State of Washington v. Edward A. Martinez, 39882-0

Edward Martinez was convicted by a jury of first-degree premeditated murder for the stabbing death of Anthony Brines, his romantic partner's estranged husband, in Spokane, Washington.
The murder occurred after a complex and tense interpersonal situation involving Martinez, Haley Davis (Brines' wife), and Brines, during a night of substance use and attempted group sex.
Martinez left the room, fetched a knife from another part of the house, and stabbed Brines multiple times in the bedroom, then confessed to Davis and later law enforcement.
After being arrested, Martinez was advised of his rights, invoked his right to counsel, but subsequently made statements to the police after reinitiating contact and waiving his rights.
Martinez appealed his conviction, challenging the trial court's admission of his confession and arguing insufficiency of the evidence on premeditation.

Issue	Martinez's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Admissibility of Confession	Confession involuntary; waiver not valid	Waiver was voluntary, not coerced	Confession admissible; waiver voluntary
Sufficiency of Evidence on Premeditation	No sufficient evidence of premeditation	Substantial evidence supported premeditation	Evidence sufficient; jury could find premeditation

State v. Rogers, 146 Wn.2d 55 (unchallenged findings are verities on appeal)
State v. Hampton, 143 Wn.2d 789 (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence in criminal cases)
State v. Salinas, 119 Wn.2d 192 (all reasonable inferences from evidence must be drawn for state)
State v. Pirtle, 127 Wn.2d 628 (premeditation may be proved by circumstantial evidence)
State v. Allen, 159 Wn.2d 1 (definition and evidence of premeditation)
State v. Hoffman, 116 Wn.2d 51 (examples of factors supporting premeditation)