State v. Yancey
State v. Yancey
Opinion
¶ 1 James Austin Yancey, a military veteran with no prior criminal history, was caught selling drugs within a school zone. Yancey pleaded guilty and asked the trial court for a lenient sentence-either a first-time offender waiver or a residential-based drug offender sentencing alternative (DOSA). RCW 9.94A.660. The State objected to the residential-based DOSA because the relevant DOSA statute allows only a prison -based-not a *519 residential -based-DOSA for defendants with a standard range like the one Yancey had. RCW 9.94A.660(3). Over the State's objection, the trial court imposed a residential-based DOSA, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
¶ 2 We reverse and remand for a new sentencing hearing. Based on the plain language of the DOSA statute, the trial court lacked discretion to sentence Yancey to a residential-based DOSA.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
¶ 3 Yancey, a military veteran suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, twice sold his prescription Suboxone strips to a person who turned out to be a police informant. Clerk's Papers (CP) at 1-3, 26. Suboxone contains buprenorphine, a schedule III controlled substance. CP at 4-5. Both sales took place within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop. CP at 4-5, 74.
¶ 4 The State charged Yancey with two counts of delivering the drug and added a sentence enhancement to each count for delivering within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop. CP at 4-5. Prior to these charges, Yancey had no criminal record. 1 CP at 66. Given his offender score and the seriousness level of the crimes, Yancey faced a standard sentence range of 12 to 20 months, plus a 24-month sentence enhancement, for each count. See id. Accordingly, his total standard range was 36 to 44 months per count. Id.
¶ 5 The State initially offered a plea deal in which it would drop one count and recommend a prison-based DOSA for the other. CP at 41. Under the proposed deal, Yancey would have served 20 months in prison and an additional 20 months in community custody. Id. Yancey twice counteroffered to plead guilty if the State removed the school-zone enhancements so that he could serve a residential chemical dependency treatment-based (residential-based), rather than a prison-based, DOSA. CP at 26-27. The State refused both counteroffers. Id.
¶ 6 Yancey ultimately pleaded guilty to both counts and the corresponding enhancements. CP at 9-19, 65. Yancey sought either a first-time offender waiver, CP at 27, or a residential-based DOSA, CP at 34. The State opposed the first-time offender waiver. CP at 37-40. The State also opposed the residential-based DOSA, arguing that the DOSA statute bars this alternative sentence when the midpoint of an offender's standard range exceeds 24 months-and Yancey's midpoint was 40 months. CP at 61-63 (citing RCW 9.94A.660(3) ). Nevertheless, the trial court sentenced Yancey to a residential-based DOSA. CP at 69. 2
¶ 7 The State appealed, again arguing that the trial court lacked statutory discretion to impose a residential-based DOSA. CP at 78. In a split decision, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court may waive sentence enhancements to get to a standard sentence range that is low enough to accommodate the residential-based DOSA's sentence-length prerequisites.
State v
.
Yancey,
3 Wash. App. 2d 735, 740,
¶ 8 The dissent argued that courts may not waive the sentence enhancements
and
impose a DOSA.
Id.
at 742-47,
*520
¶ 9 We granted review,
State v
.
Yancey,
ANALYSIS
¶ 10 To resolve this case, we must interpret RCW 9.94A.660.
3
We review the meaning of a statute, a question of law, de novo.
State v. Wooten,
¶ 11 In interpreting a statute, we strive to "ascertain and carry out the legislature's intent."
State v
.
Bigsby,
¶ 12 Generally, the trial court "shall impose a sentence ... within the standard sentence range." RCW 9.94A.505(2)(a)(i). But the court may deviate from the standard range in statutorily specified circumstances.
E.g.,
RCW 9.94A.535 (exceptional sentences), .650 (first-time offender waiver), .660 (DOSA). The DOSA program allows the trial court "to give eligible nonviolent drug offenders a reduced sentence, treatment, and increased supervision in an attempt to help them recover from their addictions."
State v
.
Grayson,
¶ 13 In this case, the parties dispute whether this is one of those circumstances that allows for a residential-based DOSA. This dispute boils down to the correct interpretation of the following statute, specifically the emphasized portions:
If the sentencing court determines that the offender is eligible for an alternative sentence under this section and that the alternative sentence is appropriate, the court shall waive imposition of a sentence within the standard sentence range and impose a sentence consisting of either a prison-based alternative under RCW 9.94A.662 or a residential chemical dependency treatment-based alternative under RCW 9.94A.664. The residential chemical dependency treatment-based alternative is only available if the midpoint of the standard range is twenty-four months or less.
¶ 14 Yancey argues that the first emphasized portion grants a trial court broad discretion to alter a standard sentence range. Resp't's Suppl. Br. at 5-8. Based on Yancey's reading, the trial court appropriately "waive[d] imposition of a sentence within the standard sentence range" of 36 to 44 months-a range that, based on the statute's last sentence, would have barred the trial court from imposing a residential-based DOSA-and instead imposed a different sentence with a midpoint of 24 months or less. From this argument it follows that the trial court may choose any midpoint it wants in order to accommodate the court's personal preference for or against a residential-based DOSA.
¶ 15 The State argues that the trial court's discretion to waive the standard range is constrained by the remainder of the statute. Suppl. Br. of Pet'r at 7-8, 15-16. Based on the State's reading, the trial court certainly can waive imposition of a sentence within the standard range. But the court cannot then *521 impose any sentence that it sees fit. The court may impose only a prison-based or a residential-based DOSA-and only a prison-based DOSA if the midpoint of the standard sentence range exceeds 24 months. RCW 9.94A.660(3).
¶ 16 The State is correct. Immediately after the statute instructs the court to "waive imposition of a sentence within the standard sentence range," it expressly tells the court what it is to do next: "impose a sentence consisting of either a prison-based alternative under RCW 9.94A.662 or a residential chemical dependency treatment-based alternative under RCW 9.94A.664." RCW 9.94A.660(3). And those cross-referenced statutes provide detailed instructions on how to calculate prison-based and residential-based DOSAs.
See
RCW 9.94A.662, .664. Nowhere does the statute permit the court to, for instance, "impose a sentence based on the underlying count, absent any enhancements." We will not " 'add words where the legislature has chosen not to include them.' "
James-Buhl,
¶ 17 Yancey claims that
Mohamed
supports his argument. In that case, a jury found Mohamed guilty of four counts of delivery of cocaine, three of which included enhancements.
Mohamed,
¶ 18 The Court of Appeals in
Mohamed
explained that the trial court, under the DOSA statute, may "waive imposition of a sentence within the standard sentence range."
Id. at 638,
¶ 19 The
Mohamed
court broadly framed the issue as "whether the trial court had the authority to waive the 24-month school zone enhancements."
Id. at 636,
¶ 20 This interpretation is incorrect. The
Mohamed
court simply held that the trial court may waive the standard sentence range-a range that includes any enhancements-and
*522
impose a DOSA.
¶ 21 In sum, we hold that the statute is clear: the trial court may not "waive" sentence enhancements or portions of the base sentence to get to a range that is low enough to accommodate the residential-based DOSA's sentence-length prerequisites. 5 We therefore reverse the Court of Appeals. We do not know the trial court's reasons for imposing a residential-based DOSA as opposed to a prison-based DOSA or a standard range sentence. Nor do we know its reasoning concerning Yancey's request for a first-time offender waiver. We therefore remand for a full resentencing.
CONCLUSION
¶ 22 The legislature's intent is clear from the plain meaning of the DOSA statute. The trial court deviated from that plain meaning by imposing a residential-based DOSA. Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeals and remand for a full, new sentencing hearing.
WE CONCUR:
Fairhurst, C.J.
Johnson, J.
Madsen, J.
Owens, J.
Stephens, J.
Wiggins, J.
González, J.
Yu, J.
He was caught selling cocaine prior to his military service, but the State dropped the charge after Yancey himself worked as a police informant. CP at 39, 42-48.
The State-the party that filed the notice of appeal and the petition for review-failed to provide the sentencing transcript as part of the record on review. It is therefore impossible to know the trial court's reasoning or goals in sentencing Yancey to a residential-based DOSA.
The trial court must sentence under the statutes in effect at the time of the crimes. Yancey committed his crimes in April 2015. CP at 4-5. The current statutes, in relevant part, remain the same as the former statutes that were in effect at the time of Yancey's crimes.
The court in
Mohamed
did not express an opinion as to whether the three enhancements had to run consecutively to each other or just consecutively to the underlying conviction.
The State claims that Yancey's reading of the statute would permit the trial court to impose an inappropriate hybrid sentence consisting of an exceptional sentence and a DOSA. In dissent, Judge Korsmo made the same argument.
Yancey,
3 Wash. App. 2d at 742-47,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Washington, Petitioner, v. James Austin YANCEY, Respondent.
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published