State of Washington v. Russell A. Rosin

FILED
MARCH 15, 2016
In the Office of the Clerk of Court
W_A State Court of Appeals, Division III
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
DIVISION THREE
STATE OF WASHINGTON, )
) No. 33253-5-111
Respondent, )
)
v. )
)
RUSSELL A. ROSIN, ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION
)
Appellant. )
SIDDOWAY, C.J. -Russell A. Rosin appeals from his 2015 Spokane County
conviction of possession of methamphetamine. He contends the jury instruction on
reasonable doubt, which defines reasonable doubt as "one for which a reason exists," is
unconstitutional because it shifts the burden of proof and requires the jury to articulate a
reason. Because the reasonable doubt instruction is identical to Washington Pattern Jury
Instruction (WPIC) 4.01, the approved pattern instruction on reasonable doubt, we affirm.
FACTS
Mr. Rosin was a passenger in a stolen vehicle that was stopped by police in
December 2014 for speeding. The officer arrested Mr. Rosin on outstanding warrants
and discovered methamphetamine in his backpack when he was searched incident to the
arrest. At his trial on a charge of possession of a controlled substance, he did not object
to the trial court's proposed instruction on reasonable doubt:
No. 33253-5-111
State v. Ros in
The defendant has entered a plea of not guilty. That plea puts in
issue every element of the crime charged. The State is the plaintiff and has
the burden of proving each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
The defendant has no burden of proving that a reasonable doubt exists.
A defendant is presumed innocent. This presumption continues
throughout the entire trial unless during your deliberations you find it has
been overcome by the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.
A reasonable doubt is one for which a reason exists and may arise
from the evidence or lack of evidence. It is such a doubt as would exist in
the mind of a reasonable person after fully, fairly, and carefully considering
all of the evidence or lack of evidence. If, from such consideration, you
have an abiding belief in the truth of the charge, you are satisfied beyond a
reasonable doubt.
Clerk's Papers at 8. The jury found him guilty as charged.
CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE REASONABLE DOUBT INSTRUCTION
Mr. Rosin's reasonable doubt jury instruction was taken verbatim from WPIC
4.01. See 11 WASHING TON PRACTICE: WASHING TON PATTERN JURY INSTRUCTIONS:
CRIMINAL 4.01, at 85 (3d ed. 2008). He argues that the language in WPIC 4.01 that
defines a reasonable doubt as "one for which a reason exists" tells jurors that they must
be able to articulate a reason for having a reasonable doubt. Id. (emphasis added). Thus,
jurors must have more than just a reasonable doubt; they must be able to articulate that
doubt. He also contends this instruction is substantially similar to the fill-in-the-blank
prosecutorial arguments that Washington courts have invalidated because those
arguments shift the burden of proof to the defendant.
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No. 33253-5-111
State v. Rosin
We first note that Mr. Rosin did not object to the propriety ofWPIC 4.01 at trial.
A defendant generally waives the right to appeal an error unless he or she raised an
objection at trial. State v. Kalebaugh, 183 Wash. 2d 578, 583, 355 P.3d 253 (2015). One
exception to this rule is made for manifest errors affecting a constitutional right. RAP
2.5(a)(3); Kalebaugh, 183 Wash. 2d at 583. An error is manifest if the appellant can show
actual prejudice. State v. O'Hara, 167 Wash. 2d 91, 99, 217 P.3d 756 (2009). Mr. Rosin
claims an error of constitutional magnitude, but he shows neither error nor prejudice.
The relevant language of WPIC 4.01 has been approved as constitutionally sound
for decades. As noted in State v. Thompson, 13 Wash. App. 1, 533 P.2d 395 (1975), the
phrase "a doubt for which a reason exists"
does not direct the jury to assign a reason for their doubts, but merely
points out that their doubts must be based on reason, and not something
vague or imaginary. A phrase in this context has been declared satisfactory
in this jurisdiction for over 70 years.
Thompson, id. at 5 (citing State v. Harras, 25 Wash. 416, 65 P. 774 (1901)). The
Washington Supreme Court has consistently endorsed the language ofWPIC 4.01. See,
e.g., State v. Bennett, 161 Wash. 2d 303, 318, 165 P.3d 1241 (2007) (the Supreme Court
exercises its "inherent supervisory power" to require trial courts to use only WPIC 4.01
in instructing juries on the burden of proof); State v. Emery, 174 Wash. 2d 741, 759-60, 278
P.3d 653 (2012) (the prosecutor in closing argument properly described reasonable doubt
as a doubt for which a reason exists).
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State v. Rosin
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Most recently, the Washington Supreme Court in Kalebaugh, 183 Wash. 2d at 584,
reaffirmed that WPIC 4.01 was the correct legal instruction on reasonable doubt. The
trial judge in Kale baugh gave a proper instruction from WPI C 4.01 in his preliminary
remarks to prospective jurors, but then attempted to further explain that reasonable doubt
was "' a doubt for which a reason can be given.'" Id. at 5 85. Kalebaugh, id. at 586,
disfavored the judge's "offhand explanation," in part because that language suggested
that a reason must be given to doubt the defendant's guilt. The error was held harmless,
however, because the trial judge properly instructed the jury at the end of the case with
the language of WPIC 4.01. Id.
Mr. Rosin's assertion that WPIC 4.01 is similar to the "fill-in-the-blank"
prosecutorial argument held improper in Emery, 174 Wash. 2d at 759-60, is without merit.
The prosecutor in Emery told the jury in closing argument that "' in order for you to find
the defendant not guilty, ... you'd have to say, quote, I doubt the defendant is guilty, and
my reason is blank. A doubt for which a reason exists. If you think you have a doubt,
you must fill in that blank."' Id. at 750-51. This statement was inappropriate because it
subtly shifted the burden of proving the case to the defendant to disprove. Id. at 760.
The prosecutor's improper and potentially confusing statement did not support relief,
however. Emery concluded that even if the appellants could show that the statement was
incurable, they could not show a substantial likelihood that it affected the jury's verdict.
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· No. 33253-5-111
State v. Rosin
Id. at 764 n.14. The jury was properly instructed on reasonable doubt with a WPIC 4.01
instruction, and the Court assumed-as it must-that the jury followed the instruction.
Id.
CONCLUSION
We are bound by the approval of the WPIC 4.01 reasonable doubt language in
Kalebaugh and its predecessors. See State v. Gore, 101 Wash. 2d 481, 487, 681 P.2d 227
(1984). Accordingly, we hold that Mr. Rosin cannot show manifest error justifying
review under RAP 2.5(a)(3) of the unpreserved objection to the WPIC 4.01 beyond
probable cause instruction.
Affirmed.
A majority of the panel has determined this opinion will not be printed in the
Washington Appellate Reports, but it will be filed for public record pursuant to RCW
2.06.040.
WE CONCUR:
Fearin~ . Pennell, J.
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