Well, Matter of

• Decision Date: 13 November 1997
• Docket Number: No. 64960-0,64960-0
• Citation: 946 P.2d 750,133 Wn.2d 433
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of Steven R. WELL, Petitioner.

Page 433

133 Wn.2d 433

946 P.2d 750

In the Matter of the Personal Restraint of Steven R. WELL, Petitioner.

No. 64960-0.

Supreme Court of Washington En Banc.

Argued June 11, 1997.

Decided Nov. 13, 1997.

John H. Hertog, Jr., Seattle, for petitioner.

Jim H. Krider, Snohomish County Prosecutor, S. Aaron Fine, Deputy, Everett, for respondent.

DOLLIVER, Justice.

Petitioner claims his 1980 plea of not guilty by reason of insanity to a first degree assault charge was not knowingly and voluntarily made. Petitioner asks this court to reverse his criminal commitment and order a retrial on the 1980 charges. The State contends the relief requested is procedurally barred by RCW 10.73.090, which imposes a one-year time limit on collateral attacks. We agree with the State and dismiss the Personal Restraint Petition.

In 1980, Well, a paranoid schizophrenic, broke into his landlady's apartment and stabbed her with a knife. According to a psychiatrist who spoke with Well after the crime, Well apparently believed the landlady was invading his brain with electrical signals. Well was charged with first degree assault and first degree burglary. On April 15, 1980, Well signed a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Defense counsel then moved the court for acquittal by reason of insanity pursuant to RCW 10.77.080 (hereinafter referred to as an NGI plea). The trial judge accepted the motion and ordered Well to be committed to a state hospital for treatment of his paranoid schizophrenia. In 1983, Well was conditionally released, but he assaulted another resident of his group home with a hammer in 1988, and his conditional release under the 1980 NGI plea was revoked. He was also charged with third degree assault for the 1988 attack, and he again entered an NGI plea. Well is currently committed at Western State Hospital (Western).

Pursuant to RCW 10.77.020(3), Well's commitment at Western cannot exceed the maximum sentence for the offense under which he was committed. First degree assault is a class A felony, which has a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. RCW 9A.36.011; RCW 9A.20.021(1)(a). The maximum sentences for the 1980 burglary charge and the 1988 assault charge have expired, such that Well's commitment is now based solely upon the 1980 first degree assault charge.

There is no evidence Well ever appealed from his 1980 commitment order, as authorized by statute. RCW 10.77.230 ("Either party may seek appellate review of the judgment of any hearing held pursuant to the provisions of this chapter."). It is unknown if he has applied for conditional or final release since his last conditional release was revoked in 1988. On April 15, 1996, Well filed this current Personal Restraint Petition (PRP) in the Court of Appeals. This appears to be Well's first PRP. The Court of Appeals certified the PRP to this court.

Well claims his NGI plea was not knowingly and voluntarily made. Under this court's unanimous decision in State v. Smith, 88 Wash.2d 639, 564 P.2d 1154 (1977), overruled by State v. Jones, 99 Wash.2d 735, 664 P.2d 1216 (1983), a trial court could unilaterally impose an NGI plea on a defendant over the defendant's objections. The court reasoned, "It would clearly be unconstitutional to permit the conviction of a defendant who was legally insane at the time of the commission of the crime." Smith, 88 Wash.2d at 643, 564 P.2d 1154. The trial procedure in Well's 1980 hearing can arguably be upheld under Smith: If a court could go so far as to impose an NGI plea over and against a defendant's explicit objection, it would seem permissible for a court to accept a defendant's NGI plea without inquiring whether the plea was knowing and voluntary.

Three years after Well's commitment, a bare majority of this court overturned Smith and held a defendant could not be criminally committed unless the NGI plea was knowingly and voluntarily made. State v. Jones, 99 Wash.2d 735, 664 P.2d 1216 (1983). Under Jones, if Well's plea was not fully knowing and voluntary, he would be entitled to a new trial. In addition to Jones, the Court of Appeals ruled in 1981 that a defendant, who was acquitted on grounds of insanity and committed to a state hospital, was entitled to have "a judgment vacated unless he understood, at the time of the motion for acquittal by reason of insanity, the nature of the charges against him and the consequences of the motion." State v. Brasel, 28 Wash.App. 303, 312, 623 P.2d 696 (1981). Well requests relief under Jones and Brasel without addressing whether the new rule of law stated in those cases should be retroactively applied to his 1980 commitment.

The State concedes Well was not advised of the consequences of his motion for acquittal by reason of insanity; but the State ignores Well's legal argument and focuses entirely on a procedural issue. The State simply claims the PRP is barred by the one-year time limit under RCW 10.73.090, and it claims none of the exceptions in RCW 10.73.100 to the time limit apply. Well's counsel admitted in his brief, and in oral argument, that he has not raised any exceptions in RCW 10.73.100.

Well makes two different claims as to why this PRP is not procedurally barred. First, he claims the statutory time limit on collateral attacks applies only to attacks on criminal convictions, not to attacks on commitment orders entered pursuant to an acquittal of a criminal charge on grounds of insanity. Secondly, he argues that, even if RCW 10.73.090 did apply, it cannot be imposed against him since the Department of Corrections never attempted to notify him of the time limit, as purportedly required by RCW 10.73.120. The State counters that notice was not required to be given to Well under RCW 10.73.120.

First Issue: Does the one-year time limit on collateral attacks (RCW 10.73.090) apply to Well's PRP?

Under RAP 16.4(d), Well's PRP cannot be considered on the merits if it is procedurally barred under RCW 10.73.090, .100, and .130. RCW 10.73.130 states: "RCW 10.73.090 and 10.73.100 apply only to petitions and motions filed more than one year after July 23, 1989." Well's petition was filed long after this one-year window closed, so the one-year time limit was in effect at the time this PRP was filed. The question we must answer is whether the time limit applies to Well's PRP.

RCW 10.73.090 states, in part:

(1) No petition or motion for collateral attack on a judgment and sentence in a criminal case may be filed more than one year after the judgment becomes final if the judgment and sentence is valid on its face and was rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Well was acquitted of a felony by reason of insanity. Since he was technically acquitted, and not convicted, Well argues RCW 10.73.090 does not apply to his personal restraint petition. He cites no authority for this proposition. RCW 10.73.090(1) makes no mention of "conviction;" rather, the subsection focuses on "judgment and sentence in a criminal case."

RCW 10.73.090 fails to define "judgment and sentence." Neither party cites any authority regarding the meaning of the words, so we resort to Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1986). The first two definitions of judgment are relevant to our analysis:

1 a: a formal utterance or pronouncing of an authoritative opinion after judging b: an opinion so pronounced; ... 2 a (1): a formal decision or determination given in a cause by a court of law or other tribunal: COURT ORDER, SENTENCE[.]

Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1223 (1986). The dictionary's first definition of sentence states:

1 a obs: a stated opinion, decision, or judgment; esp: a conclusion given on request or reached after deliberation ... b: a decision or judicial determination of a court or tribunal: DECREE: as (1): the judgment of a court pronounced in a cause in civil and admiralty law (2): the judgment passed by a court or judge on a person on trial as a criminal or offender (3): the order by which a court or judge imposes punishment or penalty upon a person found guilty; esp: the punishment or penalty so imposed[.]

Webster's at 2068.

Well was charged with first degree assault and first degree burglary. The 1980 proceeding cannot be characterized as anything other than a criminal case. Well's commitment as a result of the case is authorized under statutes concerning criminally insane persons. Chapter 10.77 RCW. In his PRP, Well collaterally attacks the outcome of his 1980 criminal case. Two documents, the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (Findings), and the Order of Commitment, sum up the results of the case. The Findings express the basis for the trial court's ruling in the case:

1. The Defendant committed the acts alleged in the Information;

2. The Defendant was legally insane at the time of the commission of the acts alleged in the Information and is not legally responsible for said acts;

3. There is a substantial danger that the Defendant may injure other persons or himself unless kept under further control by the Court or other appropriate institutions;

4. There is a substantial likelihood that the Defendant may commit felonious acts jeopardizing the public safety or security unless kept under further control by the court or other appropriate institutions;

4. [sic] It is in the best interests of the Defendant and the public that the Defendant Steven R. Well, be placed in treatment at the State Mental Hospital at Western State Hospital, Fort Steilacoom, Washington.

State's Response to Personal Restraint Petition at Ex. 6. The Order of Commitment states, in part:

[I]t is further

ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that pursuant to Findings of Fact previously entered herein, the Defendant is committed to Western State Hospital as being Criminally Insane pursuant to Chapter 10.77 of the Revised Code of Washington, the Defendant to remain at Western State Hospital or such other facility as the Secretary shall designate subject only to further proceedings of this...