In re the Personal Restraint Petition of Jerry Goodwin, 146 Wash. 2d 861

Summary

The Supreme Court of Washington granted Jerry Goodwin’s personal restraint petition, holding that his offender score was unlawfully miscalculated because juvenile convictions that had washed out were counted. The court held that a defendant generally cannot waive a legal challenge to a sentence exceeding statutory authority based on an incorrect offender score, even when the sentence resulted from a negotiated plea agreement. The court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing.

Holdings

1. The petition was not barred because the judgment and sentence was invalid on its face; facial invalidity is not limited to constitutional invalidity and exists when the judgment and sentence evidences its invalidity without further elaboration.
2. A sentence based on an upwardly miscalculated offender score is in excess of statutory authority, constitutes a fundamental defect resulting in a complete miscarriage of justice, and is subject to collateral attack and resentencing.
3. In general, a defendant cannot waive a challenge to a miscalculated offender score when the alleged error is a legal error resulting in an excessive sentence that exceeds statutory authority.
4. Waiver may apply when the alleged error concerns an agreement to disputed facts or a matter within the trial court's discretion, but not when the error is a legal determination that produces a sentence beyond statutory authority.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Goodwin's personal restraint petition was barred by the one-year limitation period in RCW 10.73.090.
2. Whether a sentence based on a miscalculated offender score constitutes a fundamental defect resulting in a complete miscarriage of justice.
3. Whether a defendant may waive a legal challenge to an excessive sentence based on a miscalculated offender score by agreeing to the criminal history or offender score in a negotiated plea agreement.
4. What remedy was appropriate for a sentence based on an incorrect offender score.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded