State v. Becker

• Decision Date: 17 December 1990
• Docket Number: No. 24311-0-I,24311-0-I
• Citation: 801 P.2d 1015,59 Wn.App. 848
• Parties: STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Richard Bryon BECKER, Appellant.
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals

Page 848

59 Wn.App. 848

801 P.2d 1015

STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Richard Bryon BECKER, Appellant.

No. 24311-0-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington Division 1.

Dec. 17, 1990.

Anthony Savage, Seattle, for appellant.

Norm Maleng, King County Pros. Atty., Peter Goldman, Seattle, for respondent.

GROSSE, Acting Chief Judge.

Richard Becker appeals his judgment and sentence claiming that the trial court improperly calculated his offender score. We affirm.

On March 31, 1989 Becker pleaded guilty to the crimes of manslaughter in the first degree and unlawful possession of a short firearm. According to the certification for determination of probable cause, on or about January 7, 1989, after a heavy snowfall, Richard Flynn, Richard Schindler, and Kevin Comeaux were outside of Flynn's home throwing snowballs. A snowball was thrown at a passing vehicle driven by Becker. Becker stopped his car on a side street and accompanied by the two passengers in his car (his brother and a friend) confronted Flynn and his friends. Bystanders stated that Becker drew a gun, aimed it at Schindler, and fired two shots that missed. A third shot hit and killed Flynn who was standing nearby.

Becker admitted firing the fatal shot but claimed it was inadvertent and occurred when he was trying to strike Schindler in the head with the gun. He maintained that he accepted the gun from his friend after Schindler displayed a heavy chain and was menacing him with it. Becker's brother contradicted that statement and asserted that Becker had the gun displayed and cocked before Schindler displayed the chain. Schindler did have a chain on his person.

Becker's plea agreement provided:

On January 7, 1989 I had been previously convicted of the crime of second degree burglary. I had in my possession on that evening in King County a pistol which I believed then and now I was truly utilizing in defending myself from an attack with a chain wielded by one Richard Schindler. In the course of defending myself the gun fired and killed the deceased, Richard Todd Flynn. I did not intend to kill Mr. Flynn.

Becker's criminal history included the following crimes: (1) adult conviction: attempted robbery in the second degree; (2) adult conviction: burglary in the second degree; and (3) juvenile conviction: burglary in the second degree. The State argued that the attempted robbery should be subject to the violent offense doubling provisions of RCW 9.94A.360(9) because anticipatory crimes are to be treated the same as completed crimes in determining an offender score. Defense counsel countered that the offense is not defined as a violent offense and should be considered a nonviolent felony and scored as 1. The trial court scored the attempted robbery as a completed robbery and doubled the score.

Defense counsel also argued that the current manslaughter and unlawful possession of a short firearm convictions should be considered the same criminal conduct and sentenced as one offense. Unpersuaded, the trial court counted each conviction separately and calculated that Becker's offender score was 4, with a standard range of 51-68 months. The trial court sentenced Becker to 68 months. Becker argues that his prior conviction for attempted robbery in the second degree is not subject to the doubling provisions of RCW 9.94A.360(9) because it is not a "violent offense" and that his two current offenses (manslaughter in the first degree and unlawful possession of short firearm) encompassed "the same criminal conduct" and should have been scored as one offense.

The first issue is whether the violent offense doubling provision of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (SRA) applies to Becker's prior attempted robbery conviction. RCW 9.94A.360(9) provides:

If the present conviction is for a violent offense and not covered in subsection (10), (11), (12), or (13) of this section, count two points for each prior adult and juvenile violent felony conviction, one point for each prior adult nonviolent felony conviction, and 1/2 point for each prior juvenile nonviolent felony conviction.

Two different provisions of the SRA can be read in conjunction with RCW 9.94A.360(9) to reach apparently conflicting conclusions.

In the general definition section of the SRA, a violent offense is defined as:

(a) Any of the following felonies, as now existing or hereafter amended: Any felony defined under any law as a class A felony or an attempt to commit a class A felony, criminal solicitation of or criminal conspiracy to commit a class A felony, manslaughter in the first degree, manslaughter in the second degree, indecent liberties if committed by forcible compulsion, child molestation in the first degree, rape in the second degree, kidnapping in the second degree, arson in the second degree, assault in the second degree, extortion in the first degree, robbery in the second degree, vehicular assault, and vehicular homicide, when proximately caused by the driving of any vehicle by any person while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug as defined by RCW 46.61.502, or by the operation of any vehicle in a reckless manner[.]

Former RCW 9.94A.030(29). ¹ Applying this section alone, Becker's prior attempted robbery conviction would not be subject to the doubling provision because the offense is not a "violent offense." The opposite result is reached by applying the SRA section on calculating an offender score which reads:

Score prior convictions for felony anticipatory offenses (attempts, criminal solicitations, and criminal conspiracies) the same as if they were convictions for completed offenses.

RCW 9.94A.360(5). Applying this section, the prior conviction is counted "the same as if" it was a conviction for a completed offense, in which case the doubling provision would apply. This apparent conflict in the statute can be resolved by applying some general principles of statutory construction.

Conflicts in statutes are to be reconciled and effect given to each if this can be achieved with no distortion of the language used. Tommy P. v. Board of Cy. Comm'rs, 97 Wash.2d 385, 391, 645 P.2d 697 (1982). However, if the statutes cannot be harmonized the court looks to the legislative treatment of the statutes. Housing Authority v. Sunnyside Vly. Irrig. Dist., 112 Wash.2d 262, 267, 772 P.2d 473 (1989). Although this case is premised on a conflict between the two sections, they can be harmonized by reading each section literally. In doing so, attempted robbery in the second degree is not a violent offense under former RCW 9.94A.030(29) as Becker contends. Nonetheless, in determining Becker's offender score, the prior attempted robbery is treated the same as the completed offense of robbery in the second degree, which is a violent crime, and therefore receives two points. The apparent conflict in the sections is based on the assumption that the attempted robbery can only receive two points if it is a "violent offense". Contrary to Becker's contention, the offense does not receive two points because it is a violent offense, but rather, it receives two points because the completed crime of robbery in the second degree would receive two points and the attempted robbery is to be treated as a completed crime. According to the plain language of RCW 9.94A.360(5) the attempt must be treated the same as the completed crime. Such a reading of the two sections gives effect to each section and does not distort the language of the sections.

Even if we assume the conflict cannot be so easily resolved, the result is warranted for another reason. Provisions of a more recent specific statute prevail in a conflict with a more general predecessor, Citizens for Clean Air v. Spokane, 114 Wash.2d 20, 36, 785 P.2d 447 (1990). This ruleapplies only if the statutes deal with the same subject matter and conflict cannot be harmonized, Tacoma v Taxpayers, 108 Wash.2d 679, 743 P.2d 793 (1987), State v. Edwards, 53 Wash.App. 907, 771 P.2d 755, review denied, 113 Wash.2d 1002, 777 P.2d 1050 (1989). Under this rule the specific and more recent section RCW 9.94A.360(5) prevails over the general and older section, RCW 9.94A.030(29).

Former RCW 9.94A.030(29) provided the general definition of violent offense that applies to several sections of the SRA, including former RCW 9.94A.030(17)(a) (violent offender not eligible for first time offender waiver); former RCW 9.94A.030(31) (violent offender not eligible for home detention); and RCW 9.94A.380 (violent offender not eligible for alternative sentences). In contrast, RCW 9.94A.360(5) applies specifically to the calculation of an offender score. The legislative history and chronology of the SRA bolster this analysis.

A violent crime was defined in the original legislation that first created the SRA. Laws of 1981, ch. 137, § 3. In 1983, the Legislature amended the SRA by adding the provision that doubles the points for a violent felony when calculating an offender score. Laws of 1983, ch. 115, § 7. Three years later the Legislature added the provision that mandates that attempted crimes be treated the same as completed crimes...