State v. Phillips

972 P.2d 932, 94 Wash. App. 313
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 18, 1999
Docket16889-1-III
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 972 P.2d 932 (State v. Phillips) 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. Phillips, 972 P.2d 932, 94 Wash. App. 313 (Wash. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

Sweeney, J.

— A diversion agreement is an agreement between a juvenile and the State. It allows the juvenile to avoid prosecution by agreeing to fulfill a number of State-imposed conditions. RCW 13.40.080(1), (2); State v. Quiroz, 107 Wn.2d 791, 793-94, 733 P.2d 963 (1987). But the State must advise the juvenile of his or her right to a lawyer before entering into the agreement. RCW 13.40.080(10); JuCR 6.2(a); JuCR 6.3. The juvenile must also waive his or her right to an attorney—in writing. JuCR 6.3. The court rule, JuCR 6.3, sets out a form which clearly and succinctly accomplishes this requirement. Walla Walla County did not require that John Phillips sign a JuCR 6.3 waiver form before entering six separate diversion agreements.

*315 The first question here is whether Mr. Phillips can challenge the earlier diversion agreements in a later, unrelated juvenile disposition proceeding. Since we conclude that he may, we must answer two additional questions: (1) whether sufficient evidence supports the court’s finding that Mr. Phillips properly waived his right to an attorney, and (2) whether execution of a second form, one materially similar to the Advice About Diversion Process form required by JuCR 6.4, substantially satisfied the waiver requirements of JuCR 6.3. We answer both questions in the negative. We accordingly reverse Mr. Phillips’ sentence and remand for resentencing without consideration of the six earlier diversion agreements in his criminal history.

FACTS

The court found John Phillips, a juvenile, guilty of rape of a child in the first degree and being a minor in possession and/or consuming liquor. His criminal history included seven prior offenses. Six had been resolved by diversion agreements.

We segregate the diversion agreements signed by Mr. Phillips into two categories. In the first four, he signed a document that substantially complied with the form set out in JuCR 6.4 (Advice About Diversion Process form). That document included the following advice:

You have the right to talk to a lawyer about whether you should participate in Diversion or whether you should go to court. You will not have to pay for a lawyer if you cannot afford one. If you believe you did not commit this offense you should talk to a lawyer.

The last two agreements gave the same advice but then went on to require the following choice:

I choose to A:_ENTER INTO A DIVERSION
AGREEMENT,
B:__ GO TO COURT, OR,
C: TALK TO A LAWYER BEFORE
*316 MAKING A DECISION ABOUT DIVERSION.

Mr. Phillips chose A.

Mr. Phillips moved to exclude all six diversion agreements from his criminal history because he had not waived his right to an attorney before entering into the agreements—a requirement of JuCR 6.3. And he therefore argued that the Walla Walla County Juvenile Services did not satisfy the requirements of JuCR 6.2 1 or JuCR 6.3. 2

The court found that before he entered into the first four diversion agreements, Mr. Phillips had received a letter and read another document which informed him of his *317 right to counsel. The court also found that before signing the last two agreements, Mr. Phillips’ probation officer read and explained his right to a lawyer. The court further found that Mr. Phillips signed all six agreements containing the JuCR 6.4 advice of right to a lawyer.

Relying on State v. Ammons, 3 the court concluded that Mr. Phillips could not contest the propriety of the earlier diversion agreements in this later juvenile disposition proceeding. The court further concluded that Walla Walla’s diversion procedures satisfied the essentials of due process and fair play. Quiroz, 107 Wn.2d 791. And it included all six diversion agreement dispositions in his criminal history. It then sentenced Mr. Phillips to a standard range sentence.

DISCUSSION

Right to Challenge Earlier Diversion Agreements. A sentencing court cannot consider a prior conviction that is constitutionally invalid on its face—one that “evidences infirmities of a constitutional magnitude.” State v. Ammons, 105 Wn.2d at 187-88. The phrase “on its face” has been interpreted to mean those documents signed as part of a plea agreement. Id. at 187-89; State v. Aronson, 82 Wn. App. 762, 766, 919 P.2d 133 (1996). Failure to waive counsel is such a defect. State v. Herzog, 112 Wn.2d 419, 428-29, 771 P.2d 739 (1989) (explaining Burgett v. Texas, 389 U.S. 109, 88 S. Ct. 258, 19 L. Ed. 2d 319 (1967)).

A diversion agreement is not a conviction. Quiroz, 107 Wn.2d at 794. It is, however, included in a juvenile’s criminal history for sentencing purposes. Id. And because these agreements count as part of the juvenile’s criminal history, a juvenile may be denied future diversion or be subject to longer sentences for future offenses. Id. Like a conviction, the juvenile remains under State supervision. Id. By the agreement, the juvenile is subject to conditions like com *318 munity service, restitution, fines, counseling, or other restrictions. RCW 13.40.080(2); JuCR 6.4.

So although a juvenile may avoid “conviction” by this process, the consequences of the agreement are much the same as a “conviction.”

The prerequisites then for entering into a diversion agreement—including waiver of the right to counsel—must be apparent on the face of the agreement. Ammons, 105 Wn.2d at 187-89. For that reason, the diversion agreements here are defective. None of the documents Mr. Phillips signed demonstrate, on their face, that he waived counsel as required by JuCR 6.3.

Waiver of Counsel under JuCR 6.3. The next question is whether Mr. Phillips’ signature on his JuCR 6.4 Advice About Diversion Process form satisfies the JuCR 6.3 requirement that he waived the right to an attorney. We conclude it does not. None of the six agreements satisfy the essentials of due process and fair play. Quiroz, 107 Wn.2d at 798-99.

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Bluebook (online)
972 P.2d 932, 94 Wash. App. 313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-phillips-washctapp-1999.