State Of Washington, V. Warren E. Ring ( 2021 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 81350-1-I
Respondent, DIVISION ONE
v.
WARREN EDWARD RING, UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Appellant.
CHUN, J. — While suffering from a delusion, Warren Ring fired a gun from
his car at an SUV behind him. Ring later pleaded guilty to two charges of second
degree assault, each with a firearm enhancement. The trial court sentenced him
to nine months for each assault charge running concurrently, followed by two
consecutive 36-month firearm enhancements for a total of 81 months
confinement. Ring appeals, claiming (1) the trial court erred by declining to
consider whether to run the firearm enhancements concurrently, and (2) that
RCW 9.94A.533 violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution
by rendering firearm enhancements mandatory. For the reasons discussed
below, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
Ring is a military veteran with a mental health disorder related to post
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. While driving his car
at night, Ring stopped and fired his gun at an SUV behind him with two
passengers. Ring then drove away and stopped in a parking lot, where he called
Citations and pin cites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material.
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911 to report that he had just shot at the vehicle. Ring told the 911 dispatcher
that he fired at the SUV because he believed the driver was pursuing him and
that it made him fear for his life. Ring waited in the parking lot until officers
arrived and arrested him.
The State charged Ring with two counts of second degree assault, each
with a firearm allegation. Ring pleaded guilty to both counts.
The standard range for Ring’s convictions was 12 to 14 months for each
second degree assault charge. Each charge carried a 36-month firearm
enhancement, leading to a standard sentencing range of 84 to 86 months’
confinement, since the period of confinement for a firearm enhancement must
run consecutively to all other sentencing provisions. RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e). The
State asked the court to sentence Ring to 86 months’ confinement. Ring
requested an exceptional sentence of 36 months’ confinement, which would
require the court to reduce the standard range for the assault charges to zero
months and run the firearm enhancements concurrently.
The sentencing court found that on the night of the shooting, Ring
“believed he was experiencing a threat,” but “that belief was incorrect and he was
not actually experiencing a threat.” It also found that Ring “lacked the capacity to
conform his conduct to the requirements of the law due to [his] delusions.” Last,
it found that Ring’s “incorrect belief of a threat was connected to a mental health
disorder, which diagnosis includes PSTD.”
The court concluded that Ring established by a preponderance of the
evidence that, on the night of the shooting, his capacity to appreciate the
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wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the
law was significantly impaired. Thus, it concluded that an exceptional downward
sentence was warranted. It sentenced Ring to nine months for both assault
counts running concurrently, followed by two consecutive deadly weapon
enhancements of 36 months each, for 81 months total. The court did not believe
it had discretion to run the enhancements concurrently to the assault offenses or
to reduce them.
II. ANALYSIS
Ring says the trial court erred by failing to exercise its discretion to
consider reducing the firearm enhancements as part of an exceptional downward
sentence, since the plain language of RCW 9.94A.533 does not preclude their
reduction. He also says that, if the enhancements are mandatory, then they
violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We disagree
with his arguments.
A. RCW 9.94A.533
Ring says that RCW 9.94A.533 allowed the sentencing court discretion to
reduce the length of the mandatory sentence enhancements and that the
sentencing court abused its discretion by not exercising it. We disagree.
We review de novo questions of statutory interpretation. Dep’t of Ecology
v. Campbell & Gwinn, LLC, 146 Wn.2d 1, 9, 43 P.3d 4 (2002). We interpret a
statute by analyzing its plain meaning. Columbia Riverkeeper v. Port of
Vancouver USA, 188 Wn.2d 421, 435, 395 P.3d 1031 (2017). To do so,
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we consider the text of the provision, the context of the statute in
which the provision is found, related provisions, amendments to the
provision, and the statutory scheme as a whole. If the meaning of
the statute is plain on its face, then we must give effect to that
meaning as an expression of legislative intent.
Id. (citing Campbell & Gwinn, 146 Wn.2d at 10–11) (citation omitted). In the
context of a criminal case, if we determine that more than one reasonable
interpretation exists, we treat the statute as ambiguous, apply the rule of lenity,
and interpret it in the defendant’s favor. State v. Conover, 183 Wn.2d 706, 711–
12, 355 P.3d 1093 (2015).
Under RCW 9.94A.535, a sentencing court has discretion to depart from a
standard range sentence by imposing an exceptional sentence upward or
downward. A “failure to exercise discretion is itself an abuse of discretion subject
to reversal.” State v. O’Dell, 183 Wn.2d 680, 697, 358 P.3d 359 (2015). But the
applicable statute here, RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e), provides that “[n]otwithstanding
any other provision of law, all firearm enhancements under this section are
mandatory, shall be served in total confinement, and shall run consecutively to all
other sentencing provisions, including other firearm or deadly weapon
enhancements.” In State v. Brown, our Supreme Court held that this statutory
language deprives a sentencing court of the discretion to impose an exceptional
downward sentence regarding deadly weapon enhancements and that “courts
may not deviate from the term of confinement required by the deadly weapon
enhancement.” 139 Wn.2d 20, 29, 983 P.2d 608 (1999) (overruled on other
grounds by State v. Houston-Sconiers, 188 Wn.2d 1, 21, 391 P.3d 409 (2017)).
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In recent decisions such as State v. Mandefero and State v. Brown, this
court followed our Supreme Court’s decision in Brown and held that, for adults,
the statutory language of RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e) deprives sentencing courts of the
discretion to impose exceptional sentences regarding firearm enhancements. 14
Wn. App. 2d 825, 830–32, 473 P.3d 1239 (2020); 13 Wn. App. 2d 288, 290–91,
466 P.3d 244 (2020); cf. Houston-Sconiers, 188 Wn.2d at 21 (allowing courts to
depart from mandatory firearm enhancements when sentencing juveniles). Ring
still encourages us, for various reasons, not to follow our Supreme Court’s
holding in Brown. We decline this invitation.
i. State v. Mohamed and standard range sentences
First, Ring says that under State v. Mohamed, a standard range sentence
includes both the base range and any enhancements, so a court may impose an
exceptional sentence on the enhancement as well as the base range. 187 Wn.
App. 630, 640, 350 P.3d 671 (2015). In Mohamed, this court reasoned that
because a 24-month school zone enhancement under RCW 9.94A.533(6)
becomes a part of a defendant’s “standard sentence range,” the trial court could
have waived the enhancement in favor of a drug offender sentencing alternative
(DOSA) or a parenting sentencing alternative (PSA). Id. at 636. The court noted
that both the DOSA and PSA statutes allow a court to “waive imposition of a
sentence within the standard range,” and under the reasoning of Gutierrez v.
Department of Corrections, 146 Wn. App. 151, 188 P.3d 546 (2008), a school
zone enhancement is an addition to a standard range and not a separate
sentencing provision. Id. at 638–40.
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But RCW 9.94A.533(6) lacks the “[n]otwithstanding any other provision of
law, all . . . enhancements under this section are mandatory” language present in
subsection (3)(e). And the Mohamed court specifically contrasted subsections
(3)(e) and (4)(e), which provide that firearm and deadly weapon enhancements
“shall be served in total confinement,” from subsection (6), which does not
contain a similar requirement. 187 Wn. App. at 642. The court thus reasoned
that school zone enhancements may be waived under a DOSA or PSA. Id.
Therefore, the reasoning in Mohamed does not grant a court discretion to impose
exceptional sentences with regard to firearm enhancements.1
ii. RCW 9.94A.533 ambiguity
Ring asserts that when a standard range sentence that includes a firearm
enhancement is subject to an exceptional sentence under RCW 9.94A.535, an
ambiguity arises, because RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e) “does not state the entire length
of the firearm enhancement is mandatory ‘notwithstanding any other provision of
law.’” Thus, he says, the sentencing court could have imposed the firearm
1
Ring also says we should follow the reasoning from Justice Madsen’s
concurrence in Houston-Sconiers. There, Justice Madsen wrote that
An enhancement increases the presumptive or standard sentence; it is not
a separate sentence. State v. Silva-Baltazar, 125 Wn.2d 472, 475, 886
P.2d 138 (1994); see also RCW 9.94A.533(3) (enhancement time “shall be
added to the standard sentence range for felony crimes”). There is no
reason why a sentencing court, which has the discretion to depart from a
standard range sentence, loses that discretion when imposing an
exceptional sentence that increases the standard range. Even with the
enhancement, the sentence is still simply a standard range sentence. The
enhancement does not transform that sentence into a mandatory minimum.
188 Wn.2d at 37–38. But our Supreme Court’s decision in Brown binds us. Brown, 13
Wn. App. 2d at 291 (“[A] decision by the Washington Supreme Court is binding on all
lower courts of the state”). And we note that Justice Madsen’s concurrence does not
address RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e), which states that firearm enhancements are mandatory
notwithstanding any other provision of law and shall be served in total confinement.
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enhancements, run them consecutively to each other and the assaults in
establishing the standard range sentence, then determine he is entitled to an
exceptional downward sentence and reduce the length of the enhancements.
And given this claimed ambiguity, he says we must interpret the statute in his
favor under the rule of lenity.
We disagree with Ring’s assertion that the statute is ambiguous.
RCW 9.94A.533(3) states that the “following additional times”—here, three
years—“shall be added to the standard sentence range.” Subsection (3)(e)
states that, notwithstanding any other law, those enhancements are “mandatory,
shall be served in total confinement, and shall run consecutively.” Thus, the
statute plainly and unambiguously requires that a court sentence a defendant for
the full term of a firearm enhancement and that those enhancements be served
consecutively. Also, in Brown, our Supreme Court stated that if the language
found in RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e) “is to have any substance, it must mean that
courts may not deviate from the term of confinement required by the deadly
weapon enhancement.” 139 Wn.2d at 29. And again, our Supreme Court’s
holding in Brown binds us here. Brown, 13 Wn. App. 2d at 291.
iii. In re Pers. Restraint of Mulholland and State v. McFarland
Ring also suggests we should not follow our Supreme Court’s holding in
Brown because of its later holdings in In re Pers. Restraint of Mulholland, 161
Wn.2d 322, 166 P.3d 677 (2007) and State v. McFarland, 189 Wn.2d 47, 399
P.3d 1106 (2017).
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In Mulholland, our Supreme Court held that a sentencing court may
impose concurrent terms for serious violent offenses despite the language of
RCW 9.94A.589(1), which requires that convictions for serious violent offenses
must be served consecutively. 161 Wn.2d at 331. But in Brown, this court
concluded that Mulholland did not apply to a sentence that included firearm
enhancements because RCW 9.94A.535 “explicitly allows for a departure from
RCW 9.94A.589(1) as an exceptional sentence,” but .533(3)(e) applies despite
any other provision of law. 13 Wn. App. 2d at 290–91. We similarly conclude
that Mulholland does not apply here.
In McFarland, our Supreme Court held that when consecutive sentences
for multiple firearm-related convictions lead to a presumptive sentence that is
clearly excessive, a sentencing court has discretion to impose an exceptional
downward sentence, despite RCW 9.41.040(6)’s pronouncement that sentences
for such offenses are consecutive despite any other law. 189 Wn.2d at 54–55.
But in Mandefero, this court held that McFarland does not provide a reason for
departing from our Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown because McFarland
addresses firearms convictions and not firearm enhancements. 14 Wn. App.
at 832. We similarly conclude that McFarland does not apply here.
iv. Mandefero
Last, Ring says we should depart from this court’s recent decision in
Mandefero, because it followed our Supreme Court’s Brown decision in part
because of, according to Ring, the “disfavored” canon of legislative
acquiescence. There, the court recognized that since our Supreme Court’s ruling
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in Brown, the legislature had not amended RCW 9.94A.533(3)(e)’s mandatory
language regarding firearm enhancements with regard to adults. Mandefero, 14
Wn. App. 2d at 831. But the court noted that the legislature had recently
amended the statute “to allow courts ‘full discretion to depart from mandatory
sentencing enhancements and to take the particular circumstances surrounding
the defendant’s youth into account’—but only for juveniles.” Id. (quoting LAWS OF
2020, ch. 141, § 1). Thus, it concluded that as to adults, the legislature had
acquiesced to our Supreme Court’s holding that firearm enhancements are
mandatory and must run consecutively. Id.
Ring says we should disregard this holding because the canon of
legislative acquiescence is “disfavored.” See, e.g., Johnson v. Transp. Agency,
Santa Clara County, Cal., 480 U.S. 616, 671, 107 S. Ct. 1442, 94 L. Ed. 2d 615(1987) (Scalia, J., dissenting) (referring to the canon of legislative acquiescence
as “the patently false premise that the correctness of statutory construction is to
be measured by what the current Congress desires, rather than by what the law
as enacted meant.”). But legislative acquiescence remains a valid canon of
statutory construction in Washington and is a factor courts may consider. See,
e.g., State v. Sandoval, 8 Wn. App. 2d 267, 273, 438 P.3d 165 (2019)
(“‘[E]vidence of legislative acquiescence is not conclusive, but is merely one
factor to consider’”) (alteration in original) (quoting Fast v. Kennewick Pub. Hosp.
Dist., 187 Wn.2d 27, 39, 384 P.3d 232 (2016)); State v. Otton, 185 Wn.2d 673,
685–86, 374 P.3d 1108 (2016) (“‘[t]his court presumes that the legislature is
aware of judicial interpretations of its enactments and takes its failure to amend a
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statute following a judicial decision interpreting that statute to indicate legislative
acquiescence in that decision’” (alteration in original) (quoting City of Federal
Way v. Koenig, 167 Wn.2d 341, 348, 217 P.3d 1172 (2009))). We decline to
disregard the holding of Mandefero on this ground.2
B. Eighth Amendment
Ring says it violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States
Constitution to impose mandatory firearm enhancements on persons whose
culpability is reduced because of mental illness. The State disagrees. We
conclude that Ring has shown no constitutional violation.
The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. State v.
Schmeling, 191 Wn. App. 795, 798, 365 P.3d 202 (2015). “There are two types
of Eighth Amendment analysis: (1) determining whether a sentence is
disproportionate to the particular crime, and (2) using categorical rules to define
constitutional standards for certain classes of crimes or offenders.” Id.3 Although
2
For the first time in his reply brief, Ring asserts that Houston-Sconiers no longer
applies just to juveniles under the rule of In re Pers. Restraint of Monschke, 197 Wn.2d
305, 326, 482 P.3d 276 (2021). We need not address arguments raised for the first time
in a reply brief because the opposing party has no meaningful opportunity to respond.
See Cowiche Canyon Conservancy v. Bosley, 118 Wn.2d 801, 809, 828 P.2d 549(1992). Even so, Monschke does not suggest that a court may impose an exceptional
downward sentence with regard to firearm enhancements for those whose culpability is
reduced because of their mental illness.
3
Article I, section 14 of the Washington State Constitution also prohibits cruel
punishment. Our Supreme Court has held that the state constitutional provision is often
more protective than the Eighth Amendment. State v. Bassett, 192 Wn.2d 67, 78, 428
P.3d 343 (2018). Because Ring relies only on the Eighth Amendment, we do not
analyze his claim under article I, section 14.
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Ring does not suggest which standard we should apply, it appears his claim most
resembles the categorical bar analysis.4
The categorical bar analysis involves two steps. First, the “court considers
‘objective indicia of society’s standards, as expressed in legislative enactments
and state practice to determine whether there is a national consensus against the
sentencing practice at issue.’” Id. at 799 (internal quotation marks omitted)
(quoting Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 61, 130 S. Ct. 2011, 176 L. Ed. 2d 825(2010)). The United States Supreme Court has stated that the burden is on the
offender to show that a national consensus exists. State v. Moretti, 193 Wn.2d
809, 821, 446 P.3d 609 (2019). Second, the court exercises its own independent
judgment based on “‘the standards elaborated by controlling precedents and by
the [c]ourt’s own understanding and interpretation of the [cruel punishment
provision]’s text, history . . . and purpose.’” State v. Bassett, 192 Wn.2d 67, 83,
428 P.3d 343 (2018) (alterations in original) (quoting Graham, 560 U.S. at 61,
130 S. Ct. 2011).
Ring provides no information about whether other states prohibit
mandatory firearm enhancements for persons with mental illness. Instead, he
asserts that courts already consider mental illness in assessing an individual’s
4
In Schmeling, the court noted that the categorical bar analysis had been applied
only in cases involving the death penalty or juvenile offenders and declined to apply it to
the defendant’s claim regarding punishment of adult drug offenders. 191 Wn. App.
at 800–01. But it noted that even if the standard applies to sentences for adult drug
offenders, it would not apply in those circumstances because the defendant had not
shown a national consensus against felony sentences for residue controlled substance
possession. Id. at 800 n.4. As addressed below, even if the categorical bar analysis
applies to firearm enhancements for adults, it does not apply here because Ring has
shown no national consensus against imposing firearm enhancements on persons
whose culpability is reduced by mental illness.
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criminal culpability. Ring cites Houston-Sconiers and Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S.
304, 321, 122 S. Ct. 2242, 153 L. Ed. 2d 335 (2002), to support this assertion.
But these cases are distinguishable. Our Supreme Court’s holding in Houston-
Sconiers applies only to juveniles, not to adults with mental illness. Brown, 13
Wn. App. 2d at 291. And in Atkins, the United States Supreme Court ruled that
execution of persons with intellectual and cognitive disabilities violates the Eighth
Amendment. 536 U.S. at 321. The Court considered trends in state legislative
bodies to reject the death penalty for persons with intellectual and cognitive
disabilities and concluded that the justifications for the punishment were not
served by those offenders because of their diminished culpability. Id. at 317–21.
But it does not follow from Atkins that it violates the Eighth Amendment to impose
firearm enhancements on those suffering from any mental illness.
Because Ring has shown no national consensus against such
punishment, his Eighth Amendment claim fails.
We affirm.
WE CONCUR:
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