Personal Restraint Petition Of: Vernon Joseph Agee

• Court: Court of Appeals of Washington
• Decided: November 27, 2023
• Docket: 84740-6
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION ONE

IN THE MATTER OF THE PERSONAL RESTRAINT OF: No. 84740-6-I

VERNON JOSEPH AGEE, DIVISION ONE

Petitioner. UNPUBLISHED OPINION

PER CURIAM — In 2006, a jury convicted Vernon Agee of murder in the second

degree in King County Superior Court No. 05-1-06802-3 SEA. The criminal history

used in calculating Agee’s offender score included 1989 convictions by plea of guilty to

possession of a controlled substance, theft in the second degree, and taking a motor

vehicle in King County Superior Court No. 89-1-01189-8.

In November 2022, Agee filed a personal restraint petition seeking to vacate his

1989 drug possession conviction pursuant to State v. Blake, 197 Wn.2d 170, 195, 173,

481 P.3d 521 (2021) (holding that former RCW 69.50.4013(1), the statute criminalizing

simple drug possession, is unconstitutional and void). In February 2023, Agee filed an

amended petition additionally challenging his 2006 judgment and sentence. The acting

chief judge dismissed Agee’s challenge to his judgment and sentence under RAP

16.8.1(b) and referred his request to vacate his 1989 drug possession conviction to a

panel of judges.

On September 20, 2023, the State informed this court that the superior court No. 84740-6-I/2

vacated Agee’s 1989 drug possession conviction on July 21, 2023. Because Agee has

received the relief he requested, this claim is now moot. See In re Pers. Restraint of

Cross, 99 Wn.2d 373, 376-77, 662 P.2d 828 (1983) (a claim is moot if the court can

provide no effective relief). Accordingly, the petition is dismissed.

FOR THE COURT:

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