Prosecutors Desk 7-7-10

This past Thursday, July 1, the Washington Supreme Court handed down a decision that will result in drastically cutting down the time many persons will spend in prison for their convictions. State v. Bashaw is the case.
The decision involved the jury instructions used when a jury is called to decide whether there was an enhancing factor used in the crime, such as a deadly weapon or a firearm. In the case the court decided, the enhancing factor was whether the drug sale occurred within 1000 feet of a school. The jury decided that the drug sale had occurred within 1000 feet of a school.

The Supreme Court deemed the instruction used by the court to inform the jury about the enhancing factor was confusing and therefore the jury was not properly instructed in the law. Because the instruction was confusing, the court reasoned that the jury might have reached a different conclusion if the instruction had been proper. So, since the instruction was wrong, and the jury was not informed about the law properly, the conviction on the enhancement was reversed, and the defendant will be resentenced without the enhancement.

The odd thing is that the instruction used was a “Washington Pattern Jury Instruction.” These instructions are used statewide in trials, and are produced by a committee formed under the guidance of the Supreme Court itself. So, in this  case, the Supreme Court provided the instruction to the trial court and has now decided that the instruction they provided was not correct.

The result is that many persons convicted by a jury which used this pattern instruction will now have a chance to file a Personal Restraint Petition to have their conviction on the enhancing factor reversed. This will probably affect dozens if not hundreds of persons, and will result in the reduction of the sentence they will serve.

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