Docket No. 48729-4  Facts: Petitioner Mitchell Rupe was sentenced to death after being convicted in the Superior Court for Thurston County of murdering two bank tellers in the course of a robbery. Rupe appealed his sentence to the Supreme Court of Washington on grounds that the prosecution’s introduction of evidence at sentencing regarding his extensive gun collection in order to demonstrate his dangerousness and propensity toward violence represented reversible error insofar as this evidence related to an aggravating factor not specified by statute and penalized Rupe for exercising his right to bear arms under the Washington State Constitution (Article I §24). Continue reading →