State v. Mandanas

168 Wash. 2d 84
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 28, 2010
DocketNo. 80441-9
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 168 Wash. 2d 84 (State v. Mandanas) 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. Mandanas, 168 Wash. 2d 84 (Wash. 2010).

Opinions

Alexander, J.

¶1 A jury convicted Bayani John Mandanas of felony assault and felony harassment, both while armed with a firearm. The trial court ruled that the offenses were not the same criminal conduct for purposes of RCW 9.94A.589(1)(a) (the sentencing statute) and that the firearm enhancements were to run consecutively. The Court of Appeals partially vacated the trial court’s ruling, holding that the offenses were the same criminal conduct and that the enhancements were to run consecutively. State v. Mandanas, noted at 139 Wn. App. 1017, 2007 WL 1739702, at *10, 2007 Wash. App. LEXIS 1654, at *26, review granted in part, 163 Wn.2d 1021, 185 P.3d 1994 (2008).

¶2 Mandanas contends that a sentencing court cannot impose multiple enhancements under RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e) (the enhancement statute) when the offenses are considered the same criminal conduct under the sentencing statute. He also contends that the enhancement statute is ambiguous in these circumstances and that the rule of lenity therefore applies. In the alternative, he claims that the enhancements violate double jeopardy. We reject Mandanas’s primary arguments and do not reach his alternative assertion. We accordingly affirm the Court of Appeals.

I

¶3 During an altercation between Mandanas and Carlos Padilla on December 20, 2004, Mandanas punched Padilla in the face, hit him in the head with a gun, and then pointed the gun at Padilla’s head and threatened to kill him. Padilla managed to retreat into a medical clinic, but Mandanas followed and again hit Padilla in the head with the gun before fleeing the scene. Mandanas was convicted of one count of felony assault in the second degree and one count [87]*87of felony harassment. The trial court sentenced Mandanas to three months’ confinement for each offense, with the sentences to be served concurrently. It concluded that the offenses did not constitute the same criminal conduct and imposed a firearm enhancement for each offense, ordering that the enhancements run consecutively to the underlying sentences and to each other.

¶4 The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court in part, vacated Mandanas’s sentence, and remanded for resentencing. In relevant part, the Court of Appeals determined that the trial court abused its discretion by holding that Mandanas’s offenses did not constitute the same criminal conduct for purposes of the sentencing statute. The Court of Appeals upheld the two consecutive firearm enhancements imposed by the trial court and concluded that the enhancements did not violate double jeopardy. We granted review “only as to the sentencing issue.” Wash. Supreme Court Order, State v. Mandanas, No. 80441-9 (Apr. 30, 2008).

II

¶5 “Statutory interpretation is a question of law that this court reviews de novo.” State v. Williams, 158 Wn.2d 904, 908, 148 P.3d 993 (2006) (citing Am. Cont’l Ins. Co. v. Steen, 151 Wn.2d 512, 518, 91 P.3d 864 (2004)). “When interpreting any statute, our primary objective is to ‘ascertain and give effect to the intent of the Legislature.’ ” Koenig v. City of Des Moines, 158 Wn.2d 173, 181, 142 P.3d 162 (2006) (quoting Nat’l Elec. Contractors Ass’n v. Riveland, 138 Wn.2d 9, 19, 978 P.2d 481 (1999)). “ ‘In order to determine legislative intent, we begin with the statute’s plain language and ordinary meaning.’ ” Id. (quoting Nat’l Elec. Contractors Ass’n, 138 Wn.2d at 19). If the plain language of a statute is subject to only one interpretation, then our inquiry ends. State v. Armendariz, 160 Wn.2d 106, 110, 156 P.3d 201 (2007) (citing State v. J.P., 149 Wn.2d 444, 450, 69 P.3d 318 (2003)). If a statute is subject to more than one reasonable interpretation, it is ambiguous. State ex rel. [88]*88M.M.G. v. Graham, 159 Wn.2d 623, 632, 152 P.3d 1005 (2007). The rule of lenity requires us to interpret an ambiguous criminal statute in favor of the defendant absent legislative intent to the contrary. State v. Jacobs, 154 Wn.2d 596, 601, 115 P.3d 281 (2005) (citing In re Post-sentencing Review of Charles, 135 Wn.2d 239, 249, 955 P.2d 798 (1998); State v. Roberts, 117 Wn.2d 576, 585, 817 P.2d 855 (1991)).

Ill

¶6 We must decide whether sentencing courts are statutorily required to impose multiple enhancements where a defendant is convicted of multiple enhancement-eligible offenses that constitute the same criminal conduct under the sentencing statute. Mandanas argues that the legislature did not authorize multiple enhancements where a defendant is sentenced for the same criminal conduct. Pet’r’s Suppl. Br. at 10. The State responds that this argument “is not supported by the language of the statutes in question.” Suppl. Br. of Resp’t at 9. We agree with the State.

¶7 Under the enhancement statute, firearm enhancements are clearly mandatory for all enhancement-eligible offenses irrespective of the terms of the sentencing statute.1 The enhancement statute provides in relevant part, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all firearm enhancements under this section are mandatory, shall be served in total confinement, and shall run consecutively to all other sentencing provisions, including other firearm or deadly weapon enhancements, for all offenses sentenced under this chapter” RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e) (emphasis added). We agree with what Justice Madsen has written in another case: “[The enhancement statute] seems to clearly anticipate [89]*89the possibility of multiple enhancements in the case of multiple offenses . . . .” State v. DeSantiago, 149 Wn.2d 402, 423, 68 P.3d 1065 (2003) (Madsen, J., concurring in part, dissenting in part) (discussing former RCW 9.94A.510(3)(e) (2000), recodified as RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e) (Laws op 2002, ch. 290, §§ 10, 11)). This reasoning is consistent with the provision in subsection (3) of RCW 9.94A.533 that provides, “If the offender is being sentenced for more than one offense, the firearm enhancement or enhancements

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168 Wash. 2d 84, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mandanas-wash-2010.