H-3407.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 2543

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      53rd Legislature     1994 Regular Session

By Representatives Wang, R. Fisher, Long, Mielke and Wood

Read first time 01/17/94.  Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

Revising provisions relating to awards to persons found not guilty by reason of self defense.

    AN ACT Relating to awards to persons found not guilty by reason of self defense; and amending RCW 9A.16.110.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 9A.16.110 and 1989 c 94 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) No person in the state shall be placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting by any reasonable means necessary, himself or herself, his or her family, or his or her real or personal property, or for coming to the aid of another who is in imminent danger of or the victim of assault, robbery, kidnapping, arson, burglary, rape, murder, or any other heinous crime.

    (2) When a substantial question of self-defense in such a case shall exist which needs legal investigation or court action for the full determination of the facts, and the defendant's actions are subsequently found justified under the intent of this section, the state of Washington shall indemnify or reimburse such defendant for all loss of time, legal fees, or other expenses involved in his or her defense.  This indemnification or reimbursement is an award of reasonable costs which include loss of time, legal fees, or other expenses and is not an independent cause of action.  The determination of an award shall be by the judge or jury at the discretion of the judge in the criminal proceeding.  To award these reasonable costs the trier of fact must find that the defendant's claim of self-defense was sustained by a preponderance of the evidence((:  PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That nothing shall preclude)).  Notwithstanding a finding that a defendant's actions were justified by self defense, no award may be made under this section if the judge determines that the defendant was engaged in criminal conduct substantially related to the events giving rise to the charges filed against the defendant.  Nothing in this section precludes the legislature from ((granting a higher award through)) using the sundry claims process to grant an award where none was granted under this section or to grant a higher award than one granted under this section.

    (3) Whenever the issue of self-defense under this section is decided by a judge or whenever a judge exercises the discretion authorized under subsection (2) of this section in determining an award, the judge shall consider the same questions as must be answered in the special verdict under subsection (4) of this section.

    (4) Whenever the issue of self-defense under this section has been submitted to a jury, and the jury has found the defendant not guilty, and the judge has submitted an award determination to the jury, the court shall instruct the jury to return a special verdict in substantially the following form:

                                                            answer 

                                                         yes or no

    1. Was the finding of not guilty based upon self‑defense?                                             . . . . .

    2. If your answer to question 1 is no, do not answer the remaining question.

    3. If your answer to question 1 is yes, was the defendant:

    a. Protecting himself or herself?                  . . . . .

    b. Protecting his or her family?                   . . . . .

    c. Protecting his or her property?                 . . . . .

    d. Coming to the aid of another who was in imminent danger of a heinous crime?                          . . . . .

    e. Coming to the aid of another who was the victim of a heinous crime?                               . . . . .

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