State v. Darden

• Decision Date: 02 June 1983
• Docket Number: No. 48284-5,48284-5
• Citation: 663 P.2d 1352,99 Wn.2d 675
• Parties: The STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Jody Jurl DARDEN, Petitioner.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

Page 675

99 Wn.2d 675

663 P.2d 1352

The STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Jody Jurl DARDEN, Petitioner.

No. 48284-5.

Supreme Court of Washington,

En Banc.

June 2, 1983.

Kane & Meyers, A.J. Meyers, Seattle, for petitioner.

Norman K. Maleng, King County Prosecutor, Chris Quinn-Brintnall, Deputy Pros. Atty., Seattle, for respondent.

Washington Appellate Defender, Raymon Thoenig, Brown, Ressler & Foster, David R. Wohl, Seattle, for amici curiae.

STAFFORD, Justice.

Petitioner Jody Darden appeals convictions on three counts of first degree robbery. In so doing petitioner urges the application of former CrR 3.3 as interpreted by State v. Edwards, 94 Wash.2d 208, 616 P.2d 620 (1980).

Petitioner was arrested after an investigation of a number of armed robberies. He gave a statement to police and was held by the Department of Youth Services in Seattle for 4 days. During that time he was required to appear in a lineup and his automobile was searched. He was released from custody on October 2, 1979.

On December 28, 1979, 92 days after petitioner's arrest, the prosecutor filed a complaint against him in King County District Court. Arraignment occurred January 25, 1980, 120 days after arrest. On February 4, 1980, 130 days after his arrest, a preliminary hearing in district court resulted in an order binding petitioner over to superior court on robbery charges.

In superior court, petitioner filed a motion to dismiss for violation of former CrR 3.3(b). ¹ The trial court found no violation of CrR 3.3(b) because a superior court trial date had been set within 60 days after the bindover. Subsequently, petitioner stipulated to the truth of police reports and was found guilty on three counts of first degree robbery.

Six months later, this court decided State v. Edwards, supra, in which we concluded that a preliminary hearing held pursuant to JCrR 2.03 must occur within 100 days of arrest.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment holding that Edwards should not be applied retroactively. We reverse the Court of Appeals and set aside petitioner's convictions.

The Court of Appeals first recognized, in State v. Schapiro 8 Wash.App. 860, 626 P.2d 546 (1981), that "the rule announced in [Edwards ] seems to be nothing more than an interpretation of an existing rule, the former CrR 3.3." Schapiro, 28 Wash.App. at 864, 626 P.2d 546. Six months later, the Court of Appeals abandoned its holding in Schapiro, labeling it as mere dictum. See State v. Darden, 30 Wash.App. 460, 635 P.2d 760 (1981); State v. Schmidt, 30 Wash.App. 887, 639 P.2d 754 (1982); State v. Kray, 31 Wash.App. 388, 641 P.2d 1210 (1982). ²

Beginning with its opinion in Darden, the Court of Appeals adhered to the mistaken belief that our decision in Edwards announced a new, unanticipated procedural rule which, under traditional principles of retroactivity, could only be applied prospectively. Over the vigorous dissents of Judge Ringold in Darden and Schmidt and Judge James in Kray, the Court of Appeals reasoned that Edwards could not have been foreseen and that as a "complete break" with previous law, it would be manifestly unfair to apply the "new" Edwards rule to cases tried before the rule was adopted. See Desist v. United States, 394 U.S. 244, 89 S.Ct. 1030, 22 L.Ed.2d 248 (1969); State v. Barton, 93 Wash.2d 615, 611 P.2d 789 (1980).

Had our decision in Edwards been the equivalent of a "new" procedural rule, a traditional retroactivity analysis might be appropriate; ³ however, the Court of Appeals in Darden misconstrued Edwards. State v. Edwards, supra is nothing more than the interpretation of an existing rule. We did not announce a new rule; we merely put an end to a prosecutorial practice which had evolved into an abuse of the existing rule.

Moreover, our decision in Edwards cannot be said to have been unforeseeable. The State knew the rule protecting an accused's constitutional right to a speedy trial must be strictly enforced. ⁴ State v. McIntyre, 92 Wash.2d 620, 600 P.2d 1009 (1979).

All we did in Edwards was to declare the meaning of former CrR 3.3(b). "Judicial declaration of the meaning of an existing court rule is not promulgation of a new procedural rule. It is judicial clarification of what the rule has meant since its enactment." State v. Kray, supra, 31 Wash.App. at 392, 641 P.2d 1210 (James, J., dissenting).

We have long adhered to the principle that when the highest appellate court construes a statute, that construction must be read into the statute as if it had been enacted that way originally.

It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that once a statute has been construed by the highest court of the state, that construction operates as if it were originally written into it. In other words, there is no "retroactive" effect of the court's construction of a statute; rather, once the court has determined the meaning, that is what the statute has meant since its enactment.

(Citations omitted.) Johnson v. Morris, 87 Wash.2d 922, 927-28, 557 P.2d 1299 (1976). Rules of court should generally be construed in the same manner. State v. McIntyre, supra.

As a result of our decision in Edwards, former CrR 3.3(b) means the State was not permitted to delay a trial by using the preliminary hearing as the "triggering event." The trial must have taken place within 100 days of arrest or the preliminary hearing, but the preliminary hearing cannot be used as the "triggering event" unless it is held within that 100 days. Since no trial or preliminary hearing occurred within 100 days of Darden's arrest, the State violated former CrR 3.3(b).

We are not unaware of the possible harsh result wrought by this analysis. Nevertheless, former CrR 3.3(b) means just what Edwards says it means. Since the speedy trial objection, based on former CrR 3.3(b), was actually raised before trial and was renewed on appeal, the Edwards interpretation should relate back to the original adoption of former CrR 3.3(b). The conviction should be reversed and the charges against Darden dismissed.

It should be noted that appellant Darden raised the issue herein prior to trial, on appeal and again in his petition for review filed with this court. Since these were the limited procedural facts before us on review and because former CrR 3.3(b) is not a rule of constitutional magnitude, State v. White, 94 Wash.2d 498, 501, 617 P.2d 998 (1980), several questions must be left open for future consideration. Although Edwards clearly applies within the factual parameters of the instant case, we reserve judgment at this time as to whether Edwards will be applicable if the issue was not raised before the trial court, if the issue although raised was not perfected on appeal, if an appeal raising the issue was unsuccessful and a petition for review was not filed in this court and finally whether a personal restraint petition will be considered in light of the nonconstitutional magnitude of CrR 3.3. See In re James, 96 Wash.2d 847, 854-57, 640 P.2d 18 (1982); In re Keene, 95 Wash.2d 203, 204-05, 622 P.2d 360 (1980). See also In re Hagler, 97 Wash.2d 818, 826-27, 650 P.2d 1103 (1982).

The Court of Appeals is reversed and the cause remanded for action consistent with this opinion.

WILLIAMS, C.J., and BRACHTENBACH, UTTER, DOLLIVER and PEARSON, JJ., concur.

DORE, Justice (concurring in part, dissenting in part).

I concur that State v. Darden, 30 Wash.App. 460, 635 P.2d 760 (1981) should be reversed and that Darden be granted his freedom. I dissent, however, to the majority's retroactive application of Darden back to November 17, 1978, the date of the adoption of former CrR 3.3(b).

The majority, with its inappropriate reasoning, would release convicted felons, without any showing of prejudice, back to November 17, 1978. I would have applied the reasoning and rationale of the United States Supreme Court case of United States v. Johnson, --- U.S. ----, 102 S.Ct. 2579, 73 L.Ed.2d 202 (1982) to the subject case, limiting Darden 's retroactivity to August 21, 1980, the date of the release of the opinion of State v. Edwards, 94 Wash.2d 208, 616 P.2d 620 (1980). We don't know at this time how many felons convicted between November 17, 1978 and August 21, 1980 will be released as a result of this decision, because more than 100 days expired between their arrests and preliminary hearings. We will soon know.

The crucial issue in this case is the applicability of State v. Edwards, supra. Rules of court should generally be construed in the same manner as statutes. State v. McIntyre, 92 Wash.2d 620, 622, 600 P.2d 1009 (1979). Once a statute has been construed by this court, that construction operates as if it were originally written into it. Johnson v. Morris, 87 Wash.2d 922, 927-28, 557 P.2d 1299 (1976). Accordingly, an interpretation of former CrR 3.3 in Edwards would appear to relate back to the enactment of that rule. ¹

The majority here has applied Edwards back to the inception of the rule. I feel, however, this would bring about drastic and unjust results in a number of cases where no prejudice was claimed or can be shown. A more equitable disposition is the adoption of the reasoning employed by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Johnson, supra. There, the Court applied a Fourth Amendment decision retroactively to all convictions that were not yet final at the time the decision was rendered. The Court held this rule would apply to all Fourth Amendment decisions, except those cases clearly controlled by existing retroactivity precedents. ²

The Johnson Court reasoned that the retroactive application of Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980) to all previously nonfinal convictions would provide a principle of decisionmaking consistent with the court's original understanding of retroactivity expressed in Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U.S. 618, 85 S.Ct. 1731, 14 L.Ed.2d 601 (1965) and Tehan v. United States ex rel. Shott, 382 U.S. 406, 86...