State v. Randhawa

• Decision Date: 14 August 1997
• Docket Number: No. 64780-1,64780-1
• Citation: 941 P.2d 661,133 Wn.2d 67
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Harmit P. Singh RANDHAWA, Appellant.

Page 67

133 Wn.2d 67

941 P.2d 661

STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Harmit P. Singh RANDHAWA, Appellant.

No. 64780-1.

Supreme Court of Washington,

En Banc.

Aug. 14, 1997.

Jeffrey Thigpen, Bellingham, for appellant.

David McEachran, Whatcom County Prosecutor and Laura Hayes Deputy County Prosecutor, Bellingham, for respondent.

ALEXANDER, Justice.

Harmit Singh Randhawa appeals his conviction on a charge of vehicular homicide. His principal contentions are that (1) there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction; and (2) the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it could infer that he drove recklessly solely from evidence that he was driving in excess of the maximum lawful speed at the time of the accident which caused the death of one of his passengers. Although we reject his contention that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction, we conclude that it was error to give the challenged instruction. We, therefore, reverse Randhawa's conviction and remand for a new trial.

On December 3, 1993, Harmit Randhawa, accompanied by his brother, Bagga, and a friend, Avtar Dhadda, left Sacramento, California and began driving toward Vancouver, British Columbia. On the evening of December 4, 1993, they arrived at the United States-Canada border crossing at Blaine, Washington. Because the three men were informed by Canadian border personnel that they would be required to pay duty on four unopened bottles of liquor, they decided not to enter Canada at that time. Instead, they drove to the home of Randhawa's cousin in Bellingham, Washington. While at this home, the three men dined and consumed some alcoholic beverages. They eventually left Bellingham at approximately 11:30 p.m. that same evening and began driving toward the border crossing at Lynden, Washington. Finding that crossing closed, they obtained directions to another border crossing at Sumas, Washington.

With Randhawa driving, the three men set out for Sumas on the East Badger Road, on which the posted speed limit is 50 m.p.h. After traveling for several miles, Randhawa approached a sweeping curve to the north leading to State Route 9. The curve is posted with a sign suggesting a speed of 25 m.p.h. Randhawa lost control of the vehicle as he was negotiating the curve. As a consequence, the car skidded across an island of gravel and grass and slammed into a power pole. Dhadda was killed in the accident. Randhawa was subsequently charged in Whatcom County Superior Court with vehicular homicide pursuant to RCW 46.61.520(1)(a) and (b). ¹

At trial, the State offered the testimony of Dr. Gary Goldfogel, the Whatcom County Medical Examiner. Goldfogel indicated that an analysis of Randhawa's blood at his laboratory showed that Randhawa's blood alcohol level was .12 percent approximately 39 minutes after the accident occurred. Randhawa objected to this testimony and to the admission of an exhibit containing the test results. He claimed that an improper foundation was laid for the admission of Goldfogel's opinion and the exhibit because Goldfogel was unable to identify the employee at the laboratory who performed the test, thus calling into question the laboratory's compliance with WAC 448-14 which governs the testing of blood. The trial court overruled his objection and admitted the test results.

Several persons who had been present at the Bellingham residence visited by Randhawa and his companions also testified. One of them, Randhawa's brother, testified that he knew Randhawa had been drinking but did not know how much. Deswinder Dhillon testified that she saw Randhawa and others drinking alcohol at the Bellingham residence but was also unable to say how much Randhawa had consumed. Hargander Dhillon testified that he saw Randhawa consume two alcoholic drinks while at the residence.

Two state troopers who arrived at the scene shortly after the accident testified. Both said that they saw Randhawa in an ambulance at the accident site and that they smelled an odor of intoxicants on his person at that time. One of the troopers testified that he could smell alcohol or intoxicants "[u]pon entering the ambulance." Verbatim Report of Proceedings (VRP) at 136. That officer also indicated that the roadway was dry at the time of the accident and no conditions existed that would have impaired a driver's visibility. Jim McClintock, a driver who had passed Randhawa from the opposite direction immediately before the accident, also testified for the State. He indicated that before going by Randhawa, Randhawa veered into his [McClintock's] lane "just a little bit." VRP at 16. He said that he knew Randhawa was not "going to make the corner." VRP at 18. McClintock estimated the speed of Randhawa's vehicle at either 60 or 70 m.p.h.

Two experts testified at trial. The State presented Washington State Patrol Detective Michael Hale, who said that his analysis of skidmarks found at the scene of the crash caused him to believe that the vehicle Randhawa was driving was traveling between 50 and 70 m.p.h. at the time Randhawa first applied his brakes. Randhawa's expert witness, Kenneth Cottingham, testified that Randhawa's vehicle was traveling between 49 and 61 m.p.h. when Randhawa applied his brakes.

Randhawa testified on his own behalf. He said that he had been traveling five to ten miles per hour over the posted speed limit just prior to the time his vehicle went out of control. With regard to his alcohol consumption, he said that he had consumed only two drinks prior to the accident. He testified that he had intended to go straight on the East Badger Road and not turn to the north onto State Route 9. At the last moment, according to Randhawa, his passengers instructed him to take the corner. Randhawa said that it was at this point that he attempted to make the turn but lost control of the vehicle.

The trial court instructed the jury that it could find that Randhawa was under the influence of intoxicating liquor if either "(a) he has .10 percent or more by weight of alcohol in his blood; or (b) the intoxicating liquor lessens the driver's ability to drive a motor vehicle in any appreciable degree." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 83. It also instructed the jury that "[t]o operate a motor vehicle in a reckless manner means driving in a rash or heedless manner, indifferent to the consequences." CP at 84.

The jury found Randhawa guilty of vehicular homicide as charged. Randhawa moved, pursuant to CrR 7.4, to arrest judgment, arguing that the evidence produced at trial was insufficient to establish that he was either intoxicated or driving recklessly at the time of the accident. Randhawa's motion was denied. Following sentencing, Randhawa appealed to Division One of the Court of Appeals. That court certified his appeal to this court and we accepted direct review.

I. Challenge to the Sufficiency of the Evidence

Randhawa contends that the State failed to produce sufficient evidence that he drove recklessly or that he was intoxicated. Although he couches his assignment of error in terms that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it could convict Randhawa of vehicular homicide ² and in denying his motion for arrest of judgment, we view Randhawa's challenge as being to the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. Indeed, he argues here, as he did at the trial court, that the State failed to produce sufficient evidence to "justify convicting the defendant of driving recklessly" and that "no rational trier of fact could conclude that the blood alcohol analysis was accurate inasmuch as the individual who conducted the test did not testify nor was he or she even identified by the State." Br. of Appellant at 39. The State responds that it presented sufficient evidence to "justify a rational trier of fact in finding, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Appellant was guilty of driving in a reckless manner and while under the influence of intoxicating liquor." Br. of Resp't at 24.

The standard of review for a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence was set out in State v. Green, 94 Wash.2d 216, 616 P.2d 628 (1980). We said there that evidence is sufficient if, after it is viewed in a light most favorable to the State, "any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." Green, 94 Wash.2d at 221, 616 P.2d 628 (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, reh'g denied, 444 U.S. 890, 100 S.Ct. 195, 62 L.Ed.2d 126 (1979)). Where, as here, a defendant is charged with alternative means of committing vehicular homicide, jury unanimity is not required as to which alternative the defendant is guilty of, provided the State presented sufficient evidence supporting each of the alternative means. See State v. Ortega-Martinez, 124 Wash.2d 702, 707-08, 881 P.2d 231 (1994). If there is sufficient evidence to support each alternative means submitted to the jury, the conviction will be affirmed because we infer that the jury rested its decision on a unanimous finding as to the means. State v. Whitney, 108 Wash.2d 506, 739 P.2d 1150 (1987). For reasons set forth hereinafter, we conclude that the evidence presented to the jury was sufficient to support Randhawa's conviction on both alternatives charged--operating a motor vehicle in a reckless manner or while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.

Insofar as the allegation of driving while under the influence of alcohol is concerned, there was sufficient evidence, aside from the evidence concerning the analysis of Randhawa's blood, that Randhawa had consumed alcohol prior to the accident and that it had lessened his ability to drive a motor vehicle to an appreciable degree. In that regard, two Washington State troopers said that they smelled an odor of intoxicants on Randhawa, one indicating that he noticed it immediately upon entering the ambulance in which Randhawa was being treated. Several other...