WPIC 300.32 Aggravating Circumstance—Good Samaritan [RCW 9.94A.535(3)(w)]

For the aggravating circumstance involving a Good Samaritan, use the above instruction to supplement the primary statement of this aggravating circumstance, which appears in WPIC 300.02 (Aggravating Circumstance Procedure—Factors Alleged—Unitary Trial) or WPIC 300.06 (Aggravating Circumstance Procedure—Factors Alleged—Bifurcated Trial or Stand-Alone Sentencing Proceeding).

RCW 9.94A.535(3)(w).

This aggravating circumstance was added to the Sentencing Reform Act in 2005. The accompanying legislative history indicates that the statutory language was designed to codify existing common law aggravating circumstances. Laws of 2005, Chapter 68, § 1 (effective April 15, 2005).

This aggravating circumstance was first recognized in State v. Hillman, 66 Wn.App. 770, 832 P.2d 1369 (1992). In Hillman, the victim was in the process of assisting the defendant in extracting a stuck truck when the defendant shot and killed the victim. The court held that those facts justified an exceptional sentence.

The definition in this instruction is taken from In re Crow, 187 Wn. App. 414, 424, 349 P.2d 902 (2015). The definition was based on civil cases dealing with “Good Samaritans.” Butzberger v. Foster, 151 Wn.2d 396, 412, 89 P.3d 689 (2004); Gardner v. Loomis Armored Inc., 128 Wn.2d 931, 940, 913 P.2d 377 (1996). In Crow, the victim was murdered in retaliation for reporting a crime to police. The court held that this was insufficient to make the victim a “Good Samaritan.”

The statutory presumption is that this aggravating circumstance will be presented to the jury during the trial of the alleged crime. RCW 9.94A.537(4).