Personal Restraint Petition Of Joseph Anthony Quintana

• Court: Court of Appeals of Washington
• Decided: May 2, 2022
• Docket: 81819-8
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of: No. 81819-8-I

JOSEPH ANTHONY QUINTANA DIVISION ONE

Petitioner. UNPUBLISHED OPINION

ANDRUS, C.J. — Joseph Quintana brought this personal restraint petition

seeking to vacate legal financial obligations (LFOs) imposed in two separate

criminal cases dating from 1998. In December 2021, the trial court terminated

Quintana’s obligation to pay LFOs in one case, rendering his claim as to that case

moot. And because Quintana remains incarcerated under the judgment and

sentence in the second case, the trial court retains the jurisdiction to enforce the

LFOs imposed in that case. We thus deny his petition.

FACTS

Joseph Quintana, also known as Marvin Lee Vermillion, was convicted of

first degree robbery and threats to bomb property after he robbed a downtown

Seattle bank in 1998. State v. Vermillion, 112 Wn. App. 844, 849-50, 51 P.3d 188

(2002) (King County Superior Court cause number 98-1-05677-7 SEA). The

judgment and sentence for this conviction is not before us, but both the State and No. 81819-8-I/2

Quintana provided evidence that, as of January 2021, he had outstanding LFOs of

$7,217 in this case.

Also in 1998, Quintana was charged and convicted of assault, kidnapping,

burglary, and robbery in the first degree after he strangled and robbed a real estate

agent in a West Seattle condominium. State v. Vermillion, noted at 116 Wn. App.

1042 *1 (2003) (King County Superior Court cause no. 98-1-08431-2 SEA). The

trial court in that case sentenced Quintana to life in prison without the possibility of

parole due to his persistent offender status. Id. Quintana’s judgment and sentence

in that case ordered that he pay a $500 victim penalty assessment, plus an

unspecified amount in restitution.

The State concedes that Quintana completed his term of confinement under

cause number 98-1-05677-7 SEA in 2009. In July 2010, the trial court entered an

order extending its jurisdiction over the LFOs in both cases for an additional 10

years. Ten years later, in September 2020, Quintana filed this personal restraint

petition seeking relief from the LFOs imposed in both cases. In December 2021,

the trial court entered an order terminating the LFOs under cause number 98-1-

05677-7 SEA only.

ANALYSIS

Quintana asks this court to vacate the restitution orders related to the

judgments and sentences in both King County cause number 98-1-05677-7 SEA

and cause number 98-1-08431-2 SEA.

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Quintana’s petition is moot as to cause number 98-1-05677-7 SEA. The

State concedes that the trial court’s jurisdiction to enforce the unpaid LFOs in that

case ended in 2020 and the court terminated the LFOs in December 2021.

As to his second case, cause number 98-1-08431-2 SEA, Quintana is not

entitled to termination of the LFOs. RCW 9.94A.760(5) provides that:

[L]egal financial obligations for an offense committed prior to July 1, 2000, may be enforced at any time during the ten-year period following the offender’s release from total confinement or within 10 years of entry of the judgment and sentence, whichever period ends later. Prior to the expiration of the initial ten-year period, the superior court may extend the criminal judgment an additional ten years for payment of LFOs including crime victims’ assessments.

(Emphasis added). We have previously held the phrase “release from total

confinement” is unambiguous. In re Pers. Restraint of Spires, 151 Wn. App. 236,

244-45, 211 P.3d 437 (2009). The trial court’s jurisdiction to enforce LFOs

begins with the imposition of sentence. It ends either 10 years later or 10 years after the offender's release from total confinement. . . . We conclude from this that the phrase ‘release from total confinement’ can only mean release from confinement for the crime for which restitution was ordered.

In re Pers. Restraint of Sappenfield, 92 Wn. App. 729, 736, 964 P.2d 1204 (1998).

Quintana’s release from total confinement on cause number 98-1-05677-7 SEA is

not a release from total confinement under cause number 98-1-08431-2 SEA.

Quintana is currently incarcerated on a life sentence without the possibility

of parole under cause number 98-1-08431-2 SEA. He has not been released from

total confinement in that case and the court therefore retains the jurisdiction to

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enforce the LFOs under RCW 9.94A.760(5).

We deny Quintana’s personal restraint petition.

WE CONCUR:

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