State v. McAninch

358 P.3d 448, 189 Wash. App. 619
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedAugust 18, 2015
DocketNos. 46072-6-II; 46668-6-II
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 358 P.3d 448 (State v. McAninch) 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 v. McAninch, 358 P.3d 448, 189 Wash. App. 619 (Wash. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

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Lee, J.

Joel Duane McAninch appeals the trial court’s denial of his CrR 7.8 motion for relief from judgment, arguing that the sentencing court miscalculated the offender score for his 2013 felony conviction for driving [622]*622under the influence (DUI). In his pro se statement of additional grounds (SAG) and his consolidated personal restraint petition, McAninch also challenges the offender score supporting his sentence for a 2011 felony DUI conviction.

¶2 Because the sentencing court did not err in including points for McAninch’s 2004 conviction for attempting to elude and his active community custody status in his 2013 offender score, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying his CrR 7.8 motion. We do not address the SAG challenge to the 2011 judgment and sentence because it is untimely and beyond the scope of this appeal. And, because McAninch has served the term of confinement imposed in 2011, we deny his personal restraint petition as moot. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order denying relief under CrR 7.8 and deny the personal restraint petition.

FACTS

f 3 On March 7, 2013, McAninch pleaded guilty to felony DUI and three gross misdemeanors: first degree driving while license suspended, third degree malicious mischief, and first degree criminal trespass. McAninch’s offender score of 6 included one point for a 2004 attempting to elude conviction, one point for a prior felony DUI conviction, three points for prior nonfelony DUI convictions, and one point because McAninch was on community custody at the time of his current offenses.

¶4 At his sentencing on March 12, the trial court addressed McAninch: “You’re a really, really dangerous individual. We sent you to prison and you lasted about two months before you were driving drunk again.” Verbatim Report of Proceedings (Mar. 12, 2013) at 7. The trial court imposed a high-end sentence of 54 months on the felony DUI and suspended most or all of the 364-day sentences on each of the gross misdemeanors.

¶5 On January 23,2014, McAninch filed a pro se CrR 7.8 motion for relief from judgment in which he sought resen-[623]*623tencing on his 2013 felony DUI conviction. McAninch argued that the trial court erred in including his 2004 conviction for attempting to elude in his offender score and cited authority supporting his argument. After a brief hearing on the motion, the trial court concluded that McAninch’s offender score was correct.

¶6 McAninch appealed that ruling and filed a personal restraint petition that challenged his 2013 offender score as well as the offender score in his 2011 judgment and sentence for felony DUI. He then submitted a SAG raising the same offender score challenges. At his request, we consolidated the appeal and the personal restraint petition. We first address his direct appeal and then turn to his personal restraint petition.

ANALYSIS

A. STANDARD OF REVIEW

f7 A trial court may relieve a defendant from a final judgment because of mistake, inadvertence, fraud, a void judgment, or for any other reason justifying relief. CrR 7.8(b); State v. Gomez-Florencio, 88 Wn. App. 254, 258, 945 P.2d 228 (1997), review denied, 134 Wn.2d 1026 (1998). A trial court has jurisdiction under CrR 7.8 to correct an erroneous sentence. State v. Hardesty, 129 Wn.2d 303, 315, 915 P.2d 1080 (1996). We review the trial court’s decision on a CrR 7.8 motion for abuse of discretion. Gomez-Florencio, 88 Wn. App. at 258. A trial court abuses its discretion if its decision is manifestly unreasonable or based on untenable grounds. State v. Powell, 126 Wn.2d 244, 258, 893 P.2d 615 (1995). A decision is based on untenable grounds if it is based on an erroneous view of the law. State v. Slocum, 183 Wn. App. 438, 449, 333 P.3d 541 (2014).

B. Offender Score Calculation

¶8 McAninch argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his CrR 7.8 motion because his [624]*624sentence was erroneous. McAninch contends that the sentencing court incorrectly applied the offender score rules set forth in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (SRA), chapter 9.94A RCW. We disagree.

¶9 The statute that applies to McAninch’s sentence is former RCW 9.94A.525 (2011).1 Our objective in interpreting this statute is to ascertain and carry out the legislature’s intent. State v. Kintz, 169 Wn.2d 537, 547, 238 P.3d 470 (2010). We first look to the statute’s plain meaning to determine legislative intent. State v. Polk, 187 Wn. App. 380, 389, 348 P.3d 1255 (2015). Where the meaning of statutory language is plain on its face, we must give effect to that plain meaning as an expression of legislative intent. State v. Alvarado, 164 Wn.2d 556, 562,192 P.3d 345 (2008). In discerning the plain meaning of a statute, we consider all that the legislature has said in the statute and related statutes that disclose legislative intent. State v. Winkle, 159 Wn. App. 323, 328, 245 P.3d 249 (2011), review denied, 173 Wn.2d 1007 (2012). Interpretations rendering any portion of a statute meaningless should not be adopted, and we avoid constructions that result in unlikely or absurd results. State v. Keller, 143 Wn.2d 267, 277, 19 P.3d 1030 (2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1130 (2002).

¶10 RCW 9.94A.525(11) sets forth the calculation of an offender score for a felony traffic offense: “for each felony offense count one point for each adult and 1/2 point for each juvenile prior conviction.” See State v. Rodriguez, 183 Wn. App. 947, 955 n.4, 335 P.3d 448 (2014) (citing RCW 9.94A-.525(11) in referring to SRA rules for calculating offender scores), review denied, 182 Wn.2d 1022 (2015).

fll Despite this seemingly unambiguous directive, McAninch argues that former RCW 9.94A.525(2)(e) controls the calculation of the offender score for his felony DUI [625]*625conviction, not RCW 9.94A.525(11). Former subsection (2)(e) states:

If the present conviction is felony driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug (RCW 46.61.502

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358 P.3d 448, 189 Wash. App. 619, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcaninch-washctapp-2015.