State Of Washington v. David Allen Moore, 73921-2

Early morning at a Metro tunnel entrance: David Moore smoked a cigarette; Metro security guard Jessica Branson told him smoking was prohibited.
An altercation escalated after Moore flicked his cigarette and refused to comply; Branson told him to pick it up and to follow Metro policy or leave.
Moore stood, raised his phone to take Branson’s photo; Branson raised her hand toward the phone (she says not touching him); Moore struck Branson twice, causing a split lip that required several stitches and bleeding. Surveillance video recorded the incident.
Moore claimed self-defense, testifying Branson got too close, touched his injured leg and shoved the phone into his forehead; he said prior injuries (including a bullet lodged in his head) made any head contact potentially fatal.
The jury was instructed that the State must disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted Moore of fourth-degree assault (lesser included). Moore appealed claiming insufficient evidence to disprove self-defense and other collateral claims (including ineffective assistance of counsel).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to disprove self-defense	State: evidence shows Branson never touched Moore and force was unreasonable; second blow occurred after she retreated	Moore: subjectively believed he faced imminent deadly harm and acted reasonably given past injuries and alleged contact	Court: Evidence, viewed favorably to the State, supports conviction; first blow could be excessive and second blow was after retreat—no reasonable self-defense
Reasonableness of force used	State: a reasonably prudent person would not have used that degree of force; alternatives existed	Moore: his physical condition made the threat dangerous and force necessary	Court: Objective prong not met—force was not reasonably necessary, especially for second blow
Relevance of pre-encounter behavior and employer use of video	State: not material to justification for force	Moore: argued he was peacefully sitting and the employer is targeting him via training use of video	Court: Both points irrelevant to self-defense and conviction
Ineffective assistance of counsel (SAG)	State: record contains no evidence of deficient performance or prejudice	Moore: alleged racist comments and falsified representation by counsel	Court: Claims unsupported by record; rejected

State v. Drum, 168 Wn.2d 23 (2010) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
State v. Walden, 131 Wn.2d 469 (1997) (burden on State to disprove self-defense once raised)
State v. Janes, 121 Wn.2d 220 (1993) (self-defense framework and burden allocation)
State v. Green, 94 Wn.2d 216 (1980) (‘‘rational fact finder’’ standard for sufficiency review)
State v. Camarillo, 115 Wn.2d 60 (1990) (deference to factfinder on credibility)
State v. Bailey, 22 Wn. App. 646 (1979) (degree of force justified by self-defense measured by a reasonable person)
State v. Humphries, 181 Wn.2d 708 (2014) (legal standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel)