State v. Silva-BaltazarState v. Silva-Baltazar
Lead Opinion
This case arises out of the convictions of Jose Silva-Baltazar and Antonio Mendoza for pos
On February 27,1990, an informant working with Yakima police officers arranged through a contact named Carlos Garcia to make a large purchase of drugs at the informant’s house. Although Garcia first telephoned her on the appointed evening to tell the informant the deal would not go through, Garcia and four other men, in two cars, pulled up to her driveway a little later. Police had the area around the informant’s home under surveillance. According to the informant’s testimony, Garcia retrieved a 1-kilo bag of cocaine from the other car and brought it to his car. She testified she saw a gym bag in the second car containing a number of kilos of cocaine, and that Defendants Mendoza and Silva-Baltazar were involved in showing her these drugs. The informant told the men to come back later when she had the money. The men left in the cars. The informant called the police detective supervising the operation and gave a description of the cars (one description incorrect) and the license numbers.
Police officers stopped both cars nearby. When Garcia’s car was stopped, Defendant Silva-Baltazar jumped from the car and ran. Another officer apprehended him a few blocks
Mendoza, Silva-Baltazar, and Diaz were tried together and found guilty of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. The jury also returned a special verdict that the crime of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver occurred within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop. The court increased the Defendants’ standard sentences by 24 months under
The numerous challenges to
Any person who violatesRCW 69.50.401(a) by manufacturing, selling, delivering, or possessing with the intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver a controlled substance listed under that subsection ... to a person in a school or on a school bus or within one thousand feet of a school bus route stop designated by the school district or within one thousand feet of the perimeter of the school grounds, in a public park or on a public transit vehicle, or in a public transit stop shelter may be punished by a fine of up to twice the fine otherwise authorized by this chapter ... or by imprisonment of up to twice the imprisonment otherwise authorized by this chapter ... or by both such fine and imprisonment.
In short,
An additional twenty-four months shall be added to the presumptive sentence for any ranked offense involving a violation of chapter 69.50 RCW if the offense was also a violation ofRCW 69.50.435.
There is conflict in Washington case law about the characterization of
Division Three followed Zamora on this issue in State v. Graham,
RCW 69.50.401(a) describes a general drug offense, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.RCW 69.50.435 describes a special drug offense, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver in a particular place or area. The special drug offense requires proof of an additional element. Both the general and special drug offenses must be charged and proved.
Graham, at 881. In a concurrence, Judge Munson took exception to the characterization of
In its unpublished opinion in this case, the Court of Appeals cites to Graham in upholding the sentence enhancement for the Defendants, based on the reasoning that the liability of an accomplice is the same as that of the principal. Although we agree with this premise, we do not adopt the characterization of Graham that
Division One, contrary to Division Three, appears to have made the determination that
RCW 69.50.401(a) provides a general prohibition against drug dealing. . . . The statute primarily at issue in this case isRCW 69.50.435 , which provides for an enhancement of the penalty imposed for violatingRCW 69.50.401(a) , if that violation occurred within 1,000 feet of certain places such as schools or school bus route stops.
State v. Coria,
Most persuasive in determining that
Additional penalties are provided for drug activities conducted within 1,000 feet of a public of [sic] private primary or secondary school. These penalties increase the maximum penalty imposable and also add two years to the presumptive sentence.
A 24[-]month enhancement is also added to the presumptive sentence for manufacturing, delivering, or possessing with intent to manufacture or deliver within 1,000 feet of a school.
House Comm, on Judiciary, HB 1793 Bill Analysis, Drug Sales Near Schools, 51st Legislature (1989). The final bill report provides:
Enhancements are also provided for sentences for various drug offenses.. . . The otherwise applicable maximum penalties are doubled and the presumptive sentence is increased by 24 months for certain drug offenses committed within 1,000 feet of a school or school bus stop.
(Italics ours.) House Comm, on Appropriations, House Comm, on Judiciary, Senate Comm, on Ways and Means, Final Bill Report, 2SHB 1793, 51st Legislature (1989).
In addition, both
Defendants argue that accomplices may be liable for committing a crime, but are not subject to the enhancement provisions of
(1) A person is guilty of a crime if it is committed by the conduct of another person for which he is legally accountable.
(2) A person is legally accountable for the conduct of another person when:
(c) He is an accomplice of such other person in the commission of the crime.
(3) A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of a crime if:
(a) "With knowledge that it will promote or facilitate the commission of the crime, he
(i) solicits, commands, encourages, or requests such other person to commit it; or
(ii) aids or agrees to aid such other person in planning or committing it; or
(b) His conduct is expressly declared by law to establish his complicity.
This court in State v. McKim,
The court went on to determine that the accused could be subject to the deadly weapon enhancement if the accused was actually or constructively armed with a deadly weapon. For an accused to be constructively armed, the other participant would have to be armed and the accused would have to know that the other participant was armed. Thus, the court said, the deadly weapon statute reaches both those who are armed and "also those who know an accomplice is armed”. McKim, at 118. The changes made by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 to the deadly weapon enhancement provision have superseded McKim. State v. Bilal,
McKim and its reasoning are not applicable to this case. The analysis of this court in McKim was based on the fact
However, unlike the deadly weapon enhancement,
It is not a defense to a prosecution for a violation of this section that the person was unaware that the prohibited conduct took place while in a school or school bus or within one thousand feet of the school or school bus route stop, in a public park, on a public transit vehicle, or in a public transit stop shelter.
Further, this court has held that "due process does not require drug dealers know they are within a drug free zone for purposes of . . .
In holding that an accomplice may be liable for first degree robbery whether or not the accomplice knew the principal was armed, this court in State v. Davis,
Furthermore, we have identified the purpose of
Here the Defendants are liable for violating
Andersen, C. J., and Dolltver, Durham, Smith, and Guy, JJ., concur.
Notes
The trial court instructed the jury that it could convict each Defendant if either he or an accomplice possessed cocaine with an intent to deliver. It is unclear whether the jury convicted on the ground that the Defendant himself possessed the cocaine with intent to deliver or on the ground that an accomplice possessed the cocaine with the intent to deliver. However, in a conviction for a substantive crime, this distinction is irrelevant. An accomplice is guilty as a principal. State v. Hoffman,
Defendant Mendoza presents this argument both in his Petition for Review and in his Court of Appeals Brief. Although Defendant Silva-Baltazar argues in his Brief to the Court of Appeals that an accomplice is not subject to a sentence enhancement under
Concurrence Opinion
(concurring) — I agree with the result reached by the majority because it is limited to accomplices who are present in the drug-free zone when the crime is committed. My concern, however, is that by rejecting the careful analysis outlined in State u. McKim,
At issue in McKim was the application of the deadly weapons enhancement to an unarmed accomplice. This court first examined
After rejecting accomplice liability as a basis for imposition of the sentence enhancement for deadly weapon, the McKim court looked to the language of the enhancement itself,
The majority attempts to distinguish McKim by stating that unlike the deadly weapon enhancement, the drug-free zone enhancement under
The majority’s misunderstanding of McKim is further evidenced when it asserts that the McKim court excluded accomplices from the operation of the deadly weapons enhancement "in order to avoid strict liability”. Majority, at 483. The McKim court did not exclude accomplices from operation of the enhancement. The Legislature had spoken clearly — only an accused who was "armed” was subject to the sentence enhancement. As stated above, faced with that clear language and the limitations of the complicity statute,
The accomplice liability statute,
On its face, the school zone enhancement applies to "any person” who commits one of several enumerated crimes within the zone. The statute provides enhanced penalties for
Any person who violatesRCW 69.50.401(a) by manufacturing, selling, delivering, or possessing with the intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver a controlled substance listed under that subsection or who violatesRCW 69.50.410 by selling for profit any controlled substance or counterfeit substance classified in schedule I,RCW 69.50.204 , except leaves and flowering tops of marihuana to a person in a school or on a school bus ... or within one thousand feet of the perimeter of the school grounds . . ..
The majority unjustifiably rejects this straightforward analysis and instead relies on State v. Davis,
Central to the application of the enhanced penalty at issue here, and what the majority fails to address in its analysis, is thát the accomplice must be a "person” who commits one of the enumerated crimes within the drug-free zone. It is of no consequence whether that "person” is a principal or an accomplice. It is presence within the drug-free zone which is determinative. This is the fundamental holding of McKim,: because the complicity statute makes an accomplice equally liable only for the substantive crime — any sentence enhancement must depend on the accused’s own misconduct. McKim, at 117. The drug-free zone enhancement statute imposes strict liability only for those persons whose conduct takes place within the zone.
Utter and Johnson, JJ., concur with Madsen, J.
As the majority points out, the Legislature added the term "accomplice” to the deadly weapon enhancement after McKim. Unfortunately, the majority then speculates that the Legislature did not include the term "accomplice” within the drug-free zone enhancement because that enhancement provides for strict liability. However, as pointed out by amicus curiae, this assumption is contra to the rules of statutory construction. The Legislature is presumed to be familiar with the decisions of this court. In re Foreclosure of Liens,