State v. Mohamed

350 P.3d 671, 187 Wash. App. 630
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 18, 2015
DocketNo. 72328-6-I
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 350 P.3d 671 (State v. Mohamed) 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. Mohamed, 350 P.3d 671, 187 Wash. App. 630 (Wash. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Cox, J.

¶1 Ali Abukar Mohamed appeals his judgment and sentence for his four convictions of delivery of cocaine that included school zone enhancements for three of these convictions. He argues that the trial court improperly limited impeachment of a police informant who testified at trial. He claims that the lead detective, who also testified at [634]*634trial, “improperly vouched” for the informant. Additionally, Mohamed seeks a remand for a new sentencing hearing based on his claim that the trial court improperly exercised its discretion based on a mistaken belief about sentencing enhancements. And he claims he is entitled to a mitigated exceptional sentence.

¶2 We hold that Mohamed failed to preserve the impeachment and vouching claims and cannot make them for the first time on appeal. But there are sentencing alternatives that are potentially available to him based on a correct understanding of sentencing enhancements. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying his request for a mitigated exceptional sentence. Accordingly, we affirm his convictions and remand for a new sentencing hearing for the trial court to consider the full range of available sentencing options.

¶3 The Seattle Police Department (SPD) began its investigation in this case when a confidential informant told his handler, Detective Samuel DeJesus, that a man named “Dime” was selling crack cocaine out of his business. The informant later identified “Dime” as Mohamed.

¶4 Detective DeJesus arranged for the informant to make five “controlled buys” from Mohamed. The police indicated they were attempting to determine whether Mohamed also trafficked weapons.

¶5 Three of the controlled buys occurred between April 2012 and May 2012. The remaining two occurred in November 2012 and February 2013. On each occasion, Detective DeJesus gave the informant about $150 and the informant returned with a small rock of cocaine. The first four controlled buys took place at Mohamed’s clothing store, which was about 300 feet from an elementary school. The final controlled buy took place in Mohamed’s vehicle. During each transaction, the informant wore a hidden camera.

¶6 Based on these transactions, the State charged Mohamed, by amended information, with five counts of deliv[635]*635ery of cocaine. Four counts included special allegations that the crimes were committed within 1,000 feet of a school.

¶7 The jury acquitted Mohamed of the first delivery charge and special allegation. It found him guilty of the other four delivery charges. The jury also found him guilty of the other three special allegations.

¶8 At sentencing, the parties agreed that each delivery conviction required imprisonment within a base standard range of 20 to 60 months. They also agreed that school zone enhancements of 24 months applied to each of the three convictions on the special allegations.

¶9 In his sentencing memorandum, Mohamed asked the trial court not to impose a standard sentence. Instead, he sought the imposition of an alternative sentence based on either a parenting sentencing alternative (PSA) under RCW 9.94A.655 or a drug offender sentencing alternative (DOSA) under RCW 9.94A.660. He also sought a mitigated exceptional sentence based on what he called “sentencing entrapment” and “sentencing manipulation.”1

¶10 In response, the State argued that sentence alternatives “only waive imposition of the standard range part of a sentence.”2 It further claimed, “The defendant must be sentenced to the School Zone Enhancements he was convicted on separate and distinctly from imposition of, or in the alternative to, the standard range.”3 It appears from the record that the State took the position that Mohamed “will be serving 72 months in prison for the [school zone] enhancements.”4

¶11 At the sentencing hearing, the trial court made clear that it believed it had no authority to waive the enhance-[636]*636merits if it chose to impose an alternative sentence, stating, “There has to be a 72-month sentence [enhancement]. I have no choice in the matter.”5 Accordingly, the court imposed concurrent sentences of 20 months on each of four delivery convictions. The court also imposed three school zone enhancements of 24 months each, to be served consecutively to each other and consecutively to the three delivery sentences, for a total sentence of 92 months.

¶12 Mohamed appeals.

SENTENCING

¶13 Mohamed makes two arguments on appeal. First, he argues that the trial court mistakenly believed that it did not have the authority to waive the enhancements if it chose to impose either a PSA or a DOSA. Second, he contends that he is entitled to a remand for resentencing. We agree with both arguments.

“Standard Range Sentence”

¶14 The threshold issue is whether the trial court had the authority to waive the 24-month school zone enhancements specified by RCW 9.94A.533(6) in favor of either of two sentencing alternatives.6 One alternative was the DOSA under RCW 9.94A.660. The other was the PSA under RCW 9.94A.655. Both of these two latter statutes provide sentencing alternatives that may be imposed in lieu of a sentence within the “standard sentence range” for eligible offenders.7

[637]*637¶15 A court’s fundamental objective in reading a statute is to ascertain and carry out the legislature’s intent.8 If a statute’s meaning is plain on its face, then the court must give effect to that plain meaning.9 Under the plain meaning rule, such meaning is derived from all that the legislature has said in the statute and related statutes that disclose legislative intent about the provision in question.10 A court should not adopt an interpretation that renders any portion of the statute meaningless or superfluous.11 The meaning of a statute is a question of law that the court reviews de novo.12

¶16 Under RCW 9.94A.660(3), the DOSA statute:

If the sentencing court determines that the offender is eligible for an alternative sentence under this section and that the alternative sentence is appropriate, the court shall waive imposition of a sentence within the standard sentence range and impose a sentence consisting of either a prison-based alternative under RCW 9.94A.662 or a residential chemical dependency treatment-based alternative under RCW 9.94A.664

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State Of Washington, V. Scott Joseph Perrin
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2025
State Of Washington, V. Jose Rico Colon
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2023
State Of Washington, V. Anthony Sean Peluso
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2022
State Of Washington, V. Michael Ramsey
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021
State of Washington v. Susan Elizabeth Burnaroos
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021
State Of Washington, V. Warren E. Ring
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021
State Of Washington, V. Charles Gene Tatum, Iii
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021
State Of Washington v. Matthew Forrest Brasfield
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
State of Washington v. Abdul Rahman Sweidan
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
State Of Washington, . v. Francisco Cuahutemoc Vazquez
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2019
State v. Yancey
434 P.3d 518 (Washington Supreme Court, 2019)
State of Washington v. James Austin Yancey
418 P.3d 157 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2018)
State Of Washington, Resp. v. Ignacio Perez, App.
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2016

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
350 P.3d 671, 187 Wash. App. 630, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mohamed-washctapp-2015.