Personal Restraint Petition Of Stewart Michael Riggs ( 2015 )


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  •                                                                                                Filed
    Washington State
    Court of Appeals
    Division Two
    December 22, 2015
    IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
    DIVISION II
    In re the Matter of the Personal Restraint                          No. 47141-8-II
    Petition of
    STEWART MICHAEL RIGGS,
    Petitioner.
    UNPUBLISHED OPINION
    JOHANSON, C.J. — Stewart Riggs petitions for relief from confinement following his
    guilty plea to one count of second degree identity theft. He claims that his restraint is unlawful
    because (1) his judgment and sentence is facially invalid because his sentence combined with his
    community custody exceeds the statutory maximum sentence, (2) his entire sentence amounts to
    an exceptional sentence without any aggravating sentencing factors, (3) defense counsel’s failure
    to object to his sentence denied him his right to effective assistance of counsel, (4) the prosecutor
    violated the plea agreement by advocating for a sentence longer than agreed to in the plea bargain,
    (5) the sentencing court applied the wrong statute in imposing community custody, and (6) his plea
    bargain was involuntary because he agreed to only a 60-month sentence. We grant this petition in
    part and deny it in part.
    No. 47141-8-II
    FACTS
    Petitioner pleaded guilty to one count of second degree identity theft on October 5, 2010,
    and he was sentenced that same day to 54 months of confinement and 12 months of community
    custody. The judgment and sentence includes a written notation stating, “[N]ot to exceed the
    statutory maximum of 60 months.” Pet. Attach. at 6.
    ANALYSIS
    RCW 10.73.090(1) imposes a one-year time limit for collateral attacks on a judgment and
    sentence:
    No petition or motion for collateral attack on a judgment and sentence in a criminal
    case may be filed more than one year after the judgment becomes final if the
    judgment and sentence is valid on its face and was rendered by a court of competent
    jurisdiction.
    A personal restraint petition is a collateral attack on a judgment and sentence. RCW
    10.73.090(2). As petitioner did not appeal, his judgment and sentence became final upon
    sentencing. RCW 10.73.090(3). Thus, more than one year elapsed between when his judgment
    was final and when he filed the current petition on January 8, 2015. Petitioner may, however,
    assert any of the six exceptions to this time bar set out in RCW 10.73.100.1 A petition that contains
    both timely and untimely claims must be dismissed as a mixed petition. In re Pers. Restraint of
    Stenson, 
    150 Wash. 2d 207
    , 220, 
    76 P.3d 241
    (2003). Even with a mixed petition, however, this
    court will address challenges to the facial validity of the judgment and sentence. 
    Stenson, 150 Wash. 2d at 221
    . “Because the ‘valid on its face’ precondition is an exception, once the one-year
    1
    These exceptions are for (1) newly discovered evidence, (2) being convicted of a statute that is
    unconstitutional, (3) a conviction violating the double jeopardy clause, (4) insufficiency of the
    evidence, (5) a sentence imposed in excess of the court’s jurisdiction, and (6) a significant change
    in the law.
    2
    No. 47141-8-II
    time limit has run, a petitioner may seek relief only for the defect that renders the judgment not
    valid on its face (or one of the exceptions listed in RCW 10.73.100).” In re Pers. Restraint of
    Adams, 
    178 Wash. 2d 417
    , 424, 
    309 P.3d 451
    (2013).
    I. SENTENCE EXCEEDING STATUTORY MAXIMUM
    Petitioner claims that his judgment and sentence is invalid on its face because his
    confinement and community custody combined exceed the statutory maximum sentence of 60
    months. See RCW 9.35.020(3); RCW 9A.20.030(1)(c). We agree.
    In In re Personal Restraint of Brooks, 
    166 Wash. 2d 664
    , 675, 
    211 P.3d 1023
    (2009), the
    court held that a written notation similar to that here, that the total term of confinement and
    community custody could not exceed the statutory maximum, was sufficient to comply with
    statutory requirements. But after Brooks, the legislature required the trial court to reduce a
    defendant’s term of community custody to avoid a sentence in excess of the statutory maximum.
    RCW 9.94A.701(9); State v. Boyd, 
    174 Wash. 2d 470
    , 472, 
    275 P.3d 321
    (2012). Petitioner was
    sentenced after this legislative change and, therefore, petitioner’s judgment and sentence is invalid.
    We remand this issue to the trial court to either amend the community custody term or resentence
    petitioner. 
    Boyd, 174 Wash. 2d at 473
    .
    II. EXCEPTIONAL SENTENCE
    Petitioner claims that he received an exceptional sentence because the combination of his
    confinement and community custody exceeded the statutory maximum of 60 months. But the
    sentencing court imposed 54 months of confinement, which is both within the standard range and
    less than the statutory maximum. His claim fails.
    3
    No. 47141-8-II
    III. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL
    Petitioner claims that defense counsel’s failure to challenge the length of his sentence
    denied him his right to effective assistance of counsel. But he fails to show how this error renders
    his judgment and sentence invalid on its face or any exception that allows him to raise this untimely
    claim and, therefore, this court cannot address this issue.
    IV. VIOLATION OF PLEA AGREEMENT
    Petitioner claims that the prosecutor violated the plea agreement by recommending 54
    months of confinement rather than the agreed amount of 50 months. But he fails to show how this
    alleged error renders his judgment and sentence invalid on its face or any exception that allows
    him to raise this untimely claim and, therefore, this court cannot address this issue.
    V. IMPOSITION OF COMMUNITY CUSTODY
    Petitioner claims that the sentencing court relied on RCW 9.94A.728 rather than RCW
    9.94A.701(3)(a) in imposing community custody.                Petitioner was lawfully sentenced to
    community custody under RCW 9.94A.701(3)(a) and is also subject to the terms and conditions
    of RCW 9.94A.728 dealing with earned release. Petitioner fails to show how this alleged error
    renders his judgment and sentence invalid on its face or any exception that allows him to raise this
    untimely claim and, therefore, this court cannot address this issue.
    VI. INVOLUNTARY PLEA
    Petitioner claims that his plea agreement was involuntary because his sentence exceeded
    the sentence he agreed to in pleading guilty. But he fails to show how this alleged error renders
    his judgment and sentence invalid on its face or any exception that allows him to raise this untimely
    claim and, therefore, this court cannot address this issue.
    4
    No. 47141-8-II
    We grant this petition in part and deny it in part. The matter is remanded to the trial court
    to either amend the community custody term or resentence petitioner.
    A majority of the panel having determined that this opinion will not be printed in the
    Washington Appellate Reports, but will be filed for public record in accordance with RCW 2.06.040,
    it is so ordered.
    JOHANSON, C.J.
    We concur:
    MAXA, J.
    SUTTON, J.
    5
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 47141-8

Filed Date: 12/22/2015

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 12/22/2015