Analysis: Binding Washington State precedent

However, under binding state precedent, the same result would have been reached. The United States Supreme Court has held that "a new rule for the conduct of criminal prosecutions is to be applied retroactively to all cases, state or federal, pending on direct review or not yet final, with no exception for cases in which the new rule constitutes a ‘clear break’ with the past." Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 328, 107 S. Ct. 708, 93 L. Ed. 2d 649 (1987). Washington courts have cited Griffith with approval: "A new rule announced by the state or federal Supreme Court applies to all cases pending direct review at the time the rule is announced." State v. Gamble, 118 Wn. App. 332, 335-36, 72 P.3d 1139 (2003) reversed in part on other grounds by 154 Wn.2d 457 (2005); see also In re Pers. Restraint of St. Pierre, 118 Wn.2d 321, 325-26, 823 P.2d 492 (1992). The rule announced in Ellis was applied to Ellis; under Griffith and St. Pierre, the rule should have retroactively applied to Atsbeha without reference to a Chevron Oil analysis.