State v. Wilson
State v. Wilson
Opinion of the Court
¶1 Patrick Gale Wilson was found guilty of first degree child rape. On appeal, he contends that his
FACTS
¶2 Patrick Wilson was charged with first degree child rape of his daughter, D.M.S. (date of birth March 13, 2002). At trial, the court gave the standard “to convict” instruction for the crime as presented by the State. The instruction included, “If you find from the evidence that each of these elements has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, then it will be your duty to return a verdict of guilty.” Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 299. Consequently, the court rejected Mr. Wilson’s proposed instruction that stated, “In order to return a verdict of guilty, you must unanimously find from the evidence that each of these elements has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” CP at 284. Mr. Wilson maintained that this jury instruction was more appropriate because the constitution did not impose a duty on the jury to convict, even if it found proof of the elements beyond a reasonable doubt.
¶3 A jury convicted Mr. Wilson of rape of a child in the first degree. Mr. Wilson was sentenced to a minimum of 136 months to life.
¶4 The court ordered Mr. Wilson to pay over $15,000 in LFOs. Mr. Wilson’s judgment and sentence contained section 2.5, which stated, “The court has considered the total amount owing, the defendant’s past, present and future ability to pay legal financial obligations, including the defendant’s financial resources and the likelihood that the
¶5 Section 4.1 of the judgment and sentence ordered that “[t]he defendant shall pay up to $50.00 per month to be taken from any income the defendant earns while in the custody of the Department of Corrections. This money is to be applied towards legal financial obligations.” CP at 326.
¶6 Additionally, the trial court imposed conditions on Mr. Wilson’s term of community custody. The trial court ordered that Mr. Wilson not possess or puruse pornographic materials. The court also ordered that Mr. Wilson not purchase, possess, or use alcohol; that Mr. Wilson submit to testing and searching by the community corrections officer to monitor compliance with the alcohol conditions; that Mr. Wilson not enter a business where alcohol is the primary commodity for sale; and that Mr. Wilson undergo alcohol evaluation and follow recommended treatment.
¶7 Mr. Wilson appeals. He contends that the “to convict” jury instruction violated his constitutional right to a jury trial, that the trial court erroneously ordered him to pay his LFOs without finding that he has the ability to pay, and that the trial court exceeded its authority by ordering community custody conditions on pornography and alcohol.
ANALYSIS
¶8 “Jury instructions are sufficient if they are not misleading, permit the parties to argue their cases, and properly inform the jury of the applicable law when read as a whole.” State v. Meggyesy, 90 Wn. App. 693, 698, 958 P.2d 319 (1998), abrogated on other grounds by State v. Recuenco, 154 Wn.2d 156, 110 P.3d 188 (2005).
¶9 Mr. Wilson assigns error to the trial court’s instruction to the jury that “[i]f you find from the evidence that each of these elements has been proved beyond a
¶10 In Meggyesy, the defendants challenged the same jury instruction as Mr. Wilson. Meggyesy, 90 Wn. App. at 697. The defendants opposed the instruction that required the jury to return a guilty verdict upon finding proof of each element beyond a reasonable doubt and, instead, asserted that a proper instruction should have informed the jury that it “may” convict upon a finding of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. (emphasis omitted). Division One upheld the language in the challenged jury instruction. Id. at 698. The court concluded that the instruction did not implicate the federal constitutional right to a jury trial or misstate the law. Id. at 701. The court determined that defendants essentially proposed a jury nullification instruction and that the defendants were not entitled to an instruction that permitted the jury to acquit against the evidence. Id. at 699-700.
¶11 The court also conducted a six-step Gunwall
¶13 Here, Mr. Wilson requests that we reconsider this issue. He raises the same challenge as in Brown and uses the same constitutional arguments set forth in Meggyesy. Despite Mr. Wilson’s request, we agree with the reasoning in the aforementioned cases and hold that “such an instruction is equivalent to notifying the jury of its power to acquit against the evidence and that a defendant is not entitled to a jury nullification instruction.” State v. Bonisisio, 92 Wn. App. 783, 794, 964 P.2d 1222 (1998) (citing Meggyesy, 90 Wn. App. at 700). We hold that Mr. Wilson’s constitutional right to a jury trial was not violated by the “to convict” jury instruction.
¶14 The remainder of this opinion has no precedential value. Therefore, it will be filed for public record in accordance with RCW 2.06.040, the rules governing unpublished opinions.
Review denied at 179 Wn.2d 1012 (2014).
State v. Gunwall, 106 Wn.2d 54, 720 P.2d 808 (1986).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State of Washington v. Patrick Gale Wilson
- Cited By
- 17 cases
- Status
- Published