State v. Goins

In this case we must decide if a criminal conviction will be overturned when a jury’s conviction on a general charge is apparently inconsistent with its answer to a subsequent special verdict. The petitioner, Matthew Glen Goins, was tried by a jury and convicted of second degree assault with the intent to commit indecent liberties. RCW 9A.36.021(l)(e). However, the jury also found by subsequent special verdict that Goins had not acted with sexual *730motivation. Former RCW 9.94A.127 (1999), recodified as RCW 9.94A.835. Defense counsel did not challenge the apparently contradictory verdicts, and…