v. Gilbert, 3 Wn. App. 491, 475 P.2d 797 (1970). The Supreme Court denied review. State v. Gilbert, 78 Wn.2d 996 (1970). A personal restraint petition dated October 31, 1979, requested petitioner's release from prison.

Decision

Issue: Rogers should be retroactively applied.

In Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684, 44 L. Ed. 2d 508, 95 S. Ct. 1881 (1975), the United States Supreme Court held that the state has the burden of establishing, beyond a reasonable doubt, all elements of the criminal charge before an accused may be convicted. The court rejected the state court's determination that the prosecution could rely on a "presumption of implied malice" and require the defendant to prove that he had acted in the heat of passion on sudden provocation in order to successfully reduce the charge of murder to manslaughter.

In State v. Rogers, supra, our Supreme Court held that RCW 9.41.0302 was an unconstitutional intrusion on [288]*288defendant's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The following jury instruction, based on that statute, was held improper:

You are instructed that in the trial of a person for committing or attempting to commit a crime of violence, the fact that he was armed with a pistol and had no license to carry the same shall be prima facie evidence of his intention to commit said crime of violence. The presumption thus created is not binding upon you, but should be given only such weight as it seems to you to merit. This presumption permits, but in no way directs, you to convict the accused, and must be considered by you in light of the presumption of innocence which arises upon a plea of not guilty and accompanies the accused throughout the trial until overcome by evidence which convinces you of the accused's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

(Italics ours.) State v. Rogers, supra at 555. The court reasoned that the presumed fact (specific intent to commit murder) did not follow beyond a reasonable doubt from the proven fact (armed with an unlicensed handgun).

The identical jury instruction as that set forth above, and invalidated in Rogers, was read to the jury in the subject case. State v. Gilbert, supra at 492. Both Rogers and Mullaney were handed down subsequent to Gilbert's appeal. This court rested its decision to affirm Gilbert's conviction in part on State v. Thomas, 63 Wn.2d 59, 385 P.2d 532 (1963), which was overruled by State v. Rogers, supra at 556. The question as to the retroactivity of Rogers and Mullaney still remains, which we must resolve.

The rule of Mullaney is to be given full retroactive effect. In Hankerson v. North Carolina, 432 U.S. 233, 243, 53 L. Ed. 2d 306, 316, 97 S. Ct. 2339 (1977), it was held

[W]e have never deviated from the rule stated in Ivan V. [Ivan V. v. New York, 407 U.S. 203, 32 L. Ed. 2d 659, 92 S. Ct. 1951 (1972)] that '"[w]here the major purpose of new constitutional doctrine is to overcome an aspect of the criminal trial that substantially impairs its truth-finding function and so raises serious questions about the [289]*289accuracy of guilty verdicts in past trials, the new rule [is] given complete retroactive effect.'" 407 U. S., at 204.

(Italics ours.)

In Williams v. United States, 401 U.S. 646, 28 L. Ed. 2d 388, 91 S. Ct. 1148 (1971), the court rejected the contention that the application of constitutional doctrines differed when the courts were confronted with collateral, as opposed to direct, appeals.3 In any event, the defendant in Mullaney was before that court as a habeas corpus petitioner.

Retroactivity of a federal constitutional rule which would determine the validity of a personal restraint petition was discussed in In re Farney, 91 Wn.2d 72, 583 P.2d 1210 (1978). The court found the constitutional rule, decided subsequent to the proceedings in that case, was applicable. This was grounded on Robinson v. Neil, 409 U.S. 505, 35 L. Ed. 2d 29, 93 S. Ct. 876 (1973).

We read Robinson to mean that when a positive constitutional right, such as the prohibition against placing a defendant in double jeopardy, is violated, the controlling United States Supreme Court decision is retroactively applied.

In re Farney, supra at 75-76.

The petitioner in the subject case contends that the error made at his trial violated one of his "positive constitutional rights." We agree. At stake in the subject case is the possibility that, without the mandatory presumption raised by RCW 9.41.030, the State would have been unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the intent of the defendant to commit the crime. The general intent to commit murder is one of the essential elements of the offense which the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt before an accused may be convicted of that crime. RCW 9A.32.050(l)(a).4 [290]*290The use of the mandatory presumption therefore "raises serious questions about the accuracy of [the] guilty verdicts". Hankerson v. North Carolina, supra at 243. This presumption goes to the very heart of a defendant's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, State v. Rogers, supra at 556. We hold that a "positive constitutional right" of the defendant is at issue and the controlling case of Mullaney v. Wilbur, supra, should be applied retroactively.

The retroactive application of State v. Roberts,

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Related

In Re WINSHIP
397 U.S. 358 (Supreme Court, 1970)
Williams v. United States
401 U.S. 646 (Supreme Court, 1971)
MacKey v. United States
401 U.S. 667 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Ivan v. v. City of New York
407 U.S. 203 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Robinson v. Neil
409 U.S. 505 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Mullaney v. Wilbur
421 U.S. 684 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Hankerson v. North Carolina
432 U.S. 233 (Supreme Court, 1977)
State v. Thomas
385 P.2d 532 (Washington Supreme Court, 1963)
State v. Rogers
520 P.2d 159 (Washington Supreme Court, 1974)
State v. Odom
520 P.2d 152 (Washington Supreme Court, 1974)
State v. Roberts
562 P.2d 1259 (Washington Supreme Court, 1977)
In Re the Personal Restraint of Farney
583 P.2d 1210 (Washington Supreme Court, 1978)
State v. Davis
605 P.2d 359 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1980)
State v. Gilbert
475 P.2d 797 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1970)
In Re the Personal Restraint of Myers
587 P.2d 532 (Washington Supreme Court, 1979)
State v. White
433 P.2d 682 (Washington Supreme Court, 1967)
Myers v. Washington
442 U.S. 912 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Lockett v. Director, Department of Corrections
442 U.S. 912 (Supreme Court, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
617 P.2d 455, 27 Wash. App. 286, 1980 Wash. App. LEXIS 2226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-personal-restraint-of-gilbert-washctapp-1980.