State v. Perkins

538 P.2d 829, 14 Wash. App. 27, 1975 Wash. App. LEXIS 1574
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 30, 1975
Docket1458-2
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 538 P.2d 829 (State v. Perkins) 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. Perkins, 538 P.2d 829, 14 Wash. App. 27, 1975 Wash. App. LEXIS 1574 (Wash. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

*28 Petrie, J.

Defendant, Eddie Perkins, was sentenced to life imprisonment following conviction of second-degree murder and following a jury’s special verdict that he was armed with a deadly weapon at the time of the commission of the crime. He contends on appeal that the charges against him should have been dismissed pursuant to CrR 3.3 because he was not brought to trial within 60 days following his preliminary appearance in court. Alternatively, he contends that he should be granted a new trial because of the cumulative effect of a series of errors committed by the trial court. Those assignments of error raise issues which may be summarized as follows: (1) Did the trial court properly admit evidence of the defendant’s extrajudicial inculpatory statements; (2) was the jury properly instructed on the elements of the crime of second-degree murder; (3) was the jury adequately instructed on the defendant’s several theories of defense—self-defense, mental irresponsibility, conditioned response, and disassociative reaction; and (4) did the information properly advise the defendant that in the event of his conviction the prosecution would seek an extended sentence authorized by RCW 9.41.025? We find no error which would warrant granting a new trial, and we also find that the defendant was not deprived of a speedy trial. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

The salient facts are not seriously disputed. In March 1964, the defendant entered the armed services, was assigned infantry duty, and between 1967 and 1970 served in that capacity in Vietnam. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant and ultimately was assigned to Fort Lewis in June 1973. Several months later he met and subsequently lived with a woman and her several children in Tillicum. On December 2, the defendant shot and killed the woman’s estranged husband with a .22 caliber rifle which the defendant had purchased earlier that day. Within 24 hours prior to the shooting, the deceased husband had threatened to kill both his wife and the defendant. Autopsy revealed 13 separate bullet wounds in the decedent. When deputy *29 sheriffs arrived at the scene, Mr. Perkins had his hands in the air, told the deputies he had shot a man, submitted to handcuffs, and then, responding to a question as to the location of the victim, indicated that he was outside by a car and cautioned that he may have a gun.

On December 3, 1973, the defendant was arraigned on a charge of first-degree murder. He entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental irresponsibility. His trial did not commence until April 23, 1974—141 days following the preliminary appearance. The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder only.

Prior to trial, and pursuant to CrR 3.3(c) and (f), defendant moved for dismissal of the charges with prejudice because he was not brought to trial within 60 days of his preliminary appearance. 1 We find no error in the trial court’s denial of the motion.

CrR 3.3(d) provides in part that “All proceedings relating to the competency of the defendant to stand trial” shall be excluded in computing the time between preliminary appearance and trial. In the interim between his preliminary appearance and trial Mr. Perkins was ordered to undergo evaluation at Western State Hospital on three separate occasions to ascertain competency to stand trial. The combined periods of time between the filing dates of the first two commitment orders and the dates on which the evaluation results were filed account for 42 days. The period of time between the filing date of the last commitment order and the date on which the trial court ultimately determined Mr. Perkins’ competency to stand trial accounts for another 30 days. Thus, 72 days are excludable in computing

*30 timeliness of trial under CrR 3.3. State v. Setala, 13 Wn. App. 604, 536 P.2d 176 (1975).

The resultant net time for trial is thus reduced to 69 days. Upon being advised that the net delay still exceeded the 60 limit, the trial court on its own motion determined that a reasonable time for continuances was required in the due administration of justice and specifically determined that the defendant was not prejudiced thereby. That discretion, exercisable under the rule (CrR 3.3 (e) (3)) and placed upon the record, comports with the procedures recommended by State v. Williams, 85 Wn.2d 29, 530 P.2d 225 (1975).

On April 4, 1974, the trial court finally determined that Mr. Perkins was competent to stand trial. A reasonable period thereafter was necessary for both parties to prepare for trial. Indeed, in February, when the court first denied defendant’s motion to dismiss the charges, the trial court suggested that a period of 30 days after final evaluation would be a reasonable period of time in which to prepare for trial. Neither party disagreed with the court’s suggestion. Accordingly, in denying the motion to dismiss, the court exercised discretion reasonably. Mr. Perkins’ trial was conducted within the time frame contemplated by the speedy trial rule.

We turn now to the issues presented by the defendant’s demand for new trial.

1. The defendant contends that his inculpatory statements should not have been admitted because he never had the benefit of a pretrial confession hearing as authorized by CrR 3.5. Instead, the court interrupted the trial and conducted the hearing immediately before the prosecution presented several witnesses who repeated certain inculpatory statements Mr. Perkins made shortly after the shooting. The procedure was somewhat unusual, but we are not advised of any authority which would prohibit the trial court from conducting the hearing during the presentation of the State’s case even though the prosecution knew be *31 fore trial that it intended to present these statements to the jury.

Alternatively, the defendant asserts that he was denied a fair trial because the trial court, after initially permitting a deputy sheriff to relate the inculpatory statements that Mr. Perkins made immediately following his arrest, reversed its ruling and advised the jury to disregard the statements made after the arrest. The defendant made no motion for mistrial, but even if he had so moved we do not find circumstances that would have warranted granting the motion. See State v. Butler, 9 Wn. App. 347, 513 P.2d 67 (1973). Indeed, the statements were made as part of the investigative process and bore absolutely no taint of inquisition. Arguably, the jury should have been permitted to consider the defendant’s responses to the investigative inquiry. See State v. Cloud, 7 Wn. App. 211, 498 P.2d 907 (1972). All we decide, however, is that there was no prejudicial error requiring a new trial.

2. Mr. Perkins asserts the jury was not instructed that a design

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
538 P.2d 829, 14 Wash. App. 27, 1975 Wash. App. LEXIS 1574, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-perkins-washctapp-1975.