SPOKANE, WA – A 41-year-old Clarkston man who was convicted and sentenced to more than 25 years in prison for raping a woman in December 2013 will not get a new trial. In an unpublished opinion, the Washington State Court of Appeals Division III denied a personal restraint petition that Zachary J. Biggs had filed.
Biggs sought to vacate his convictions on two counts of Rape in the First-Degree and a felony violation of a domestic violence protection order, claiming that his trial counsel failed to adequately investigate the case and interview witnesses, among other things. The Court of Appeals ruled that the attorney “did not perform ineffectively, we conclude that Biggs did not suffer complete deprivation of counsel.”
Following a bench trial in 2015, an Asotin County judge found Biggs guilty of the three charges and sentenced him to prison. In April 2018, the Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions. The Washington State Supreme Court then denied review on October 3, 2018, and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on May 28, 2019.
Prosecutors say Biggs threatened to kill the victim if she didn’t go into a bedroom. Court records say he raped her and tormented her with a machete over a three-hour period.
“Biggs held a machete and again interrogated [the woman] as to who sent her to his mother’s home. He repeatedly threatened her. [The woman] pleaded with Biggs to release her to return home,” the opinion states. “In trial testimony, [the woman] recalled Biggs menacingly sneering: You ain’t going home. I’m going to kill you. I’ll have the kids. I’ll hide your body before this is all over and done with, and, before anybody knows you’re missing, I’ll be gone and so will you.”
Following the attack, Biggs had the woman drive him to a store so he could buy a cigar. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone what happened.
“He then acted as if checking his watch, although not wearing one, and remarked: Yeah, about this time tomorrow I’ll probably be in jail. And that’s all right; I’ll do my time. ‘Cause when I get out I’ll come find you, I’ll sneak in the middle of the night and I’ll slice your throat. Or I’ll come out to your work, wait for you to get off and run your ass and your car into the river and I’ll kill you,” the opinion says.
The following day the woman reported the attack to her coworkers. They then reported it to law enforcement. Biggs claimed the sexual acts were consensual.
Biggs is being held at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center in western Washington State.
