Docket No. 77472-2 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 30402-3)  Facts:  Respondent Brian Lord was convicted of first degree murder in the Superior Court for Kitsap County after a trial in which spectators were permitted to wear buttons bearing photos of the victim.  Lord appealed his conviction, asserting that the buttons were inherently prejudicial and that the trial court erred in failing to remove them from the courtroom.  Lord also asserted that the trial court erred in excluding the testimony of a bloodhound handler who tracked the victim’s scent following her disappearance insofar as this testimony would have contradicted the state of Washington’s theory of the crime.  The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Lord’s conviction. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78166-4  Facts:  Petitioner Brian Womac was convicted of homicide by abuse, second degree felony murder, and first degree assault in the Superior Court for Pierce County.  The trial court subsequently sentenced Womac to an exceptional sentence on the homicide by abuse conviction but did not sentence Womac on the second degree felony murder and first degree assault convictions in order to avoid subjecting him to double jeopardy.  Upon appeal, the Washington Court of Appeals reversed Womac’s exceptional sentence on grounds that it was based upon findings of fact made by the judge rather than by the jury.  The Washington Court of Appeals also directed the trial court to conditionally dismiss Womac’s second degree felony murder and first degree assault convictions pending appellate review.  Womac appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington, asserting that the second degree felony murder and first degree assault convictions subjected him to double jeopardy and should have been unconditionally dismissed. Continue reading →