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WPIC 36.01 Malicious Harassment—Definition

11 WAPRAC WPIC 36.01Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal

11 Wash. Prac., Pattern Jury Instr. Crim. WPIC 36.01 (5th Ed)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Criminal
January 2024 Update
Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions
Part VI. Crimes Against Personal Security
WPIC CHAPTER 36. Harassment, Hate Crimes, and Domestic Violence
WPIC 36.01 Malicious Harassment—Definition
A person commits the crime of malicious harassment if he or she maliciously and intentionally commits [the following act] [one of the following acts] because of his or her perceptions of a victim's [race] [color] [religion] [ancestry] [national origin] [gender] [sexual orientation] [or] [mental, physical, or sensory handicap]:
[Causes physical injury to the victim [or] [another person]] [or]
[Causes physical damage to, or destruction of, the property of the victim [or] [another person]] [or]
[Threatens a specific person [or group of persons] and places that person [, or members of the specific group of persons,] in reasonable fear of harm to person or property].
NOTE ON USE
Use this instruction only for a charge of Malicious Harassment committed before July 28, 2019. See Comment below.
Use this instruction if it will help the jury understand the charged offense or if it is necessary to define this particular offense for the jury. See the Comment to WPIC 4.24 (Definition of the Crime—Form).
Use the bracketed material as applicable. Use the bracketed clause about causing physical injury to a person if WPIC 36.02 (Malicious Harassment—Physical Injury—Elements) is given. Use the clause about causing physical damage to property if WPIC 36.04 (Malicious Harassment—Physical Harm to or Destruction of Property—Elements) is given. Use the bracketed clause about threatening another if WPIC 36.03 (Malicious Harassment—Threat of Harm to Person or Property—Elements) is given.
With this instruction, use WPIC 2.13 (Malice—Maliciously—Definition) and WPIC 10.01 (Intent—Intentionally—Definition). Also use, as applicable, WPIC 2.03 (Bodily Injury—Physical Injury—Bodily Harm—Definitions).
If sexual orientation is the basis for the charge, use WPIC 36.01.01 (Malicious Harassment—Sexual Orientation—Definition) with this instruction.
COMMENT
RCW 9A.36.080(1). In 2019, the Legislature substantially altered RCW 9A.36.080, the former crime of Malicious Harassment, and created instead a new Hate Crime offense. (Laws of 2019, Chapter 271, § 2 (effective July 28, 2019)). Use this instruction only for the offense of Malicious Harassment occurring before July 28, 2019. For the Hate Crime offense, effective July 28, 2019, use WPICs 36.90, WPICs36.90, et seq, new for this edition.
The statute is written in terms of the defendant's “perception of the victim's race, color, [and other designated protected characteristics.]” RCW 9A.36.080(1). The Legislature's use of the term “the victim's” in this context gives rise to uncertainty, inasmuch as the Legislature thereafter uses the phrase “victim or another person” in subparagraphs (a) and (b). Resolving the uncertainty may require a determination of whether “the victim's” in paragraph (1) refers to the victim of the harmful act, or, on the other hand, the “victim” of the actor's malice.
The WPI Committee has not attempted to interpret the statute and has therefore drafted the instruction in the express statutory language, including the term “the victim's,” which is generally avoided in other pattern instructions.
For discussion of the constitutionality of RCW 9A.36.080(1) generally, see the Comment to WPIC 36.01.02 (Malicious Harassment, Physical Injury—Elements).
[Current as of April 2020.]
End of Document