State v. Courneya

131 P.3d 343
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 4, 2006
Docket32659-1-II
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 131 P.3d 343 (State v. Courneya) 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
State v. Courneya, 131 P.3d 343 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

131 P.3d 343 (2006)
132 Wash.App. 347

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Charles L. COURNEYA, Appellant.

No. 32659-1-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

April 4, 2006.

*344 Thomas Edward Doyle, Attorney at Law, Hansville, WA, Patricia Anne Pethick, Attorney at Law, Tacoma, WA, for Appellant.

James C. Powers, Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Office, Olympia, WA, for Respondent.

VAN DEREN, J.

¶ 1 The State charged Charles L. Courneya with hit and run (injury) under RCW 46.52.020(1) and (4)(b). A June 2004 trial resulted in a mistrial. The State did not amend its defective charging document before a second trial in November 2004. Courneya was found guilty at his second trial and he now appeals. We reverse and remand for dismissal without prejudice.

FACTS

¶ 2 The State charged Courneya on August 27, 2003, with hit and run (injury) under RCW 46.52.020(1) and (4)(b). The information did not include the nonstatutory knowledge element of RCW 46.52.020(1) and (4)(b). At Courneya's first trial in June 2004, the jury was unable to reach a verdict, resulting in a mistrial. The State never amended the information to include the necessary knowledge element. A second jury trial commenced in November 2004.

¶ 3 The jury found Courneya guilty at his second trial. He appeals the sufficiency of the State's information.

ANALYSIS

SUFFICIENCY OF THE STATE'S INFORMATION

¶ 4 Courneya argues that the State's information is insufficient because it (1) omitted the nonstatutory knowledge element of RCW 46.52.020(1) and (4)(b); and (2) failed to outline the duty imposed on motorists involved *345 in accidents to provide their automobile insurance information.

¶ 5 The State concedes that, under our decision in State v. Sutherland, 104 Wash. App. 122, 15 P.3d 1051 (2001), its information is insufficient. But the State contends that Courneya's conviction should stand because Courneya had notice during his second trial that (1) knowledge was a required nonstatutory element of RCW 46.52.020(1) and (4)(b); and (2) he had a duty to provide his insurance information at the accident scene.

¶ 6 All essential elements of an alleged crime, both statutory and nonstatutory, must be included in the charging document. State v. Goodman, 150 Wash.2d 774, 784, 83 P.3d 410 (2004); State v. Kjorsvik, 117 Wash.2d 93, 101-02, 812 P.2d 86 (1991). In addition to adequately identifying the crime charged,[1] the charging document must also allege facts supporting every element of the offense. Goodman, 150 Wash.2d at 784, 786, 83 P.3d 410; Kjorsvik, 117 Wash.2d at 98, 101, 812 P.2d 86; State v. Clowes, 104 Wash. App. 935, 940-41, 18 P.3d 596 (2001). Words in a charging document are read as a whole, construed according to common sense, and include facts which are necessarily implied. Kjorsvik, 117 Wash.2d at 109, 812 P.2d 86. But an information omitting essential elements charges no crime at all. Sutherland, 104 Wash.App. at 130, 15 P.3d 1051. The primary purpose of this rule is to give the accused notice of the nature of the allegations so that a defense may be properly prepared. Goodman, 150 Wash.2d at 784, 83 P.3d 410; Kjorsvik, 117 Wash.2d at 101-02, 812 P.2d 86.

¶ 7 Charging documents challenged for the first time on appeal will be more liberally construed in favor of validity than those challenged before or during trial. Kjorsvik, 117 Wash.2d at 102, 812 P.2d 86. A two-pronged test defines this liberal construction: (1) do the necessary facts appear in any form, or by fair construction can they be found, in the charging document; and, (2) if so, can the defendant show that he or she was nonetheless actually prejudiced by the inartful language that caused a lack of notice? Goodman, 150 Wash.2d at 787-88, 83 P.3d 410; Kjorsvik, 117 Wash.2d at 105-06, 812 P.2d 86.

¶ 8 The first prong looks to the face of the charging document and requires at least some language giving notice of the allegedly missing elements.[2]Kjorsvik, 117 Wash.2d at 106, 812 P.2d 86. The second prong may look beyond the face of the information to determine if the accused actually received notice of the charges he or she must have been prepared to defend; it is possible that other circumstances of the charging process can reasonably inform the defendant in a timely manner of the nature of the charges. Kjorsvik, 117 Wash.2d at 106, 812 P.2d 86.

¶ 9 Here, the State is correct that the Sutherland court's decision renders its information insufficient. In Sutherland, as here, the State charged a violation of RCW 46.52.020(1), omitting (1) the offense's required nonstatutory knowledge element; and (2) duties imposed on motorists involved in accidents. 104 Wash.App. at 130-31, 15 P.3d 1051. The court held that nothing in the information reasonably indicated that the State was required to prove that Sutherland knew he was in an accident. Sutherland, 104 Wash.App. at 132, 15 P.3d 1051. It elaborated that no words in the information implied the existence of a knowledge element and that the information's citation to the statute was unhelpful because knowledge is a required nonstatutory element of RCW 46.52.020.[3]Sutherland, 104 Wash.App. at 132, 15 P.3d 1051.

*346

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State Of Washington, V. Jeremy Michael Patchell
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2025
State Of Washington, V Thomas Dean Gibson
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2015
State v. Rivas
168 Wash. App. 882 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
131 P.3d 343, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-courneya-washctapp-2006.