State Of Washington v. Amonee Bledsoe

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION ONE STATE OF WASHINGTON, ) No. 81017-1-I ) Respondent, ) ) v. ) ) A.B., dob 04/20/2001, ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION ) Appellant. ) )

PER CURIAM — A juvenile court convicted A.B. of second degree rape and

disclosing intimate images and imposed a $100 DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

collection fee as part of his sentence. A.B. challenges the imposition of the fee,

citing RCW 43.43.7541, which provides that “[t]his fee shall not be imposed on

juvenile offenders if the state has previously collected the juvenile offender’s DNA

as a result of a prior conviction.” A.B. contends the record shows he had recently

been sentenced for fourth degree assault and thus would have already been

required to provide a DNA sample.

The State correctly points out that the record is silent as to whether A.B.’s

DNA was actually collected. See State v. Thibodeaux, 6 Wn. App. 2d 223, 230,

430 P.3d 700 (2018) (observing that defendants do not always submit to DNA

collection despite being ordered to do so), review denied, 192 Wn.2d 1029 (2019). No. 81017-1-I/2

In these circumstances, we remand to the trial court to determine whether the

State has previously collected a DNA sample from A.B. and, if so, to strike the

DNA collection fee from his disposition.

Remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FOR THE COURT: