State v. Westwood

534 P.3d 1162
Washington Supreme Court·Decided September 7, 2023·No. 100,570-9·Published·Cited by 16 cases

Opinion

FILE THIS OPINION WAS FILED FOR RECORD AT 8 A.M. ON

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

IN CLERK’S OFFICE SUPREME COURT, STATE OF WASHINGTON SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 ERIN L. LENNON

SUPREME COURT CLERK

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

STATE OF WASHINGTON, )

) No. 100570-9

Petitioner, )

)

v. ) En Banc )

DAHNDRE KAVAUGN WESTWOOD, )

) Filed: September 7, 2023 Respondent. )

)

JOHNSON, J.—In 1987, the legislature amended the sentencing law to add a definition of “same criminal conduct” as “two or more crimes that require the same criminal intent, are committed at the same time and place, and involve the same victim.” RCW 9.94A.589(1)(a); former RCW 9.94A.400(1)(a) (1984).

Before this amendment, courts used the “same objective intent” test to determine whether a defendant’s actions constituted same criminal conduct for sentencing purposes. State v. Dunaway, 109 Wn.2d 207, 743 P.2d 1237, 749 P.2d 160 (1987).

Following the amendment, this court determined that the objective intent test from

State v. Westwood, No. 100570-9

Dunaway continued to be part of the same criminal conduct analysis for defining “same criminal intent.” Postamendment cases have consistently applied the Dunaway test, requiring that courts look to the objective statutory criminal intent of the crimes charged, as did the court in State v. Chenoweth, 185 Wn.2d 218, 370 P.3d 6 (2016).

Some lower courts have found conflict between the analysis in Dunaway and that in Chenoweth. We take this opportunity to provide guidance on the relationship between these cases and find that no conflict exists between these preamendment and postamendment cases. We hold that the objective statutory intent analysis is the proper test. We affirm the sentencing court’s decision and reverse the Court of Appeals.

FACTS

The parties do not dispute the material facts. Dahndre Westwood entered A.B.’s house around 4:30 a.m. A.B. saw Westwood standing in her hallway and holding a knife in his hand. A.B. yelled at him to get out, but Westwood pushed A.B. into her room and onto her bed. Westwood told her to get undressed and threatened to kill her if she did not cooperate. A.B. screamed for help and pleaded for her life; she clawed at Westwood and knocked the knife out of his hand. During the struggle, Westwood nicked A.B. with the knife, leaving a scar on her cheek.

State v. Westwood, No. 100570-9

Westwood choked and suffocated A.B. to muffle her screams for help and hit her repeatedly on the head.

Several cars passed A.B.’s house while this transpired, and the headlights shone in the window. Westwood stopped his assault after the second or third set of headlights passed. He threatened A.B. that if she told anyone about the assault he would come back to kill her. Westwood then ran into the living room and out the front door. A.B. called 911 and was taken to the hospital by first responders shortly after.

At trial, a jury convicted Westwood of attempted rape in the first degree, assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree,1 and burglary in the first degree. At sentencing, Westwood argued that his convictions encompassed the same criminal conduct for scoring purposes. The State disagreed and asked the court to apply the analysis from Chenoweth. The trial court determined that the three convictions did not constitute the same criminal conduct because each of the crimes required a different statutory intent.

Westwood appealed, arguing that Dunaway controlled. The Court of Appeals, Division Three, in an unpublished decision, remanded the case to the trial court for determination of whether the convictions encompassed the same criminal conduct under the analysis of Dunaway. The court noted that Chenoweth was

1 This charge was dismissed by the court based on double jeopardy issues.

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limited to cases of rape and incest. State v. Westwood, No. 35792-9-III, slip op. at 13 (Wash. Ct. App. Mar. 19, 2020) (unpublished), https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/357929_unp.pdf.

In April 2020, before the trial court could decide the new sentence on remand, the Court of Appeals, Division Two, issued State v. Johnson, 12 Wn. App. 2d 201, 460 P.3d 1091 (2020), aff’d, 197 Wn.2d 740, 487 P.3d 893 (2021). In Johnson, the court applied Chenoweth outside the context of child rape and incest.

On remand, the State again argued that the test from Chenoweth is correct.

The trial court again agreed and concluded that the defendant did not prove that the crimes constituted same criminal conduct. Westwood again appealed. The Court of Appeals, Division Three, acknowledged the conflict with Johnson but reversed and remanded Westwood’s sentence with directions to apply Dunaway. State v. Westwood, 20 Wn. App. 2d 582, 591-92, 500 P.3d 182 (2021). The State then sought review by this court, which we granted. State v. Westwood, 199 Wn.2d 1030 (2022).

ANALYSIS

The legislature updated the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (SRA), ch.

9.94A RCW, in 1987, to clarify how courts will determine an offender score and whether sentences will be served consecutively or concurrently. The relevant section now reads:

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(1)(a) Except as provided in (b), (c), or (d) of this subsection, whenever a person is to be sentenced for two or more current offenses, the sentence range for each current offense shall be determined by using all other current and prior convictions as if they were prior convictions for the purpose of the offender score:

PROVIDED, That if the court enters a finding that some or all of the current offenses encompass the same criminal conduct then those current offenses shall be counted as one crime. Sentences imposed under this subsection shall be served concurrently. . . . “Same criminal conduct,” as used in this subsection, means two or more crimes that require the same criminal intent, are committed at the same time and place, and involve the same victim.

RCW 9.94A.589.

The amendment established three elements for a finding of same criminal conduct: same criminal intent, same time and place, and same victim. For separate offenses to qualify as the same criminal conduct, all three elements must be present; an absence of any one precludes a finding of same criminal conduct. State v. Porter, 133 Wn.2d 177, 181, 942 P.2d 974 (1997). The default method of calculating an offender score is to treat all current convictions as separate and distinct criminal conduct. The burden of production and persuasion thus lies on the defendant to establish that each element is met and their crimes constitute the same criminal conduct. State v. Aldana Graciano, 176 Wn.2d 531, 539-40, 295 P.3d 219 (2013). The sentencing court has discretion to determine whether the defendant has met their burden. “[A] sentencing court’s determination of same criminal conduct

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will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion or misapplication of the law.” Aldana Graciano, 176 Wn.2d at 541.

In this case, the second and third elements of same criminal conduct are clearly satisfied. Only the first element, same criminal intent, is disputed. Since courts have differed in their application of Chenoweth and Dunaway, we take this opportunity to clear up any confusion and clarify the proper analysis for “same criminal intent.”

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