State v. Donaghe

256 P.3d 1171, 171 Wash. 2d 847
Washington Supreme Court·Decided June 30, 2011·No. 83738-4·Published·Cited by 23 cases

Opinion

256 P.3d 1171 (2011)
171 Wn.2d 847

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Samuel W. DONAGHE, Petitioner.

No. 83738-4.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

Argued October 19, 2010.
Decided June 30, 2011.

*1172 Dana M. Lind, Nielsen Broman & Koch PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

Carol L. La Verne, Thurston County Prosecutor's Office, Olympia, WA, for Respondent.

FAIRHURST, J.

¶ 1 Samuel W. Donaghe was convicted of second degree rape. He seeks restoration of his voting rights and petitions this court for review of the Court of Appeals decision affirming the trial court's denial of his motion for a certificate of discharge. Donaghe argues that (1) the trial court lacked the authority to deny his motion for a certificate of discharge, (2) the community placement portion of his sentence should not have tolled during his precommitment confinement and civil confinement as a sexually violent predator (SVP) at the Special Commitment Center (SCC), and (3) the tolling of his community placement sentence results in his unconstitutional disenfranchisement. We affirm the Court of Appeals.

I. FACTS

¶ 2 The State charged Donaghe with six counts of second degree rape of AT, a foreign exchange student living with Donaghe. Donaghe entered an Alford[1] plea to one count of second degree rape and one count of third degree rape, with both offenses occurring in September 1989. Donaghe received concurrent sentences of 42 and 17 months of incarceration for the second and third degree rapes and one year of community placement.[2]*1173 The trial court credited Donaghe with 19 months and 16 days for time served.

¶ 3 On May 10, 1995, the day Donaghe's incarceration was to end, the State filed a petition to confine Donaghe as an SVP under RCW 71.09.010.[3] Donaghe was transferred to precommitment civil detention at the SCC to await involuntary commitment proceedings.

¶ 4 On March 31, 2000, while awaiting his SVP commitment trial, Donaghe moved for a certificate of discharge for his rape convictions.[4] The State argued against discharge because Donaghe had not fulfilled his community placement sentence, which the State argued tolled while he was confined at the SCC, pursuant to former RCW 9.94A.170(3) (1988) of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981(SRA).[5] The trial court agreed with the State and denied Donaghe's motion for a certificate of discharge on May 19, 2000.

¶ 5 Three and a half years later, in September 2003, the court found that Donaghe was an SVP. The Court of Appeals affirmed in an unpublished opinion on August 3, 2005.

¶ 6 On November 2, 2007, the trial court heard Donaghe's renewed motion for a certificate of discharge but adhered to its May 19, 2000 ruling, stating that "the defendant's custodial detention tolls the running of the community placement requirement, and, thus, all aspects of the sentence have not yet been completed." Verbatim Report of Proceedings (VRP) (Nov. 2, 2007) at 6-7. At the conclusion of this hearing, Donaghe asserted that he had a letter from the Department of Corrections (DOC) (hereinafter DOC letter) "terminating my community corrections some time ago." Id. at 7. The trial court stated that if Donaghe could produce the DOC letter, its previous rulings "may need to be reconsidered." Id.

¶ 7 Donaghe filed a motion for reconsideration, attaching the DOC letter, dated January 23, 2006 and written by DOC Correctional Records Specialist Virginia Shamberg. The DOC letter stated:

Dear Mr. Donaghe:
This letter is in response to your request for conviction information and the dates of incarcerations of the above named[.]
Mr[.] Donaghe was convicted out of Thurston County (cause # XXXXXXXXX) on 10/30/91 for Rape 2nd and sentenced to a maximum term of 3 years & 6 months[.] He was convicted out of Thurston County (cause # XXXXXXXXX) on 10/30/91 for Rape 3 and sentenced to a maximum term of 1 year & 5 months[.] Mr[.] Donaghe was received at Washington Corrections Center on 6/8/94 and released on 4/25/96[.][[6]]
Mr[.] Donaghe was also convicted out of Thurston County (cause # XXXXXXXXX) on 10/30/91 for Assault 2nd and sentenced to a *1174 maximum term of 1 year & 1 month[.] He was on supervision with the Department of Corrections from 4/25/96 until 11/24/04 when these cases were terminated[.]

Clerk's Papers (CP) at 41. The trial court reheard Donaghe's motion for certificate of discharge. Donaghe argued the DOC letter constituted notification that he had completed the terms of his sentence and, thus, former RCW 9.94A.220 (1984)[7] required the court to issue a certificate of discharge. While recognizing that the DOC letter might constitute evidence that DOC considered the terms of Donaghe's sentence complete, the trial court denied the certificate of discharge, holding that Donaghe had not fulfilled the community placement portion of his sentence, which had been tolled by his SVP civil commitment at SCC. Donaghe appealed the trial court's decision.

¶ 8 In a split decision, the Court of Appeals affirmed and made three holdings. State v. Donaghe, 152 Wash.App. 97, 105-08 111-13, 215 P.3d 232 (2009). First, the Court of Appeals held the DOC letter was vague, did not constitute notice to the court, and, because Donaghe still had to complete community placement, he had not completed all requirements of his sentence. Id. at 111-12, 215 P.3d 232. Second, the Court of Appeals, relying on the plain language of former RCW 9.94A.030(3) and (4) (1989), held that because Donaghe was confined at SCC, his term of community placement could not "begin" until the State released Donaghe from confinement to the supervision of the community and, therefore, his sentence was incomplete and he was not entitled to a certificate of discharge. Donaghe, 152 Wash.App. at 108, 215 P.3d 232.[8] Third, the Court of Appeals held that the SVP civil commitment procedure did not punitively and unconstitutionally disenfranchise Donaghe and other SCC residents because "Donaghe's disenfranchisement arises from his commission of a felony, not from his civil commitment as an SVP. As a convicted felon, Donaghe possesses no fundamental right to vote until he fulfills the requirements for discharge, thus restoring his civil rights." Id. at 112, 215 P.3d 232 (footnote omitted). Finally, the Court of Appeals, in a footnote, referenced the passage of RCW 29A.08.520 in 2009. Donaghe,

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