Washington v. State

755 P.2d 401, 1988 Alas. App. LEXIS 40
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska
DecidedApril 29, 1988
DocketNo. A-1146
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 755 P.2d 401 (Washington v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Washington v. State, 755 P.2d 401, 1988 Alas. App. LEXIS 40 (Ala. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

BRYNER, Chief Judge.

Following a court trial before Superior Court Judge Karl S. Johnstone, Larry Washington was convicted of two counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree (delivery of and possession with intent to deliver heroin), and five counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the fourth degree (simple possession of cocaine and heroin and possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to deliver). Prior to trial, Superior Court Judge J. Justin Ripley rejected Washington’s motion to dismiss the charges based on entrapment. On appeal, Washington contends that Judge Ripley erred in declining to allow Washington to exercise a peremptory challenge, in rejecting his entrapment defense, and in refusing to grant his motion to suppress evidence seized pursuant to a nighttime search warrant. We affirm.

Washington’s charges arose from a series of transactions in which an informant and an undercover officer purchased heroin from two individuals in Anchorage. Washington, who resided in the Seattle area, was alleged to have been the source of the heroin. He was arrested on December 5, 1984, in Anchorage. On December 14, 1984, an indictment was filed against Washington and other individuals involved in the heroin sales.

Washington was initially represented by attorney Paul Nangle. On January 18, 1985, attorney Phillip Weidner filed a notice of substitution of counsel seeking to replace Nangle. On January 21, 1985, three days after Weidner filed the notice of substitution of counsel, Judge Ripley was appointed to hear the omnibus motions in Washington’s case. The order of appointment was mailed to Nangle, not to Weid-ner. Nangle, at that point, no longer considered himself to be taking an active role in the case and did not consider filing a peremptory challenge of Judge Ripley.

The state opposed Weidner’s substitution of counsel. Nevertheless, on January 31, 1985, before the substitution of counsel issue was resolved, Weidner filed a motion on behalf of Washington, requesting authorization to unseal affidavits submitted in support of search warrants that were issued in connection with Washington’s arrest. On February 4, the superior court entered an order allowing Weidner to assume representation of Washington.

On February 7, 1985, seventeen days after entry of the order appointing Judge Ripley, seven days after he had filed the motion to unseal search warrant affidavits, and three days after being formally substituted for Nangle as Washington’s counsel, Weidner filed a number of additional motions on behalf of Washington, including a peremptory challenge to Judge Ripley. Judge Ripley considered the peremptory challenge on February 13, at the outset of the omnibus hearing, and determined that it was untimely. Weidner challenged this finding of untimeliness and urged Judge Ripley to grant the challenge because of the judge’s prior experience as a prosecutor and because of animosity that had arisen between Weidner and the judge on past occasions. Weidner emphasized that he would not attempt to challenge Judge Ripley for cause, out of fear of incurring “further animosity.” Judge Ripley declined to recuse himself.

On appeal, Washington argues that Judge Ripley erred in failing to honor the peremptory challenge. The state’s first line of response is that Washington has forfeited his right to claim error, because he failed to appeal Judge Ripley’s denial of the peremptory challenge within the time limits prescribed under Alaska Appellate Rule 216. Appellate Rule 216 provides for an immediate, expedited appeal from the denial of a defendant’s motion for peremptory disqualification of a judge and re[403]*403quires the filing of the expedited appeal within ten days after the entry of the order of denial.1

According to the state, Morgan v. State, 635 P.2d 472, 480-81 (Alaska 1981), articulates the supreme court’s desire to require an immediate interlocutory appeal from the denial of a peremptory challenge motion. Morgan was a peremptory challenge appeal that arose following the defendant’s conviction. At the time, Appellate Rule 216 did not provide for expedited interlocutory appeals of peremptory challenge denials. In deciding Morgan, the supreme court concluded that such appeals should be allowed as a matter of right:

[G]iven the special nature of the disqualification right, designed to insure all litigants a fair trial before an impartial and unbiased judge, and the unnecessary expense of the trial which both the state and the defendant are put through when an erroneous denial of such a motion is made, we think that it is appropriate to allow a defendant to preserve this right by filing an appeal from the denial of the change of judge motion. Such appeal will be processed in accord with the provisions of Appellate Rule 216, which governs expedited appeals. Under such circumstances, we will entertain an appeal on the limited issue of the peremptory disqualification.

635 P.2d at 480 (footnote omitted). Appellate Rule 216 was subsequently amended to implement the court’s decision in Morgan.

We agree with the state’s position that Appellate Rule 216 should be read to set out the exclusive remedy for seeking appellate review after the denial of a peremptory challenge motion. To construe the rule otherwise would frustrate the basic policies addressed by the court in Morgan and would accomplish little more than to allow the accused the option of keeping the issue in reserve, in order to secure a new trial in the event of a conviction.

We are nevertheless unpersuaded by the state’s argument that Washington should be deemed to have forfeited his claim in this case. Neither Morgan nor Appellate Rule 216 unequivocally precludes the raising of a peremptory challenge claim on appeal following a conviction. Before today, both the holding of the court in Morgan and the language of Appellate Rule 216 might reasonably have been understood to permit an expedited appeal without requiring one. We have noted this ambiguity on previous occasions without resolving it. See Hastings v. State, 736 P.2d 1157, 1161 (Alaska App.1987); see also Main v. State, 668 P.2d 868, 873 n. 4 (Alaska App.1983). Although we now hold that the procedure specified in Appellate Rule 216 is mandatory and exclusive, we believe that, in light of the ambiguity that has existed to this date, it would be plainly unfair to apply our interpretation of the rule retrospectively. Accordingly, we deem it necessary to decide Washington’s peremptory challenge claim on its merits.2

[404]*404Under Alaska Criminal Rule 25(d)(2), Washington was entitled to exercise a peremptory challenge within five days after Judge Ripley was assigned to the case.3 Failure to file within the allotted time period amounted to a waiver of the peremptory challenge right. See Alaska R.Crim.P. 25(d)(4). On appeal, Washington does not contend that his attempted peremptory challenge of Judge Ripley was timely. Allowing three days for service by mail of the January 21 order appointing Judge Ripley to the case, Washington had until January 31, 1985, to exercise a timely challenge of Judge Ripley.

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

Related

Washington v. State
755 P.2d 401 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
755 P.2d 401, 1988 Alas. App. LEXIS 40, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/washington-v-state-alaskactapp-1988.