The Washington Court of Appeals on March 15 reversed a Clallam County jury verdict convicting Aaron Mylan of Port Angeles of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the First Degree. The Court of Appeals ruled that Mylan, 25, was prejudiced by ineffective assistance of his defense counsel.

According to the Appeals Court, on August 24,2014, Mylan was in Forks to spend the day with his friend, an admitted heroin user. Mylan agreed to meet his friend’s dealer, at a Forks gas station. Mylan and the other man had different versions of what happened next.

Mylan testified that the man put a gun to Mylan’s head, but Mylan was able to get the gun and strike him on the head with it. He then threw the gun into the woods and called his friend to pick him up. The other man testified that Mylan put a gun to his head, told him he was taking the truck, demanded all of his property, then hit him on the head with the gun.

Mylan was charged with Robbery, Assault, Theft of a Motor Vehicle and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, based on his prior felony conviction for Residential Burglary. The jury found Mylan not guilty on all but the firearm charge.

On appeal, Mylan claimed that his defense attorney should have requested an instruction allowing the jury to find that he possessed the other man’s firearm by necessity in order to keep the man from shooting him.

The Appeals Court said that Mylan’s trial counsel failed to defend the firearm charge at all, and Mylan was prejudiced by his counsel’s deficient performance. Unless the Washington Supreme Court overturns the Court of Appeals, Mylan will return to Clallam County for a new trial, said Prosecutor Mark Nichols. Mylan is presently serving a sentence of 105 months at the state prison in Monroe.

He has four prior convictions for Burglary, two for Delivery of a Controlled Substance, three for Forgery, and Trafficking in Stolen Property, Theft, and Assault.

Clallam County Prosecutor Mark Nichols cautioned that the matter may be remanded for a new trial; if so, the charge would merely be an accusation and the defendant would be presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.