In Re Banks

204 P.3d 260
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 6, 2009
Docket60693-0-I
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 204 P.3d 260 (In Re Banks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Banks, 204 P.3d 260 (Wash. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

204 P.3d 260 (2009)

In re Personal Restraint Petition of, Frank BANKS, Petitioner.

No. 60693-0-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

April 6, 2009.

*261 Jennifer L. Dobson, Attorney at Law, Dana M. Lind, Nielsen Broman & Koch PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

Ann Marie Summers, King County Prosecutor's Office, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

BECKER, J.

¶ 1 In order to avoid the possibility of a "three strikes" life sentence, petitioner Frank Banks pled guilty to two non-strike charges and agreed to an exceptional sentence of 150 months. Five years later he filed the present collateral attack upon the sentence, alleging that prior California convictions were erroneously found comparable to Washington felonies and as a result his offender score was miscalculated. But the alleged error is not evident on the face of the judgment and sentence nor is it shown by documents related to the plea. Because the judgment and sentence is valid on its face, Banks' petition is subject to the one-year time bar of RCW 10.73.090(1). Accordingly we dismiss it as untimely.

¶ 2 Banks was initially charged with second-degree assault, indecent liberties, and first-degree burglary. If Banks had been convicted on any one of these counts, it would have been his third strike and he would have received a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.[1] Plea bargaining produced an agreement whereby the State agreed to charge less serious crimes that would not bring a life sentence, and Banks agreed to join the State in recommending an exceptionally high sentence for the less serious crimes. To carry out the agreement, Banks pled guilty to amended charges of third degree assault and residential burglary. A standard range sentence for the charges to which he pled guilty would have been 57 months at most. At sentencing in April 2002, the trial court imposed the agreed exceptional sentence of 150 months. The judgment and sentence was filed with the trial court on April 12, 2002. It became final on that date because Banks did not appeal. RCW 10.73.090(3).

¶ 3 Banks filed his first personal restraint petition in September 2004. He claimed that his exceptional sentence was invalid under Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004). This court dismissed the petition in 2005 after the Supreme Court determined that Blakely does not apply retroactively. See State v. *262 Evans, 154 Wash.2d 438, 448, 114 P.3d 627 (2005).

¶ 4 Banks filed the current petition in October 2007. He now claims his sentence is unlawful to the extent that it is based on a miscalculated offender score. He asserts that his offender score was miscalculated because it includes out of state convictions that are not comparable to Washington felonies.

¶ 5 Out of state prior convictions may count in an offender score only if they are comparable to a Washington felony. RCW 9.94A.525(3). The State has the burden of proving comparability. State v. Ford, 137 Wash.2d 472, 480, 973 P.2d 452 (1999).

¶ 6 Banks contends the State failed to carry its burden. He seeks a remand for resentencing, citing Ford, 137 Wash.2d at 485, 973 P.2d 452 (where direct appeal shows that an incorrect offender score was used to calculate the standard range, resentencing is required even where the trial court imposed an exceptional sentence). Banks contends the trial court must at a minimum conduct a factual comparability hearing. This is the remedy that is granted on direct appeal where an out of state conviction for an offense defined more broadly than in Washington is included in an offender score, without defense counsel having required the State to present evidence of factual comparability. State v. Thiefault, 160 Wash.2d 409, 417 and n. 4, 158 P.3d 580 (2007).

¶ 7 To obtain relief, a personal restraint petitioner has the burden of proving constitutional error that results in actual prejudice or nonconstitutional error that results in a miscarriage of justice. In re Pers. Restraint of Brennan, 117 Wash.App. 797, 802, 72 P.3d 182 (2003). A sentence that is based upon an incorrect offender score is a fundamental defect that inherently results in a miscarriage of justice. In re Pers. Restraint of Goodwin, 146 Wash.2d 861, 868, 50 P.3d 618 (2002). But there is a threshold issue of timeliness, and that issue is dispositive in this case.

¶ 8 Motions for collateral attack, including personal restraint petitions, will not normally be considered unless they are filed within one year of final judgment:

No petition or motion for collateral attack on a judgment and sentence in a criminal case may be filed more than one year after the judgment becomes final if the judgment and sentence is valid on its face and was rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction.

RCW 10.73.090(1). Banks filed this petition more than five years after his judgment and sentence became final in April 2002.

¶ 9 Six statutory exceptions to the one-year time bar are set forth in RCW 10.73.100. Banks briefly argues that he should benefit from the exception that applies when the petition is based on an allegation that the sentence imposed was in excess of the court's jurisdiction. RCW 10.73.100(5). But making a mistake in calculating an offender score does not deprive a court of jurisdiction. See In re Pers. Restraint of Vehlewald, 92 Wash.App. 197, 200-01, 963 P.2d 903 (1998) (rejecting argument that jurisdiction of trial court is implicated if erroneous finding of same criminal conduct finding produces an incorrect offender score); In re Pers. Restraint of Richey, 162 Wash.2d 865, 872, 175 P.3d 585 (2008).

¶ 10 Banks primarily argues that the one-year statutory time bar does not apply at all because his judgment and sentence is invalid on its face. A facially invalid judgment and sentence may be challenged at any time. RCW 10.73.090(1). "Invalid on its face" means the judgment and sentence evidences the invalidity without further elaboration. In re Personal Restraint of Hemenway,

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Bluebook (online)
204 P.3d 260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-banks-washctapp-2009.