Drug-homicide conviction upheld

EPHRATA - An appellate court upheld the conviction of a Moses

Lake man sentenced for Grant County's first controlled-substances

homicide.

The Washington State Court of Appeals unanimously decided in favor

of the Grant County Prosecutor's Office in the case of Corey

Christman.

Christman was sentenced to five years and one month in prison in

2009 after a jury convicted him in the 2008 death of 19-year-old

Ryan Mulder.

EPHRATA - An appellate court upheld the conviction of a Moses Lake man sentenced for Grant County's first controlled-substances homicide.

The Washington State Court of Appeals unanimously decided in favor of the Grant County Prosecutor's Office in the case of Corey Christman.

Christman was sentenced to five years and one month in prison in 2009 after a jury convicted him in the 2008 death of 19-year-old Ryan Mulder.

Christman and Mulder attended a party at the Moses Lake sand dunes in September 2008, according to the opinion. Christman brought nine-and-a-half methadone pills with him, intending to sell them.

"Instead, he gave two of the pills to Mr. Mulder," according to the opinion. "Mr. Mulder later told Mr. Christman that he was not feeling any effect from the pills and asked for more, and Mr. Christman gave him another three. Still later, Mr. Mulder asked for more and was directed by Mr. Christman to the pocket of his shirt."

He discovered the remaining pills were gone the next morning, according to the opinion. Mulder left the party, and ended up sleeping in a garage. When the home's residents came out the next morning, they found him barely breathing, tried to revive him and called 9-1-1 when they couldn't.

"Mr. Mulder was taken to Samaritan Hospital and was then flown to Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane, where he died two days later," according to the opinion. "By all accounts, Mr. Mulder did not consume any drugs or alcohol after leaving the sand dunes."

Dr. John Howard, a forensic pathologist, testified at Christman's trial, saying Mulder died of hypoxic encephalopathy, a lack of oxygen to the brain, caused by the combination of methadone, methamphetamine and alcohol, according to the opinion.

"He testified that the alcohol and methamphetamine present could have contributed to the toxic effects on the brain but that he could not say "percentage-wise" what role, because their quantity was not measured," according to court records. "When asked whether methadone caused the death of Mr. Mulder within reasonable medical certainty, Dr. Howard responded 'Yes.'"

Christman's attorney, Susan M. Gasch, challenged whether the methadone was the cause of death, stating the statute required it to be the sole cause, according to the opinion. The appellate court denied the argument.

"Dr. Howard's opinion was that all three substances - methadone, alcohol, and methamphetamine - combined to cause death and that each one played a role. Only methadone was present in a quantifiable amount in the blood sample tested by the state toxicology lab, however, and the amount of methadone present was more than enough to cause toxicity and death," according to the report. "Dr. Howard testified that, with reasonable medical certainty, the methadone caused Mr. Mulder's death."

The attorney also argued the statute was too vague, according to the opinion. The court denied the challenge, stating other courts have denied the challenge to other controlled- substances statutes.

 "Mr. Christman does not argue that there is anything vague about any element other than causation. Focusing on causation, he cannot tenably argue that (the law) is too indefinite for him to have avoided the proscribed conduct," according to the opinion. "There is no reasonable meaning of 'result in death' under which Mr. Christman - who made available a lethal dose, directly to the user, knowing that the user was seeking the drug for immediate consumption - can claim to have been trapped without fair warning."