State v. Green

616 P.2d 628, 94 Wash. 2d 216, 1980 Wash. LEXIS 1360
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 28, 1980
Docket44705
StatusPublished
Cited by1,376 cases

This text of 616 P.2d 628 (State v. Green) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Green, 616 P.2d 628, 94 Wash. 2d 216, 1980 Wash. LEXIS 1360 (Wash. 1980).

Opinions

Stafford, J.

Michael Charles Green petitions this court for reconsideration of our decision in State v. Green, 91 Wn.2d 431, 588 P.2d 1370 (1979) (Green I) on three major issues: (1) our ruling that a statement made by appellant was not the product of custodial interrogation in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974 (1966); (2) our ruling that the State did not possess unfettered discretion under RCW [219]*219RCW 9A.32.045(7)1 and .030(l)(c)(2) and (5) to seek varying degrees of punishment for different persons who commit identical crimes thus violating equal protection of the law; and (3) our disposition of the issues raised by an allegation that appellant committed aggravated murder in the first degree in the furtherance of first degree kidnapping (kidnapping) or first degree rape (rape). For the reasons set forth in Green I we adhere to our original disposition of the Miranda and equal protection issues. We depart from Green I, however, after reconsidering the issue of kidnapping as an element of aggravated first degree murder as defined by Initiative 316, § 2. After considering the evidence most favorable to the State, we conclude there is not substantial evidence to support a determination of kidnapping. This conclusion is also compelled by the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court, Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560, 99 S. Ct. 2781 (1979). Moreover, the nature of the verdict form in this case makes it impossible for us to know if the jury was unanimous in determining whether aggravated first degree murder was committed in the furtherance of kidnapping or rape. Therefore, the charge of aggravated first degree murder must be remanded, based as it is on the remaining element of first degree rape or attempted first degree rape.

Pursuant to RCW 9A.32.045(7), the charge of aggravated murder in the first degree must be established by proving beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant caused the victim's death in the course of or in the furtherance of rape (RCW 9A.44.040), or kidnapping (RCW 9A.40.020). While rape and kidnapping are elements of aggravated murder in the first degree, each is a separate and distinct major crime having specific elements which also must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, the initial question is whether those separate and distinct crimes, or either of them, have [220]*220been established under either the substantial evidence test or the reasonable doubt test of Jackson v. Virginia, supra.

In dealing with the claimed inadequacy of proof to establish the elements of kidnapping, Green I held, at page 442: "[r]eview of the sufficiency of evidence is limited to a determination of whether the State has produced substantial evidence tending to establish circumstances from which a jury could reasonably infer the fact to be proved." (First italics ours.) Then, after citing State v. Randecker, 79 Wn.2d 512, 487 P.2d 1295 (1971), Green I held: "[i]n determining whether the necessary quantum of evidence exists, it is unnecessary for the [reviewing] court to be satisfied of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It is only necessary for it [the reviewing court] to be satisfied that there is substantial evidence to support the State's case or the particular element in question." State v. Green, supra at 442-43. (Italics ours.) Thereafter Green I reviewed the evidence and concluded substantial evidence existed from which the jury could have inferred appellant killed the victim in the course of or in furtherance of kidnapping, a conclusion with which we now disagree after more careful reflection.

There is, however, an even more salient reason for departing from our view in Green I. Shortly after the publication of Green I, the United States Supreme Court held in Jackson v. Virginia, supra, that on review the proper test is whether there was sufficient evidence to justify a rational trier of fact to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.2 "After Winship [In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 25 L. [221]*221Ed. 2d 368, 90 S. Ct. 1068 (1970)] the critical inquiry on review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction must be not simply to determine whether the jury was properly instructed, but to determine whether the record evidence could reasonably support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." Jackson v. Virginia, supra at 318. (Italics ours.) This inquiry does not require the reviewing court to determine whether it believes the evidence at trial established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. "Instead the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." Jackson v. Virginia, supra at 319. (Italics ours.) The criterion impinges upon a jury's discretion only to the extent necessary to protect the constitutional standard of reasonable doubt. As pointed out in Jackson at page 320, a lesser standard would fail "to supply a workable or even a predictable standard for determining whether the due process command of Winship has been honored."

Accordingly, the appropriate test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence of kidnapping is not that applied in Green I, i.e., whether, after viewing the evidence most favorable to the State, there is substantial evidence to support kidnapping. The issue, as framed in Jackson v. Virginia, supra, is whether, after viewing the evidence most favorable to the State, any rational trier of fact could have [222]*222found the essential elements of kidnapping beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Green I "substantial evidence" rule of review cannot be equated with Jackson's "reasonable doubt" rule. The clear statement of the rule employed by Green I precludes our holding that the "substantial evidence" rule of review and the "reasonable doubt" rule of review are the same albeit differently stated. Numerous cases following Ran-decker, including Green I, have reiterated and relied upon the obvious difference. Nevertheless, despite the clear difference we hold the evidence is insufficient to meet either rule of review.

In order to determine whether the facts pertaining to kidnapping satisfy either the substantial evidence test or the more rigorous Jackson test, it is necessary to review the facts surrounding the victim's death.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
616 P.2d 628, 94 Wash. 2d 216, 1980 Wash. LEXIS 1360, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-green-wash-1980.