State v. Miller

159 Wash. App. 911
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 7, 2011
DocketNo. 64350-9-I
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 159 Wash. App. 911 (State v. Miller) 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. Miller, 159 Wash. App. 911 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Dwyer, C.J.

¶1 — Where a defendant violates the conditions of his suspended sentence granted pursuant to the special sex offender sentencing alternative (SSOSA), even where the violation occurs 9 years into a 10-year suspended sentence, a trial court may properly revoke the SSOSA, reinstate the original sentence, and include an additional term of community custody to be served after incarceration. The prohibition against double jeopardy is not violated by the imposition of a term of postincarceration community custody notwithstanding that the defendant already served community custody during the suspended SSOSA sentence. However, the term of postincarceration community custody that may be imposed is limited by statute. Because the trial court herein imposed a term of community custody exceeding the three-year term authorized by the legislature, we remand for resentencing. We affirm in all other respects.

[915]*915I

¶2 In 2000, when he was 18 years old, Nicholas Miller was found guilty, after a stipulated bench trial, of rape of a child in the first degree, a violation of RCW 9A.44.073. The conviction was a result of Miller’s having performed oral sex on his six-year-old nephew in 1998. Because Miller had no prior criminal history, the standard sentencing range for his crime was a term of incarceration set between 93 and 123 months. Miller was sentenced to 123 months, but the trial court suspended the sentence pursuant to SSOSA. Thus, he was incarcerated for only four months and was ordered to complete a 36-month outpatient sex offender treatment program.

¶3 After his release from incarceration and shortly after beginning his sexual deviancy treatment, Miller violated the conditions of his suspended sentence by moving into a friend’s home in which a minor child lived. As a sanction for this violation, Miller was incarcerated for 45 days. The trial court also modified Miller’s sentence to include a provision stating, “Defendant shall NOT have contact with minor children, no exceptions.” Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 99.

¶4 Miller completed treatment in June 2003.1 Upon Miller’s termination from treatment, two conditions were modified: he was allowed to consume small amounts of alcohol, and he was allowed to “pursue prospective partners” with the guidance of his community corrections officer (CCO). CP at 94. Miller then abided by the conditions of his suspended sentence for the next several years, regularly meeting with his CCO and passing his required polygraph tests.

¶5 In September 2008, Miller requested that the trial court modify his sentence by reducing the period of suspension from 123 months to 93 months. The motion was transferred to our court as a personal restraint petition. [916]*916Because the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (SRA), chapter 9.94A RCW, does not authorize a change in sentence once imposed, we dismissed the petition. Subsequently, the trial court modified the conditions of Miller’s SSOSA to allow the Department of Corrections to modify the requirements of Miller’s supervision.

¶6 In March 2009, Miller requested that the trial court modify the conditions of his sentence so that his consumption of alcohol was unrestricted, that he would be allowed to have a relationship with a woman who had a minor child, and that he would be allowed to reside with or be in the presence of a child without the supervision of an adult. A few weeks later, Miller informed his CCO that he was withdrawing his motion to modify. However, that same day, Miller rescheduled the hearing on the motion to a date in May. When confronted with his deception regarding the motion to modify, Miller initially denied rescheduling the hearing. However, he later admitted that he had changed the date.

¶7 In June 2009, Miller was given permission to travel to Las Vegas, on the condition that he would submit to a polygraph examination upon returning to Washington. Miller took the required polygraph exam, which revealed that Miller had answered deceptively to the question of whether he had stayed the night anywhere other than at his two authorized locations. The polygraph test was inconclusive as to Miller’s responses to questions concerning whether he had been around minor children or had sexual contact with anyone. When the polygraph examiner inquired about Miller’s deceptive answer, Miller explained that he had stayed the night at a friend’s house.

¶8 Miller met with his CCO after the polygraph. His CCO requested Miller’s friend’s contact information, in order to verify Miller’s explanation. Miller then admitted that he was in a relationship with a woman, Tracy. He had dated Tracy for a short while in 2008 but had discovered that she had an eight-year-old son who was blind and mildly autistic. According to Miller, he broke up with Tracy [917]*917after his CCO recommended against the relationship. However, in 2009, Miller began dating her again, despite his CCO’s earlier disapproval.

¶9 Miller initially denied having any contact with his girl friend’s son. However, after he was informed that his next polygraph would focus on his contact with minors, Miller admitted that he had given the boy high-fives, had exchanged a few words with the boy, and had allowed the boy to look at his tattoos. After Miller’s next polygraph indicated that Miller was not answering truthfully to questions regarding Tracy’s son, Miller admitted that he had indeed been around the child unaccompanied. On occasion, when Tracy needed help, Miller would pick her son up from the school bus drop-off and watch the child for several hours until Tracy got home. In addition, Miller had been alone with the young boy once when Tracy was sick.

f 10 Miller’s CCO filed a notice of violation, alleging six violations and recommending revocation of Miller’s SSOSA “[d]ue to the long term, serious nature of the violations and the current status of Mr. Miller in the child’s family.” CP at 16. At the violation hearing, the trial court heard testimony from both Miller and his therapist. The trial court vacated Miller’s SSOSA and revoked the order suspending the execution of Miller’s sentence, thus imposing Miller’s original sentence, with credit for time served. The trial court also imposed 10 years of community placement, to be served after Miller’s incarceration.

¶11 Miller appeals.

II

¶12 Miller first contends that the trial court abused its discretion by revoking his suspended sentence. We disagree.

¶13 The SSOSA statute provides that a sentencing court may suspend the sentence of a first-time sexual offender if the offender is shown to be amenable to treatment. RCW 9.94A.670; former RCW 9.94A.120(8)(a)(i), (ii) (1998). A SSOSA sentence may be revoked at any time [918]*918where there is sufficient proof to reasonably satisfy the trial court that the defendant has violated a condition of the suspended sentence or has failed to make satisfactory progress in treatment. State v. McCormick, 166 Wn.2d 689, 705, 213 P.3d 32 (2009); RCW 9.94A.670

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Bluebook (online)
159 Wash. App. 911, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-miller-washctapp-2011.