State v. Knotek

• Decision Date: 26 December 2006
• Docket Number: No. 33644-8-II.,33644-8-II.
• Citation: 149 P.3d 676,136 Wn. App. 412
• Parties: STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Michelle L. KNOTEK, Appellant.
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals

149 P.3d 676

136 Wn. App. 412

STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Michelle L. KNOTEK, Appellant.

No. 33644-8-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

December 26, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Gregory Charles Link, Washington Appellate Project, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

David John Burke, Attorney at Law, South Bend, WA, for Respondent.

HUNT, J.

¶ 1 Michelle Knotek appeals her guilty plea convictions for second degree murder and first degree manslaughter; she also appeals the trial court's denial of her post-judgment and sentence motion to withdraw her guilty plea. Knotek argues that she did not enter into her Alford¹ plea knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily because she was misinformed about (1) the maximum sentences that could be imposed and (2) the term of community placement. In her Statement of Additional Grounds² ("SAG"), Knotek further contends that (1) her attorney coerced her into entering into the plea agreement; (2) her attorney provided ineffective assistance; (3) she was not competent at the time she entered her guilty plea; (4) the crimes to which she pleaded guilty "didn't fit" the facts of this case; and (5) the trial court committed judicial misconduct.³ Holding that the record shows that Knotek entered her guilty plea knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily, we affirm.

FACTS

I. MURDERS

A. Count I—Kathy Loreno

¶ 2 In 1991, Michelle Knotek invited Kathy Loreno to live with her family in South Bend, Pacific County. Loreno was to help care for Knotek's two teenage daughters and a third daughter expected to be born soon. Loreno accepted the offer. Loreno was in good health when she began living with the Knoteks. Initially the Knotek family treated Loreno well.

¶ 3 But soon, Knotek and her husband, David Knotek,⁴ began abusing Loreno physically and mentally; they continued this abuse through 1991. Knotek and her husband (1) hit and slapped Loreno, including numerous blows to the head; (2) dragged her across the ground; (3) pulled her hair; (4) poisoned her; (5) forced her to submit to bizarre "treatments," such as bleach and salt to clean her wounds, and ingesting salt and prescription medications; (6) forced her to live and to work outdoors in harsh weather conditions while minimally clothed or naked until she became hypothermic; (7) starved her; and (7) as punishment, forced her to immerse herself in cold water or mud. As a result of this abuse, Loreno lost 100 pounds, her hair and teeth fell out, and she declined physically and mentally. Near the end of her life, Loreno could not walk or talk, one side of her face drooped, her vision had declined significantly, and she was covered in vomit.

¶ 4 Eventually Loreno died as a result of this prolonged abuse. Acting on Knotek's decision, David and Shane Watson, David's nephew, burned and buried Loreno's body in the Knoteks' backyard. Knotek concocted a story about Loreno having run away with her boyfriend, repeatedly quizzed her (Knotek's) children about the story, and generated letters to Loreno's family purporting to be from Loreno so her family would believe she was still alive.

B. Count II—Ron Woodworth

¶ 5 In October 2001, Knotek invited Ron Woodworth to live in the Knotek home. Knotek's youngest daughter witnessed Knotek and her husband inflict physical and emotional abuse on Woodworth, virtually identical to the acts of abuse they had committed against Loreno ten years earlier. Like Loreno, Woodworth declined physically and mentally, and eventually died as a result of the abuse sometime between the end of 2001 and August 2003. David buried Woodworth's body in the backyard of the Knotek residence.

C. Arrest

¶ 6 In August 2003, Knotek's two older daughters contacted the police about Knotek's abuse of Woodworth. Knotek's youngest daughter also provided a statement. The police arrested Knotek and David.

II. PROCEDURE

¶ 7 The State charged Michelle Knotek⁵ with two counts of second degree murder: Count I, for the 1991 death of Kathy Loreno; and Count II for the 2003 death of Ron Woodworth. The trial court denied Knotek's motion to sever counts because the State planned to use David as a witness against Knotek.

A. Alford Plea

¶ 8 On June 18, 2004, Knotek appeared in Pacific County Superior Court to plead guilty to second degree murder and first degree manslaughter. The State agreed to reduce Count II from second degree murder to first degree manslaughter, and to recommend sentences at the low end of the standard range for both counts. The parties stipulated that the facts contained in the August 11, 2003 Probable Cause Affidavit, the Bill of Particulars, and the State's brief in opposition to Knotek's Motion to Sever, were sufficient to find Knotek guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on these two charges.

¶ 9 The trial court engaged in a thorough inquiry to ensure that Knotek was entering her plea knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. Knotek indicated that (1) she had completed 14 years of school and could read and write "very well"; (2) she had discussed "everything set forth in the Plea Agreement" with her counsel over the course of a "few hours," and they had "talk[ed] about it throughout the last few weeks" Report of Proceedings (RP) (June 18, 2004) at 6-7; (3) she understood the standard sentencing range for second degree murder was 123 to 164 months, with a maximum term of life in prison, RP (June 18, 2004) at 7; (4) she knew the standard sentencing range for first degree manslaughter was 78 to 102 months, with a maximum term of life in prison; (5) because these were serious violent offenses, she understood the sentences for each count would run consecutively, which she confirmed meant she would first serve one sentence and then serve the other sentence, after completing the first one; (6) she understood that the State would recommend sentences of 123 months on Count I and 78 month on Count II, for a total of 201 months; (7) she understood that the court need not follow the State's sentencing recommendation; (8) she also understood that she faced the possibility of an "exceptional sentence" on each count, meaning sentences above the standard range; (9) she understood that the plea bargain also called for her to serve 24 months of community custody; (10) she was entering an Alford plea, which she understood was a plea of guilty; and (11) she understood the financial penalties that could result from her plea, including restitution.

¶ 10 The trial court asked Knotek five different times whether she was entering her plea voluntarily; in each instance, Knotek answered in the affirmative. The trial court also (1) made sure that Knotek had gone over her Statement of Defendant on Plea of Guilty with counsel and that she understood the provisions of the Statement; (2) explained to Knotek each of the rights she was waiving by entering her guilty plea; and (3) explained to Knotek that her crimes would constitute "one strike" for future charging and sentencing purposes, which Knotek confirmed she understood. The court then asked Knotek how she would plead on each charge, and Knotek replied, "Guilty."

¶ 11 Based on the parties' stipulation and Knotek's Alford pleas, the trial court found Knotek guilty of Count I, second degree murder, and Count II, first degree manslaughter.

B. Sentencing

¶ 12 At Knotek's August 19, 2004 sentencing, the parties and the trial court addressed a recent relevant United States Supreme Court decision, Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), rendered on June 24, 2004, less than a week after Knotek's June 18, 2004 guilty plea.

¶ 13 The State acknowledged that (1) as a result of the Blakely decision, "the Court's hands are bound by the standard range"; and (2) during "quite a few conversations" with Knotek, defense counsel, and the trial court, had explained the Blakely decision and how the decision would affect her sentence.

¶ 14 Knotek's counsel acknowledged that (1) Knotek's "decision to enter such a plea was also reflective of the threat of an exceptional sentence recommendation .. .," and (2) the "threat certainly is not as strong in light of the current Blakely decision as it was at the time the plea was entered." Appendix C to Respondent's Brief, Supplemental Sentencing Memorandum at 6. Knotek proceeded to sentencing, fully aware of the reduced sentence that she now faced because of Blakely. Knotek did not claim that she had been misinformed about the consequences of her plea. Nor did she move to vacate or to withdraw her plea. Instead, the colloquy focused on her good luck—that the Blakely decision had eliminated the possibility of the more severe exceptional sentence to which she had been previously exposed.

¶ 15 Just before pronouncing sentence, the trial court reminded Knotek that, but for the Blakely decision, it would have imposed a sentence above the standard range:

I also know, finally, that [Knotek] should be very thankful to the U.S. Supreme Court and the 5-4 decision in Blakely v. Washington because this would not be the sentence that I would hand down but for that decision.

RP (Aug. 19, 2004) at 34. The court then sentenced Knotek to the top end of the standard range on each conviction, 164 months on Count I and 102 months on Count II, to run consecutively, for a total of 266 months confinement. Knotek did not raise any question about the voluntariness of her Alford plea in connection with her sentencing.

C. Post-judgment Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea

¶ 16 Eight months later, in April 2005, Knotek moved pro se to withdraw her Alford plea. She alleged that she had not been correctly informed, that generally she did not understand the consequences of her plea when she entered it the previous year, and that she had been denied effective assistance of counsel. The trial court denied the motion.

III. APPEAL

¶ 17 Knotek appeals both the trial court's denial of her motion to withdraw her guilty plea and the guilty plea conviction and...