State v. Woodlyn

CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedApril 13, 2017
Docket91577-6
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Woodlyn (State v. Woodlyn) 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. Woodlyn, (Wash. 2017).

Opinion

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SUSAN-.cARLSON SUPREME COURT CLERK

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, NO. 91577-6 Respondent,

v. ENBANC

DAVID EARL WOODLYN, APR 1 3 2817 Filed - - ----- Petitioner.

STEPHENS, J.-In the summer of2011, David Earl Woodlyn cashed a series

of blank checks written by Dora Kjellerson, an elderly woman suffering from

dementia. In total, Woodlyn withdrew $1,865 from Kjellerson's account. The State

charged Woodlyn with theft in the second degree, an alternative means crime. The

jury's "to convict" instruction required the jury to unanimously agree on Woodlyn's

guilt-but not on how he committed the crime. Clerk's Papers (CP) at 72. In other

words, the jury could return a guilty verdict even if individual jurors disagreed

whether Woodlyn committed theft because he (1) "wrongfully obtained" For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/. State v. Woodlyn (David Earl), 91577-6

Kjellerson's property or instead (2) "obtained control" over Kjellerson's property

"by color or aid of deception." !d. The jury returned a general verdict of guilty.

Woodlyn appealed, arguing the general verdict violated his right to jury

unanimity under article I, section 21 of the state constitution insofar as the evidence

was insufficient to support conviction under the "wrongfully obtained" alternative.

The Court of Appeals agreed that the evidence of this means was insufficient, but

nonetheless affirmed, holding that any error was harmless. The court reasoned that

the absence of evidence of the theft by taking alternative reasonably showed that the

jury's verdict rested on the theft by deception alternative. We reject the Court of

Appeals reasoning. A determination on appeal that the State failed to support one

or more alternative means does not establish that the jury relied unanimously on

another, supported alternative.

We nevertheless affirm the Court of Appeals in result because we conclude

the evidence before the jury was sufficient to support both alternative means of

second degree theft. We affirm on this basis.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Woodlyn was charged, tried, and convicted of theft in the second degree. The

State alleged that Woodlyn wrote and cashed checks totaling $1,865 from the account

of Kjellerson. CP at 4-5. Woodlyn acknowledged cashing the checks but denied

-2- For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/. State v. Woodlyn (David Earl), 91577-6

stealing from Kjellerson, maintaining that he cashed the checks on her behalf, gave her

some of the cash, and kept the rest as payment for cutting Kjellerson's lawn. The

following facts were offered at trial:

In the summerof2011, Woodlyn was unemployed save for occasional lawn care

work. Woodlyn first met Kjellerson when he knocked on her door and offered to cut

her lawn for $60. Kjellerson was elderly, lived alone, and was later found to be

suffering from "moderate to severe dementia." Verbatim Report ofProceeding (VRP)

(Nov. 13, 2013) at 538. According to Woodlyn, he cut Kjellerson's grass and

performed other yard work three to five times that summer. Woodlyn testified that each

time, Kjellerson paid him by signing an otherwise blank check, leaving Woodlyn to

write in the payee and amount.

On August 27,2011, Woodlyn accompanied Kjellerson to her bank. Kjellerson

indicated that Woodlyn needed money to cut the grass, but did not appear to know how

much. When the teller asked Woodlyn how much Kjellerson needed to withdraw,

Woodlyn responded by asking how much she had. Alarmed, the teller refused to

dispense any funds, and a bank employee called the police. Woodlyn left the bank

alone, and Kjellerson was accompanied home by the responding officer. Noting that

the grass in Kjellerson's yard was roughly one foot high and "kind of over grown," the

officer asked Kjellerson how much money she paid for yard work. VRP (Nov. 18,

-3- For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/. State v. Woodlyn (David Earl), 91577-6

2013) at 688-89. Kjellerson estimated that she paid Woodlyn $60 during the month of

August. According to the bank, Woodlyn in fact cashed seven checks from Kjellerson's

account between July 25, 2011 and August 12, 2011. The checks ranged from $60 to

$440, totaling $1,865. Id. at 746-51.

The State charged Woodlyn with theft in the second degree. The "to convict"

instruction to the jury set out two alternative means of committing the crime: (1) that

Woodlyn "wrongfully obtained" Kjellerson's property or (2) that Woodlyn "obtained

control" over Kjellerson's property "by color or aid of deception." CP at 72. The trial

court instructed the jurors that while they must agree unanimously as to Woodlyn's

guilt or innocence, they could find Woodlyn guilty without agreeing unanimously as to

the means. See 11A WASHINGTON PRACTICE: WASHINGTON PATTERN JURY

INSTRUCTIONS: CRIMINAL 70.06 (4th ed. 2016); CP at 72-73. The jury returned a

general verdict of guilty. CP at 87.

Woodlyn appealed, claiming a violation of his right to a unanimous verdict

because the State failed to present sufficient evidence to support the theft by taking

alternative. State v. Woodlyn, No. 71311-6-1, slip op. at 5 (Wash. Ct. App. Mar. 9,

2015) (unpublished), http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/713116.pdf. The State

conceded that "' [n ]o evidence of theft by taking was presented to the jury,"' but argued

that the absence of evidence of theft by taking rendered any error harmless. I d. at 6-7

-4- For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/. State v. Woodlyn (David Earl), 91577-6

(alteration in original). On this basis, the Court of Appeals affirmed, reasoning that

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