State v. Thomas

144 P.3d 1178
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided October 13, 2006·No. 55556-1-I·Published·Cited by 30 cases

Opinion

144 P.3d 1178 (2006)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Gregory L. THOMAS, Appellant.

No. 55556-1-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

September 18, 2006.
As Amended and Publication Ordered October 13, 2006.

*1179 Maureen Marie Cyr, Washington Appellate Project, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Seth Aaron Fine, Attorney at Law, Thomas Marshal Curtis, Snohomish County Pros Ofc, Everett, WA, for Respondent.

SCHINDLER, A.C.J.

¶ 1 Gregory Thomas contends the sentencing court's decision to include out-of-state convictions in the calculation of his offender score violated his constitutional and due process rights to a jury trial. In the alternative, Thomas argues the State failed to prove the out-of-state California convictions for burglary and receiving stolen property was comparable to a Washington crime. Under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 491-92, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), a sentencing court does not violate a defendant's right to a jury trial by determining whether out-of-state convictions are comparable, and the court can engage in limited fact finding as long as the relevant facts were proved beyond a reasonable doubt or admitted or stipulated to by the defendant. Here, the State concedes the California crime of burglary is not legally comparable because the Washington crime requires proof of unlawful entry. But the State argues the record for the 1980 and 1982 California burglary convictions establishes Thomas violated Washington's burglary statute. We disagree. Because the record does not establish that unlawful entry was proved beyond a reasonable doubt or admitted or stipulated to by Thomas, we conclude the court's decision to include the two California burglary convictions in Thomas's offender score was error. But because Thomas agreed that his out-of-state California conviction for unlawful possession should be included in his offender score, we conclude he waived the right to challenge the decision to include that conviction in his offender score. We vacate the judgment and sentence and remand for resentencing.

FACTS

¶ 2 In 2001, Gregory Thomas was convicted by a jury of two counts of second-degree robbery while armed with a firearm and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. Second-degree robbery is a class B felony *1180 with a statutory maximum sentence of ten years. RCW 9A.56.210 (2); RCW 9A.20.021(1)(b). Unlawful possession of a firearm is a class C felony with a statutory maximum sentence of five years. RCW 9.41.040(2)(b); RCW 9A.20.021(1)(c). Based on an offender score of 14, the court imposed concurrent 84-month sentences for the robbery convictions, plus two mandatory 36-month firearm sentence enhancements to be served consecutively to each robbery sentence as required by for RCW 9.94A.310.[1] Thomas's total sentence was 156 months.[2]

¶ 3 In 2004, Thomas filed a personal restraint petition challenging the court's calculation of his offender score. Thomas argued several of his prior class C felony convictions "washed out" and was improperly included in his offender score. This court granted his personal restraint petition and remanded for resentencing.

¶ 4 On remand, the State argued Thomas had an offender score of eight based on five prior convictions: a 1980 California conviction for burglary, a 1982 California conviction for burglary, a 1992 California conviction for receiving stolen property, a 1995 Washington conviction for bail jumping, and a 1997 Washington conviction for possession of stolen property.

¶ 5 The defense argued that the 1980 and the 1982 California burglary convictions were not comparable to the Washington crime of burglary and should not be included in Thomas's offender score. Unlike Washington's burglary statute, the California crime of burglary encompasses a broader range of property and does not require proof that the defendant entered or remained unlawfully. California's law only requires the defendant enter with intent to commit larceny or any felony.[3] Excluding the two burglary convictions, Thomas's attorney asserted that his offender score was six.

¶ 6 Even if the crimes were not legally comparable, the State argued that Thomas's California burglary convictions were factually comparable to the Washington crime of burglary and should be included in his offender score. To prove Thomas's conduct was factually comparable, the State submitted certified copies of the California court records. For Thomas's 1980 California burglary conviction, the State submitted charging documents and the judgment on plea of guilty.[4] For the 1982 California burglary conviction, the State submitted the charging documents, minutes from the jury trial, an "abstract of the judgment," and the sentencing transcript.[5]

¶ 7 The State argued, and the sentencing court agreed, that because the charging documents for both the 1980 and the 1982 burglary convictions alleged that Thomas "did willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously enter . . ." the California convictions were comparable and should be included in Thomas's offender score.[6] Based on an offender score of eight, the court imposed concurrent 65-month sentences for the robbery convictions plus two mandatory 36-month firearm sentence enhancements to be served consecutively to each robbery sentence, for a total of 137 months. Thomas appeals.

ANALYSIS

Jury Determination of Prior Convictions

¶ 8 Relying on the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Apprendi and Blakely, and the Washington State Supreme Court's decision in In re Pers. Restraint of Lavery, 154 Wash.2d 249, 111 P.3d 837 (2005), Thomas contends a jury must decide whether an *1181 out-of-state conviction is factually comparable to a Washington crime. Thomas claims the trial court's decision that the California burglary convictions were comparable to Washington crimes and should be included in the offender score violated his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial and his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law.

¶ 9 A defendant's offender score establishes the range a sentencing court may use in determining the sentence. RCW 9.94A.530. The sentencing court must include all current and prior convictions in calculating the offender score. RCW 9.94A.589.

¶ 10 Our Supreme Court has adopted a two-part test to determine whether an out-of-state conviction is comparable to a Washington offense and counts as part of the offender score. State v.

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State v. Thomas, 144 P.3d 1178 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

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