State v. Woodruff

151 P.3d 1086
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided February 6, 2007·No. 33000-8-II·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

151 P.3d 1086 (2007)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Daniel Ross WOODRUFF, Appellant.

No. 33000-8-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

February 6, 2007.

Peter B. Tiller, The Tiller Law Firm, Centralia, WA, for Appellant.

Katherine Lee Svoboda, Grays Harbor County Prosecutor's Office, Montesano, WA, for Respondent.

PART PUBLISHED OPINION

VAN DEREN, J.

¶ 1 Daniel R. Woodruff pleaded guilty to three counts of rape of a child in the first degree. Woodruff appeals the consecutive minimum sentences imposed by the trial court under RCW 9.94A.712[1], arguing that they are an invalid exceptional sentence under Blakely,[2]Apprendi,[3]Hughes,[4] and Monroe.[5]*1087 Based on Clarke,[6] RCW 9.94A.712(3), RCW 9.94A.589(1)(a), and RCW 9.94A.535(2), we reject the State's concession that the sentencing court's procedure denied Woodruff's right to a jury under Blakely and the Sixth Amendment.

¶ 2 We stayed the matter pending our Supreme Court's opinion in In re Personal Restraint Petition of VanDelft, 158 Wash.2d 731, 147 P.3d 573 (2006). The Supreme Court has filed its opinion in VanDelft and we now lift the stay, vacate Woodruff's consecutive sentences, and remand for resentencing under RCW 9.94A.712 and State v. Clarke, 156 Wash.2d 880, 134 P.3d 188 (2006).

FACTS

¶ 3 On December 15, 2004, the State charged Daniel R. Woodruff with one count of child molestation in the first degree and three counts of rape of a child in the first degree. Woodruff pleaded guilty to all three counts of rape of a child in the first degree in exchange for the State's agreement to dismiss the child molestation charge. The trial court accepted Woodruff's guilty pleas and dismissed the child molestation charge.

¶ 4 Woodruff's maximum sentence for each his three rape offenses was life imprisonment. The State determined that the RCW 9.94A.712 standard-range minimum sentence for each of Woodruff's convictions was 162 to 216 months, with lifetime community custody, and it recommended that the trial court impose a minimum sentence of 192 months on each count. Woodruff's defense counsel concurred with this calculation and recommendation.

¶ 5 The trial court imposed a maximum sentence of life and a minimum sentence of 216 months on each count and ordered that the sentences be served consecutively, for a total of 648 months' minimum confinement. Citing United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), the trial court stated that this sentence was not exceptional because the Washington sentencing guidelines were advisory and not mandatory.[7] Thus, the trial court did not enter findings of fact or conclusions of law specifying aggravating factors to support the imposition of consecutive minimum sentences.

¶ 6 Woodruff appeals.

ANALYSIS

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 7 Woodruff presents a Sixth Amendment challenge to the trial court's imposition of an exceptional sentence.[8] We review constitutional challenges to a trial court's sentencing decision de novo. State v. Cubias, 155 Wash.2d 549, 552, 120 P.3d 929 (2005).

II. FORMER RCW 9.94A.712(3) (2004)[9]

¶ 8 The trial court sentenced Woodruff under RCW 9.94A.712. Woodruff argues that *1088 former RCW 9.94A.712(3) prohibits imposition of consecutive minimum sentences for his three offenses unless a jury first finds aggravating circumstances.

¶ 9 RCW 9.94A.712 applies when a non-persistent offender is sentenced for specified sex-related crimes, including rape of a child in the first degree. RCW 9.94A.712(3) requires the sentencing court to impose both a maximum term and a minimum term when sentencing a non-persistent offender according to its provisions. The maximum term consists of "the statutory maximum sentence for the offense." RCW 9.94A.712(3). The minimum term shall be either "within the standard sentence range for the offense, or outside the standard sentence range pursuant to RCW 9.94A.535, if the offender is otherwise eligible for such a sentence." RCW 9.94A.712(3).

¶ 10 Here, for each of Woodruff's three first degree rape convictions, the trial court sentenced him to a minimum term at the high end of the standard range; none of these minimum terms exceeded the standard range for these offenses. See RCW 9.94A.712(3). The trial court also imposed the statutory maximum sentence of life on each count. RCW 9A.44.073; RCW 9A.20.021(1)(a)

¶ 11 Our Supreme Court recently clarified that "sentences imposed under RCW 9.94A.712 are indeterminate." Clarke, 156 Wash.2d at 887, 134 P.3d 188. As such, "Blakely does not apply to an exceptional minimum sentence imposed under RCW 9.94A.712 that does not exceed the statutory maximum sentence imposed." Clarke, 156 Wash.2d at 886, 134 P.3d 188. And "judicial fact-fin

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