State v. Walsh

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court held that a guilty plea based on a mutual mistake about the applicable standard sentencing range was involuntary. The defendant could challenge the plea’s validity for the first time on appeal under RAP 2.5(a)(3), and was entitled to withdraw the plea because the State did not establish that withdrawal would be unjust or prejudicial. The court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. A defendant may raise for the first time on appeal a claim that a guilty plea pursuant to a plea agreement was involuntary because of a misunderstanding about the standard sentencing range.
2. Walsh's guilty plea was involuntary because it was based on a mutual mistake concerning the applicable standard sentencing range.
3. Walsh was entitled to withdraw his guilty plea.
4. The exceptional 136-month sentence could not stand because it was imposed following an involuntary guilty plea.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a defendant may raise for the first time on appeal a claim that a guilty plea was involuntary because the plea agreement was based on a mutual mistake about the applicable standard sentencing range.
2. Whether Walsh was entitled to withdraw his guilty plea after the parties discovered that the standard sentencing range was higher than the range contemplated by the plea agreement.
3. Whether the imposition of an exceptional sentence could stand when the guilty plea underlying the sentence was involuntary.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded