State v. Pirtle

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court, en banc, affirmed Blake Pirtle's convictions for two counts of aggravated first degree murder and his death sentence, rejecting challenges to the prosecutor's death-penalty notice decision, the sufficiency of the premeditation and aggravator evidence, the admission of the Montana guilty plea and crime-scene photographs, the reasonable doubt and capital sentencing instructions, the vagueness of the concealment and common scheme or plan aggravators, and the constitutionality of RCW 10.95 and capital punishment itself. It held that juvenile misdemeanor and felony convictions and a guilty plea not yet reduced to judgment are admissible nonstatutory aggravating evidence, that the victim's essay opposing the death penalty was properly excluded, and that the sentence is proportionate under a comparative review of all reported Washington aggravated murders. Chief Justice Durham concurred separately, objecting that the court once again revised its proportionality methodology.