In Re Bradley

205 P.3d 123
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedApril 16, 2009
Docket81045-1
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 205 P.3d 123 (In Re Bradley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Bradley, 205 P.3d 123 (Wash. 2009).

Opinion

205 P.3d 123 (2009)

In the Matter of the Personal Restraint Petition of Anthony Lamount BRADLEY, Petitioner.

No. 81045-1.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

Argued September 11, 2008.
Decided April 16, 2009.

*125 Eric J. Nielsen, Dana M. Lind, Nielsen Broman & Koch PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

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

STEPHENS, J.

¶ 1 Anthony Bradley pleaded guilty to simple possession of cocaine and possession with intent to deliver. As a result of a miscalculated offender score on the simple possession charge, Bradley was misinformed about the standard range associated with a plea of guilty on that charge. He now argues the misinformation rendered his plea involuntary. He seeks to withdraw both his simple possession plea and his possession with intent to deliver plea, claiming they were part of an indivisible "package deal." We conclude Bradley's plea was involuntary and that on the facts before us, his pleas were indivisible.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2 Bradley was apprehended in possession of cocaine on May 14, 2002. He was charged by information on May 17 with possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. Three months later, on August 16, 2002, he was again apprehended with cocaine and charged by information with possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. On September 26, 2002, the State amended the May 14 possession with intent charge to a simple possession charge. Bradley pleaded guilty to both charges that same day.

¶ 3 For the simple possession charge, Bradley's offender score put the standard range for the crime at 33-43 months. His offender score was eight and included one point for his juvenile convictions. For the intent to deliver charge, Bradley's offender score was nine, including two points for juvenile convictions, resulting in a standard range of 87-116 months. Bradley did not challenge the offender score calculations at the plea hearing. Pursuant to his plea agreement, the State agreed to recommend 43 months for simple possession and 87 months for possession with intent to deliver. The court imposed concurrent sentences in accordance with the State's recommendation. The judgment and sentence became final on October 17, 2002. Bradley did not appeal either conviction.

¶ 4 Sometime after the judgment and sentence became final, Bradley learned that his offender score for the simple possession charge had been miscalculated. His juvenile offenses should have "washed out" of his offender score because the possession crime was committed before June 13, 2002. State v. Varga, 151 Wash.2d 179, 86 P.3d 139 (2004); see RCW 9.94A.525(2). Bradley filed a personal restraint petition and, as part of the relief requested, sought to withdraw his plea to possession with intent to deliver. Division One of the Court of Appeals dismissed the petition on May 18, 2004, reasoning that Bradley's intent to deliver crime occurred after June 13, 2002. Division One did not address Bradley's simple possession charge.

¶ 5 In September 2007, Bradley filed this personal restraint petition, requesting to withdraw both of his pleas. Because the petition appeared to be successive, the Court of Appeals transferred it to this court for consideration. See In re Pers. Restraint of Perkins, 143 Wash.2d 261, 19 P.3d 1027 (2001). We retained the petition and appointed counsel for Bradley.

¶ 6 There appears to be no question that Bradley's petition is not successive because Division One did not address or resolve Bradley's arguments concerning his simple possession charge. State's Resp. to Pers. Restraint Pet. at 9 (claiming that any challenge to Bradley's charge for possession with intent to deliver is successive). Before this court, Bradley challenges the validity of his plea to simple possession, and, although he does not substantively challenge his intent to deliver plea, he seeks to withdraw both pleas on the ground that they were part of an indivisible "package deal." Suppl. Br. of Pet'r at 5.

¶ 7 The State concedes that Bradley's offender score for his simple possession charge was miscalculated. The State also appears to concede that the miscalculation resulted in a facial invalidity on Bradley's judgment and sentence, allowing him to avoid the one-year *126 time bar to filing a personal restraint petition. However, the State argues that the miscalculation affected only the sentencing range on Bradley's simple possession charge, which was not a direct consequence of his plea. The State asks that this case be remanded to the trial court so that the trial court may correct the offender score and standard range calculation reflected in the judgment and sentence. In the alternative, the State asks that Bradley be allowed to withdraw only his simple possession plea.

ANALYSIS

Involuntary Plea

¶ 8 "Due process requires that a defendant's guilty plea be knowing, voluntary, and intelligent." In re Pers. Restraint of Isadore, 151 Wash.2d 294, 297, 88 P.3d 390 (2004) (citing Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 242, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969)). If a defendant is not apprised of a direct consequence of his plea, the plea is considered involuntary. State v. Ross, 129 Wash.2d 279, 284, 916 P.2d 405 (1996). A direct consequence is one that has a "definite, immediate and largely automatic effect on the range of the defendant's punishment." Id. The length of a sentence is a direct consequence of a guilty plea. State v. Mendoza, 157 Wash.2d 582, 590, 141 P.3d 49 (2006); State v. Moon, 108 Wash.App. 59, 63, 29 P.3d 734 (2001). Therefore, misinformation about the length of a sentence renders a plea involuntary, even where the correct sentence may be less than the erroneous sentence included in the plea. Mendoza, 157 Wash.2d at 591, 141 P.3d 49. This court does not require a defendant to show that the misinformation was material to the plea. Isadore, 151 Wash.2d at 302, 88 P.3d 390.

¶ 9 Here, Bradley was misinformed as to his offender score and the length of his sentence range for simple possession. Under Ross and Mendoza, it appears he was not apprised of a direct consequence of his plea. The State argues, however, that the sentence range was not a direct consequence of the plea. It points out that Bradley was ordered to serve a concurrent sentence and that his other conviction — possession with the intent to deliver — carried a higher standard range than simple possession. Thus, the State argues, the length of Bradley's sentence for simple possession was not a direct consequence of his plea because it had no practical effect on his sentence; he would have served the same sentence either way.

¶ 10 Relying upon State v. Oseguera Acevedo,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
205 P.3d 123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-bradley-wash-2009.