Another Division I case upholding a ‘noncorroboration’ jury instruction. This may be a trend, as a published opinion, State v Zwald, came out one week before Helkenn, and appeared to be inviting a stronger constitutional due process challenge, while ultimately affirming the use of the instruction in Mr. Zwald’s appeal. (See my discussions of State Read More…
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Child Sexual Assault Victim Needs No Corroboration
State v. Zwald Joel Duane Zwald was convicted after jury trial of 3rd Degree Child Molestation, 2nd Degree Child Molestation, and 2nd Degree Rape of a child. On appeal, he argued the trial prosecutor committed reversible misconduct during closing argument and the court improperly commented on trial evidence by instructing the jury that to convict Read More…
Don’t Wait to Seek Resentencing Under The Houston-Sconiers Opinion
Michael Arnold sought to be “resentenced” under Washington Criminal Rule 7.8 and the authority of State v. Houston-Sconiers, 188 Wn 2d 1, 391 P. 3d 409/2017, which came out after Mr. Arnold was convicted of two counts of Child Molestation in the First Degree. The incident occurred between 1999-2005, during which Mr. Arnold was between Read More…