State of Washington v. Kevin Bryce Snow, 34731-1

Stephen Murphy stole four snowmobiles and a trailer; he asked Kevin Snow to help store them in Snow's foreclosed, unoccupied Wellesley Avenue garage on the night of September 2, 2015.
Snow retained a key to the detached garage despite foreclosure; he met Murphy at night, helped unload and lock the snowmobiles in the garage.
Police executed a warrant on September 8 and found the snowmobiles disassembled in the garage; Snow was arrested and told detectives he was “reasonably sure” they were stolen and stored them because Murphy said he "would be taken care of."
Snow did not testify at trial; defense argued Snow did not know the snowmobiles were stolen and believed he could still use the garage. The jury convicted Snow of second-degree burglary and four counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Snow appealed raising (1) insufficiency of the evidence (unlawful entry and knowledge of theft) and (2) ineffective assistance for failing to request a lesser-included criminal trespass instruction; the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Snow)	Held
Sufficiency — unlawful entry for 2nd-degree burglary	Bank evidence showed foreclosure and that no one was authorized on property; facts support unlawful entry	Snow argued no evidence his privilege to use property had been revoked or that he was evicted	Court held evidence (bank testimony, unoccupied status, Snow retained only garage key) permitted jury to find unlawful entry beyond a reasonable doubt
Sufficiency — knowledge for possession of stolen vehicle	Circumstantial evidence and Snow's statement ("reasonably sure") support knowledge the vehicles were stolen	Snow claimed he did not know they were stolen	Court held statement plus clandestine nighttime storage and dismantling supported jury inference of knowledge
Ineffective assistance — failure to request lesser-included trespass instruction	State: record may lack factual basis; counsel may have strategy	Snow: counsel erred by not seeking trespass instruction, prejudicing defense	Court declined to review on direct appeal due to inadequate record about defense objectives and counsel strategy; directed Snow to pursue collateral relief (PRP) if he can develop evidentiary basis
Appellate review standard (evidence/credibility)	Jackson/State law standard requires viewing evidence in light most favorable to prosecution and deferring to jury credibility calls	—	Court applied standard and found evidence sufficient

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes standard for sufficiency review)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance two-prong test)
State v. Porter, 186 Wn.2d 85 (definition applied to possession of a stolen motor vehicle)
State v. Grier, 171 Wn.2d 17 (trial tactics and counsel judgment; lesser-included instruction discussion)
State v. McFarland, 127 Wn.2d 322 (standards for ineffective assistance in Washington)
State v. Thomas, 150 Wn.2d 821 (deference to trier of fact on credibility)
State v. Green, 94 Wn.2d 216 (sufficiency review principles)