State v. Sam

The defendants in these two cases were charged under RCW 9.54.020 with the offense of taking a motor vehicle without the permission of the owner, a felony under the statute. In each case, the defendant moved to dismiss upon the ground that statutes applicable to the conduct which constituted the offense deny equal protection of the laws; and in each case the motion was granted. A consolidated appeal directly to this court was accepted, since a question of statutory interpretation is involved.

The theory upon which the lower courts granted the defendants’ motions was that RCW 9.54.020 makes the…