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Washington v. Stumpf3/3/1992
William N. Stumpf appeals his conviction and exceptional sentence for the attempted first degree murder of his wife. We affirm his conviction, but remand for resentencing within the standard range.
The defendant and his wife, Cora, separated in July 1988, and the defendant moved out of their Dallesport home. On the evening of October 13, 1988, he returned. He went into his wife's bedroom, beat her with his fists and attempted to strangle her. Attempts by the couple's 12-year-old son to stop the attack were unsuccessful.
The defendant then dragged his wife from her bed to the backyard where he continued to beat her. He left, drove to The Dalles, Oregon, and broke into a church. He waded through the baptismal font, then returned to the family home. By this time, his children and a neighbor had summoned help and sheriff's deputies had arrived. The defendant was arrested and charged with attempted first degree murder.
The defendant pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He was evaluated by staff at Eastern State Hospital and found legally sane and not suffering from diminished capacity at the time of the attack. Nevertheless, at pretrial hearings, defense counsel indicated his intent to defend on the basis the defendant suffered from diminished capacity.
The defendant's son testified at trial to the occurrence and the defendant's participation in the attack. In addition,
there was considerable testimony as to incriminating statements made by the defendant to friends and family after the attack as well as the incriminating testimony of the defendant. The defendant offered no expert testimony to support his contention he suffered from diminished capacity at the time of the attack. The jury was instructed on attempted first degree murder and attempted second degree murder.
Defense counsel assigns error to the trial court's exclusion of lay testimony as to his alleged diminished capacity, the failure to instruct on diminished capacity, the failure to instruct on lesser included offenses, and the imposition of an exceptional sentence. The defendant, pro se, contends his Miranda rights were violated, the prosecutor withheld evidence, and there is new and additional evidence to support his diminished capacity defense.
Diminished Capacity
The defendant contends he suffered "command delusions" which prevented him from achieving the requisite intent to cause his wife's death. He attributes these delusions to a head injury he sustained several years before he attacked his wife. He assigns error to the trial court's refusal to allow lay witnesses to testify as to his mental disorder as well as the refusal to give a diminished capacity instruction.
Diminished capacity arises out of a mental disorder, usually not amounting to insanity, that is demonstrated to have a specific effect on one's capacity to achieve the level of culpability required for a given crime.
State v. Gough, 53 Wash. App. 619, 622, 768 P.2d 1028, review denied, 112 Wash. 2d 1026 (1989). See also State v.
Swagerty, 60 Wash. App. 830, 833, 810 P.2d 1 (1991). As a defense, diminished capacity allows a defendant to negate the culpable mental state element of a crime "by showing that a given mental disorder had a specific effect by which his ability to entertain that mental state was diminished." Gough, at 622.
Competent evidence regarding a mental disorder is admissible whenever it tends logically and by reasonable inference to prove or disprove that a defendant was capable of possessing the requir
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