State v. Posey

• Decision Date: 20 September 2007
• Docket Number: No. 78043-9.,78043-9.
• Citation: 167 P.3d 560,161 Wn.2d 638
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Daniel Alfred POSEY, Jr., Petitioner.

167 P.3d 560

161 Wn.2d 638

STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Daniel Alfred POSEY, Jr., Petitioner.

No. 78043-9.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

Argued February 27, 2007.

Decided September 20, 2007.

Stephanie C Cunningham, Attorney at Law, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

Kenneth L. Ramm Jr., Yakima, WA, for Respondent.

C. JOHNSON, J.

¶ 1 This case asks us to determine whether a juvenile's acquittal in adult court on an assault charge automatically restores juvenile court jurisdiction over remaining charges under the statute then in effect, former RCW 13.04.030 (2000), and whether the trial court improperly excluded e-mail evidence under the rape shield statute, RCW 9A.44.020. We reverse in part and affirm in part. We reverse the Court of Appeals and hold that Daniel Alfred Posey, Jr., was incorrectly sentenced as an adult. We affirm the Court of Appeals' holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded the e-mail evidence.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2 Posey and H.A.H. met in high school in September 2002 and became romantically and sexually involved with each other. After H.A.H. tried to end the relationship, Posey allegedly had forcible intercourse with H.A.H. on two occasions and threatened her with a gun. The State charged Posey with first degree assault-domestic violence¹ and three counts of second degree rape-domestic violence.² Posey was 16 years old at the time of the alleged crimes, but because first degree assault is considered a "serious violent offense" under former RCW 9.94A.030(37)(a)(v) (2002),³ the juvenile court was required to automatically decline juvenile jurisdiction over Posey pursuant to former RCW 13.04.030(1)(e)(v)(A) (2000).⁴ Posey was acquitted on the first degree assault charge and one count of second degree rape, but the jury found him guilty on the remaining two counts of second degree rape. The adult criminal court sentenced Posey to a minimum term of 119 months and a maximum term of life in prison.

¶ 3 In his appeal to Division Three of the Court of Appeals, Posey challenged the automatic decline on numerous grounds, including violations of his constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. Further, Posey argued the adult court lacked jurisdiction to sentence him because he was acquitted of the first degree assault charge (the crime prompting the automatic decline of jurisdiction by the juvenile court). Also, Posey argued that a 2005 amendment to RCW 13.04.030 applied retroactively to him, thus, automatic juvenile court jurisdiction was restored. See Laws of 2005, ch. 238, § 1. Finally, Posey argued the trial court erred when it precluded the introduction of evidence pursuant to the rape shield statute, RCW 9A.44.020.

¶ 4 Specifically, Posey sought to introduce an e-mail copied by police from H.A.H.'s computer as evidence that the victim would have consented to violence and rape. The e-mail was written around the time H.A.H. met Posey, but it was neither addressed to nor sent to Posey. According to the record and offer of proof, H.A.H.'s e-mail stated that she would "enjoy" being raped and that she wanted a boyfriend that would "choke her" and "beat her." The trial court excluded the e-mail. Report of Proceedings (RP) (Jan. 12, 2004) at 51-60.

¶ 5 The Court of Appeals held the trial court had proper jurisdiction over Posey, that the 2005 amendment to RCW 13.04.030 did not apply retroactively, and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded the e-mail evidence. State v. Posey, 130 Wash.App. 262, 122 P.3d 914 (2005). Also, the Court of Appeals concluded that the automatic decline statute affords equal protection of law if the class to be protected is all juveniles charged with a "serious violent offense." Posey, 130 Wash.App. at 273, 122 P.3d 914. The court also found that we have already held the statute does not deny due process of law. Posey, 130 Wash.App. at 265, 122 P.3d 914; In re Boot, 130 Wash.2d 553, 570-71, 925 P.2d 964 (1996). We reverse in part and affirm in part. Also, we find it necessary to only address the issues of the trial court's jurisdiction and its exclusion of the e-mail evidence.

ISSUES

A. Whether the adult court retained jurisdiction over Posey's remaining charges under former RCW 13.04.030(1)(e)(v)(A) when Posey was acquitted of first degree assault.

B. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it refused to admit evidence of the victim's e-mail under the rape shield statute.

ANALYSIS

Jurisdiction

¶ 6 Statutory interpretation is a question of law; therefore, we review the interpretation of former RCW 13.04.030(1)(e)(v)(A) de novo. State v. Salavea, 151 Wash.2d 133, 140, 86 P.3d 125 (2004).

¶ 7 The relevant portion of the statute provides:

[T]he juvenile courts in this state shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over all proceedings . . . unless [t]he juvenile is sixteen or seventeen years old and the alleged offense is . . . [a] serious violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030.

Former RCW 13.04.030(1)(e)(v)(A).

¶ 8 The relevant portion of former RCW 9.94A.030 provides:

"Serious violent offense" is a subcategory of violent offense and means . . . [a]ssault in the first degree.

Former RCW 9.94A.030(37)(a)(v).

¶ 9 Posey argues that the automatic decline provision in former RCW 13.04.030(1)(e)(v)(A) is dictated by the conviction, not the charge. Posey was charged with assault in the first degree which prompted the decline of juvenile jurisdiction. Posey argues that when he was acquitted of the enumerated charge, jurisdiction should have automatically transferred to juvenile court for sentencing on his two convictions for second degree rape, which is a nonenumerated crime that does not prompt decline of juvenile jurisdiction.

¶ 10 In contrast, the State argues the charge dictates jurisdiction because the statute uses the words "alleged offense." We have already determined that former RCW 13.04.030(1)(e)(v)(A) is unambiguous and that the legislature set up exclusive original jurisdiction in adult court over juveniles 16 or 17 years of age who committed the enumerated violent offenses. Boot, 130 Wash.2d at 565, 925 P.2d 964. However, we have also recognized the statute furthers the legislative intent to punish with certainty and more severity those juvenile offenders who commit violent crimes rather than those youthful offenders who commit other crimes. State v. Mora, 138 Wash.2d 43, 50, 977 P.2d 564 (1999).

¶ 11 In Mora, we explicitly recognized these statutory principles. There, a juvenile had originally been charged with one count of possession of a stolen firearm. The information was amended to add a count of second degree assault while armed with a firearm, a crime that automatically brought the juvenile under the jurisdiction of adult criminal court. The information was then amended a second time, which "reduced" the charges to possession of a stolen firearm and assault in the third degree; neither of the offenses charged in the second amended information automatically subjected a juvenile to adult court jurisdiction. The juvenile was tried as an adult on two offenses, which would have otherwise brought him under the exclusive original jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The juvenile challenged adult court jurisdiction, arguing that when the charges were amended, the superior court was required to remand his case to juvenile court for trial or to conduct a decline hearing. We agreed. We reversed and remanded the matter for further proceedings, holding that the trial court erred when it failed to remand the case to juvenile court following the State's decision to prosecute the juvenile for offenses not enumerated in the statute. Mora, 138 Wash.2d at 54, 977 P.2d 564.

¶ 12 Although Mora involved a situation where the information was amended before trial, the statutory framework and principles we recognized are equally applicable here. The legislature has established a statutory scheme intended to impose more severe punishment on juveniles who have committed certain criminal offenses.

¶ 13 Additionally, we have recognized the difference between Washington's juvenile justice and adult criminal systems. The purpose of the juvenile justice system is to establish a system of having primary responsibility for, and responding to the needs of offenders, as well as to hold juveniles responsible for their offenses. State v. Rice, 98 Wash.2d 384, 392, 655 P.2d 1145 (1982). The critical distinction between the two systems lies in the Juvenile Justice Act of 1977's (chapter 13.40 RCW) policy of responding to the needs of juvenile offenders; we have found this policy as rehabilitative in nature, whereas the criminal system is punitive. Monroe v. Soliz, 132 Wash.2d 414, 419-20, 939 P.2d 205 (1997).

¶ 14 As if to underscore this critical distinction between the juvenile justice and criminal adult systems, the legislative history leading the way to the 2005 amendment to RCW 13.04.030, in addition to the amendment itself, reinforces the legislature's intent for juveniles to receive treatment and rehabilitation through juvenile disposition. Specifically, the Senate Bill Report reflects the intent to keep juveniles in the juvenile system to allow creative intervention at the juvenile justice level.⁵ In keeping with the policy to treat juveniles and adults differently, the legislature amended former RCW 13.04.030(1)(e)(v)(A) to provide juvenile court jurisdiction on remaining nonenumerated crimes in the event a juvenile was acquitted on enumerated crimes.

¶ 15 As a final point, the enumerated offenses referenced in former RCW 13.04.030 and defined in RCW 9.94A.030 are exceptions to the general rule that juvenile courts in Washington shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over all proceedings. Because of the legislature's intent to treat juvenile offenders differently from adult offenders and because of the legislature's intent to impose more severe...