State v. Shipp

These three consolidated cases involve challenges to jury instructions which defined knowledge under the Washington Criminal Code adopted in 1975. The instructions directed the jury to find that a person has knowledge if it finds that "he has information which would lead a reasonable person in the same situation to believe that [the relevant] facts exist." We find that these instructions were based on an incorrect interpretation of RCW 9A.08.010(1)(b)(ii). We hold that the statute merely allows the inference that a defendant has knowledge in situations where a reasonable person would have…