State v. Graham

337 P.3d 319, 181 Wash. 2d 878
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 13, 2014
DocketNo. 89869-3
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 337 P.3d 319 (State v. Graham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Graham, 337 P.3d 319, 181 Wash. 2d 878 (Wash. 2014).

Opinion

¶1 The issue in this case is whether a sentencing court may impose an exceptional sentence downward if the judge finds the multiple offense policy of RCW 9.94A-.589 results in a presumptive sentence that is clearly excessive in light of the purposes of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (SRA), chapter 9.94A RCW. We need look only to the plain language of the SRA to conclude the sentencing court has such discretion.

Yu, J.

Facts and Procedural History

f 2 This case results from Jason Allen Graham’s methamphetamine-induced shooting spree in January 2002. At about 1:00 a.m., a police officer stopped the vehicle Graham was driving. Over the next several minutes, Graham used an AK-47 to fire at six different police officers during a foot chase through downtown Spokane. Fortunately, he was the only person physically injured in the incident. Graham was convicted by a jury in 2003 of 10 offenses, including 6 “serious violent offenses” for sentencing purposes under the SRA. RCW 9.94A.030(45). He received an aggregate sentence of 1,225.5 months, the result of an increased [881]*881offender score and consecutive sentences in accordance with RCW 9.94A.589(l)(b), in addition to several firearm enhancements.

¶3 The Court of Appeals affirmed the original judgment and sentence, but we granted review and remanded to the Court of Appeals to reconsider the firearm enhancements in light of State v. Williams-Walker, 167 Wn.2d 889, 225 P.3d 913 (2010). State v. Graham, 169 Wn.2d 1005, 234 P.3d 210 (2010). On reconsideration, the Court of Appeals vacated Graham’s sentence and remanded for resentencing. State v. Graham, noted at 163 Wn. App. 1011 (2011), review denied, 173 Wn.2d 1011 (2012).

¶4 At resentencing Graham asked for an exceptional sentence downward of 25 years. He argued RCW 9.94A-.535(l)(g) — the “multiple offense policy” mitigating factor— permitted both a departure from the standard range and imposition of concurrent sentences. The original sentencing judge expressed regret at the presumptive sentencing range for Graham’s serious violent offenses. The judge stated on the record that there was no authority to impose an exceptional sentence:

And quite frankly, in my mind [the presumptive sentence is] an awful lot of time for this. . . .
... I don’t agree with this sentence. I don’t agree with it. I’m not suggesting that you don’t deserve a punishment. . . . But without some other mitigating circumstance, my hands are tied. Again, I don’t write the laws; the legislature writes the laws. And this type of a scenario was something that was anticipated by the law-writers when they wrote the law. So I don’t believe that I have a choice but to sentence you within the standard sentence range. It is going to be a low-end sentence, however.

Verbatim Report of Proceedings at 28-29. The judge imposed a sentence at the low end of the standard range for each serious violent offense to run consecutively, for a total sentence of 82.1 years. Graham again appealed his sentence, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. State v. Graham, 178 Wn. App. 580, 314 P.3d 1148 (2013). We granted review [882]*882to determine whether RCW 9.94A.535(l)(g) permits exceptional sentences for multiple serious violent offenses scored under RCW 9.94A.589(l)(b). State v. Graham, 180 Wn.2d 1013, 327 P.3d 55 (2014).

Analysis

¶5 As with all statutes, we interpret the SRA de novo to discern and implement the legislature’s intent. State v. Jones, 172 Wn.2d 236, 242, 257 P.3d 616 (2011). We look first to the plain language, which, if unambiguous, ends the inquiry. State v. Armendariz, 160 Wn.2d 106, 110, 156 P.3d 201 (2007). We enforce the plain meaning of statutes. If there is no plain meaning and the language is ambiguous, we may glean the statute’s intent from its legislative history. Id. at 110-11.

A

¶6 Under the SRA, a sentencing court generally must impose a sentence within the standard sentencing range. RCW 9.94A.505(2)(a)(i). However, the SRA authorizes a departure from the standard range in some circumstances. See RCW 9.94A.535. Specifically, .535(1) lists mitigating circumstances that a court might rely on depending on the facts of the particular case. The one at issue here is .535(l)(g):

The court may impose an exceptional sentence below the standard range if it finds that mitigating circumstances are established by a preponderance of the evidence. The following are illustrative only and are not intended to be exclusive reasons for exceptional sentences.
. . . The operation of the multiple offense policy of RCW 9.94A.589 results in a presumptive sentence that is clearly excessive in light of the purpose of this chapter, as expressed in RCW 9.94A.010.

[883]*883The “multiple offense policy of RCW 9.94A.589” that .535(l)(g) references contains five subsections. Those relevant in this case are subsections (l)(a) and (l)(b), which advise sentencing courts when sentences for multiple current offenses are presumed to run concurrent or consecutive to one another.

¶7 The State argues “the multiple offense policy of RCW 9.94A.589” does not include multiple serious violent offenses under .589(l)(b) because its sole purpose “is to permit consecutive sentences in an otherwise concurrent mandate.” Suppl. Br. at 5. The State contends the legislature intended to foreclose exceptional sentences for serious violent offenses. So we must decide if .535(l)(g) applies equally to subsections (l)(a) and (l)(b) of .589.

B

¶8 We need look only to .535(l)(g)’s plain meaning to conclude the legislature considered exceptional sentences possible for some serious violent offenses.

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Bluebook (online)
337 P.3d 319, 181 Wash. 2d 878, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-graham-wash-2014.