State Of Washington v. Brandon Farmer, 48991-1

Background

In 2006 Velma Tirado was shot and killed in a Tacoma alley; the case went cold until 2014 when Dusty Titus (a former passenger) contacted police implicating Brandon Farmer.
Titus testified he saw Farmer pull a .357 revolver from his waistband, fire, cock the hammer, and fire again; other witnesses heard two shots and saw the body; medical evidence supported a close-range shot to the head/ear.
Farmer testified that Titus shot Tirado (claimed Titus stumbled or the gun went off) and denied being the shooter; expert testimony differed on trajectory and whether one or two shots occurred.
The trial court excluded certain prior-bad-acts evidence, limited reference to Titus’s felony names/treatment, and admitted an illustrative gun; Farmer did not object to many of the prosecutor’s statements at trial.
The jury convicted Farmer of first-degree murder while armed. On appeal Farmer argued (1) the court should have instructed on lesser included manslaughter offenses and (2) prosecutorial misconduct; he also asserted several claims in a statement of additional grounds (SAG).

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Farmer)	Held
Whether trial court erred by refusing lesser-included manslaughter instructions	Evidence showed intent/knowledge to kill (based on Titus’s testimony); manslaughter not supported	Evidence could support reckless or criminally negligent killing, or an accidental discharge with Farmer only an accomplice	Affirmed — factual prong of Workman not met; evidence supported intentional/knowing killing, not only manslaughter
Whether prosecutor committed misconduct in opening/closing/examination	Prosecutor’s statements were supported by evidence or permissible inferences; questioning sought admissible facts about benefits to Titus	Prosecutor misstated evidence, misled jury about deals/benefits, vouched for witness, and argued facts not in evidence	Affirmed — no prosecutorial misconduct; most objections waived by failure to object and statements were supported or permissible inferences
Whether exclusion of the names of Titus’s felonies and treatment was error	Exclusion was proper under ER 403 balancing — probative value outweighed by prejudice	Exclusion deprived Farmer of impeachment/context of witness motive	Affirmed — trial court did not abuse discretion under ER 403
Miscellaneous SAG claims (illustrative exhibit, ineffective assistance, inflammatory testimony)	State: rulings proper; illustrative gun admissible; no deficient counsel showing; testimony admissible or not preserved	Farmer: admission of illustrative gun and Williams’s testimony prejudiced him; counsel ineffective for not objecting; paramedic’s testimony inflammatory	Affirmed — illustrative gun admission not preserved; ineffective-assistance claim not shown; many claims not preserved or meritless

Key Cases Cited

State v. Workman, 90 Wn.2d 443 (recognizes two‑prong test for lesser‑included offense instruction)
State v. Condon, 182 Wn.2d 307 (applies Workman test; statutory right to lesser instruction)
State v. Fernandez–Medina, 141 Wn.2d 448 (trial court must consider all evidence when deciding instruction)
State v. Emery, 174 Wn.2d 741 (standards for prosecutorial misconduct and waiver when no timely objection)
State v. Thorgerson, 172 Wn.2d 438 (contextual review of prosecutor statements)
State v. Fisher, 165 Wn.2d 727 (wide latitude for closing argument and drawing inferences)
In re Personal Restraint of Yates, 177 Wn.2d 1 (argument unsupported by evidence constitutes misconduct)
State v. Warren, 165 Wn.2d 17 (considerations in determining prejudice from misconduct)