State Of Washington, V. Abebe Richard Hehn

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedAugust 2, 2021
Docket80864-8
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington, V. Abebe Richard Hehn (State Of Washington, V. Abebe Richard Hehn) 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
State Of Washington, V. Abebe Richard Hehn, (Wash. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 80864-8-I

Appellant, DIVISION ONE v.

ABEBE RICHARD HEHN, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Respondent.

CHUN, J. — The trial court found Abebe Hehn guilty of bail jumping and

failure to register as a sex offender. Because of a purported multiplier effect from

Hehn’s prior convictions and the effect of the bail jumping charge on his

presumptive sentence, the trial court imposed an exceptional downward

sentence. It also reduced his term of community custody. The State appeals,

saying the trial court erred in imposing an exceptional downward sentence. For

the reasons discussed below, we remand for resentencing and to impose the full

term of community custody, though the trial court may again impose an

exceptional downward sentence.

I. BACKGROUND

In 2011, while 17 or 18 years old, Hehn pleaded guilty to third degree rape

of a child, requiring him to register as a sex offender for 10 years. In 2015, Hehn

pleaded guilty to failure to register. In March 2017, Hehn again pleaded guilty to

failure to register, requiring him to register as a sex offender for another 10 years

and resulting in 36 months of community custody following his conviction.

Citations and pin cites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material. No. 80864-8-I/2

In September 2017, apparently homeless, Hehn registered his address at

the Everett Gospel Mission. If a person subject to sex offender registration

requirements lives in “temporary homeless housing” or lives outdoors, they must

check in weekly with the sheriff’s office. Hehn was in the Department of

Corrections’ custody for three weeks following October 28, 2017 and again on

January 7, 2018. But otherwise, between September 18, 2017, and January 9,

2018, he did not check in with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office or check in

or register with any other jurisdiction.

On January 17, 2018, in this case, the State charged Hehn with failure to

register. In March 2018, Hehn failed to appear for an omnibus hearing and the

court issued a bench warrant.

The State amended the information to charge Hehn with an additional

failure to register charge and four counts of bail jumping. It later filed a second

amended information that charged Hehn with only one count of failure to register

and one count of bail jumping.

After a bench trial, the trial court found Hehn guilty of bail jumping and

failure to register.

Because of Hehn’s prior convictions for third degree rape of a child, two

counts of failure to register, possession of a controlled substance,1 and third

degree assault, Hehn’s offender score for failure to register was nine. Hehn

received three points for his rape of a child charge because of a multiplier for sex

1 In light of our Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Blake, 197 Wn.2d 170, 481 P.3d 521 (2021), we expect that, on remand, the trial court will address the validity of this conviction.

2 No. 80864-8-I/3

offenses, one point for each failure to register, one point for each other felony

conviction, one point for the current offense of bail jumping, and another point

because he failed to register while on community custody. Hehn’s offender score

for bail jumping was seven; one point for each felony conviction, one point for the

current offense of failure to register, and another point because he bail jumped

while on community custody. As a result, the standard range for failure to

register was 43 to 57 months and the standard range for bail jumping was 33 to

43 months. The State requested 50 months’ confinement for the failure to

register charge, running concurrently with 38 months for the bail jumping charge.

Hehn requested an exceptional downward sentence of 18 months with no

community custody.

Before sentencing, the trial court considered a portion of a documentary

by journalist Dan Rather titled “Unwanted in America” that, in part, tracked

Hehn’s life story. Hehn was adopted from Ethiopia into a family of about 30 other

adopted children and after an allegation that he sexually contacted one of his

adopted siblings, pleaded guilty to rape of a child in the third degree. After his

release from prison, Hehn became homeless. At the sentencing hearing, the trial

court stated that it appreciated the opportunity to view the video and for the

parties’ attention to it in their sentencing memoranda.

The trial court imposed an exceptional downward sentence for the

charges, with 25 months’ confinement for failure to register running concurrently

with 25 months’ confinement for bail jumping. The trial court reasoned that if it

3 No. 80864-8-I/4

ignored the multiplier effect for the third degree rape of a child charge, Hehn’s

offender score for failure to register would be 7, and the new standard range

would be 22 to 29 months. As a part of its exceptional downward sentence, it

imposed 12 months of community custody for failure to register. The court wrote

in its findings of fact and conclusions of law about its departure from standard

sentencing guidelines that Hehn’s duty to register stems from a conviction as an adult for criminal conduct which occurred when he was youthful (either [17] or [18] years of age). Mr. Hehn has subsequently been affected by poverty, homelessness, and other collateral consequences which may be traced, at least in part, to his status as a registered sex offender and the unique circumstances of his life history. The court has considered the purpose of the Sentencing Reform Act, which sets forth seven factors for courts to consider in imposing a sentence. On the facts and issues presented in this case, the court struggles to reconcile the following factors: to ensure that the punishment for a criminal offense is proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the offender’s criminal history; to promote respect for the law by providing punishment which is just; to be commensurate with the punishment imposed on others committing similar offenses; to offer the offender an opportunity to improve himself; and to make frugal use of the governments’ resources. This case involves a massive jump in terms of potential incarceration from his prior offenses to the current standard range. After his initial prison sentence for the underlying initial offense (an adult conviction for youthful conduct), on his first offense for Failure to Register the defendant served 30 days in jail. He subsequently served a sentence of 12-months-and-one-day for a subsequent conviction for another combination of offenses which were imposed concurrently, including another conviction for Failing to Register. For his third Failure to Register conviction, under the standard range, he now faces a sentence that is roughly three times greater than his most recent previous sentence due largely to the multiplier effects of his prior convictions. The sentence in this matter also involves a conviction for the crime of bail jumping, which adds to the defendant’s offender score

4 No. 80864-8-I/5

and increases his standard range. The court struggles to reconcile the underlying purpose of the crime of bail jumping. Arising from the problem of cases where the state can no longer prove an underlying case due to a defendant’s absence from proceedings, the law addressing Bail Jumping is meant to provide a way to hold the defendant accountable.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Jeannotte
947 P.2d 1192 (Washington Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Powers
896 P.2d 754 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1995)
State v. Nordby
723 P.2d 1117 (Washington Supreme Court, 1986)
State v. Hortman
886 P.2d 234 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1994)
State v. Pascal
736 P.2d 1065 (Washington Supreme Court, 1987)
State v. Law
110 P.3d 717 (Washington Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Blake
481 P.3d 521 (Washington Supreme Court, 2021)
State v. Ha'mim
940 P.2d 633 (Washington Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Jeannotte
133 Wash. 2d 847 (Washington Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Ferguson
15 P.3d 1271 (Washington Supreme Court, 2001)
State v. Law
154 Wash. 2d 85 (Washington Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Graham
337 P.3d 319 (Washington Supreme Court, 2014)
State v. Bruch
346 P.3d 724 (Washington Supreme Court, 2015)
State v. O'Dell
358 P.3d 359 (Washington Supreme Court, 2015)
State v. Murray
116 P.3d 1072 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2005)
State v. France
308 P.3d 812 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2013)
Gamboa v. Clark
321 P.3d 1236 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State Of Washington, V. Abebe Richard Hehn, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-washington-v-abebe-richard-hehn-washctapp-2021.