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State v. Perez-Cervantes8/24/2000
hat the trial court erred in granting the State's motion in limine. Woolfolk, 95 Wn. App. at 550.
In the present case, the trial court not only prevented the defense from arguing cause of death to the jury, but also allowed the State to tell the jury the issue was not in dispute. The Court of Appeals rightly held this to be error because due process 'prohibits a trial judge in a criminal case from directing a verdict for the State on any element of the crime charged 'regardless of how overwhelmingly the evidence may point in that direction.'' State v. Perez-Cervantes, 90 Wn. App. 566, 571, 952 P.2d 204 (1998) (quoting United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 573, 97 S. Ct. 1349, 51 L. Ed. 2d 642 (1977) (citing State v. Delmarter, 68 Wn. App. 770, 776, 845 P.2d 1340 (1993))).
Cause of death is an element of the crime of second degree murder and a question ultimately to be determined by the trier of fact. It is, therefore, 'a matter better left to the unanimous, contemporaneous assessment of twelve jurors than to the retrospective guesswork of a single judge acting 'as a thirteenth juror.'' State v. West, 139 Wn.2d 37, 52, 983 P.2d 617 (1999) (Alexander, J., dissenting) (quoting State v. Williams, 96 Wn.2d 215, 227, 634 P.2d 868 (1981)). I would affirm the Court of Appeals, reverse the conviction, and remand the cause for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
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