Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

is this an unreasonable sentencing case

Can a state sentence a person to more time than was originally agreed to under a plea agreement. My son was sentenced to 23yrs, 10 months and there was a supreme court case which invalidated the sentence he was sentenced under because it was unconstitutional. He did a PRP and had his case heard by the appellate court, who remanded it for modification on the charge. He was charged with 2nd degree assault predicate to 2nd degree murder. Now the court says it invalidates the plea agreement and they are threatening to try him on additional charged associated with the same crime that occurred and raise the time of sentence to 53+ years total. It appears the prosecutor is dealing in a vindictive and retaliatory manner and because my son chose to exercise his constitutional rights by filing the PRP they are determined to make him pay additionally for his actions. Are the courts allowed to practice retaliatory sentencing in this manner?


Asked on 11/16/05, 4:16 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
James J. White, attorney Law Offices of Smith & White, PLLC

Re: is this an unreasonable sentencing case

They are not allowed to engage in retalitory behavior of the sort you describe however the difficulty is in proving that it is purely retalitory. They are allowed to bring any charges that they believe, in good faith, he has committed. And likely that is what they claim is all they are doing. You need a very thorough defense team (attorney and investigator) to go through the case at this time to review their ability to prosecute the charges. Who is his lawyer now? The current lawyer should be able to answer these questions for you. If you need legal assistance contact me directly.

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Answered on 11/28/05, 2:48 pm


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