State v. Davis

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court considered whether sufficient evidence supported Eddie Lee Davis’s and Letrecia Nelson’s firearm-possession convictions arising from their assistance to Maurice Clemmons after he killed four police officers. The court held that the aggravating factor for a destructive and foreseeable impact on persons other than the victim could not legally justify exceptional sentences for rendering criminal assistance because the general public is the victim of that offense. The court reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. The opinion would hold that the State presented sufficient evidence that Davis and Nelson constructively possessed the stolen firearm, but this was not the opinion of the majority and therefore is not treated as the court's binding holding.
2. The aggravating factor for a destructive and foreseeable impact on persons other than the victim cannot apply to the crime of rendering criminal assistance because the general public is the victim class and there are no persons other than the victim within the meaning of the statute. The exceptional sentences were therefore not legally justified.

Questions Presented

1. Whether sufficient evidence supported Davis's and Nelson's convictions for possession of a stolen firearm and Davis's conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm.
2. Whether the aggravating factor for an offense involving a destructive and foreseeable impact on persons other than the victim, RCW 9.94A.535(3)(r), legally justified exceptional sentences for rendering criminal assistance.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded