IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II

STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 47000-4-II

Respondent,

v.

JEROME CEASAR ALVERTO, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant.

LEE, J. — Jerome Ceasar Alverto appeals from the trial court’s order denying his CrR 7.8 

motion for new trial. Concluding that the trial court failed to follow CrR 7.8(c)(2), we reverse its 

order and remand.

On September 12, 2008, the trial court entered a judgment and sentence finding Alverto 

guilty of attempted first degree murder, first degree burglary and first degree robbery. We affirmed 

his convictions on direct appeal and issued our mandate on February 22, 2011. On July 29, 2014, 

Alverto filed a pro se CrR 7.8 motion for new trial in the trial court, asserting newly discovered 

evidence, fabricated evidence and ineffective assistance of counsel.1 On November 26, 2014, the 

trial court entered the following order:

 

1 Alverto had filed an earlier pro se motion for new trial under CrR 7.8, which the trial court 

transferred to us to be considered as a personal restraint petition. Alverto then voluntarily 

withdrew his petition and we dismissed it without prejudice.

Filed

Washington State

Court of Appeals

Division Two

May 17, 2016
No. 47000-4-II

2

THIS MATTER having come before the Court on Defendant’s Motion for 

New Trial, filed by Mr. Alverto on July 29, 2014, and the Court having reviewed 

the file, records and pleadings submitted;

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for New Trial is 

denied.

Clerk’s Papers at 136.

Under CrR 7.8(c)(2), the trial court

shall transfer a motion filed by a defendant to the Court of Appeals for 

consideration as a personal restraint petition unless the court determines that the 

motion is not barred by RCW 10.73.090 and either (i) the defendant has made a 

substantial showing that he or she is entitled to relief or (ii) resolution of the motion 

will require a factual hearing.

Under this rule, a trial court does not have the authority to deny an untimely CrR 7.8 

motion. State v. Smith, 144 Wn. App. 860, 863, 184 P.3d 666 (2008). It must instead transfer such 

a motion to us to be considered as a personal restraint petition. Id. Alverto’s conviction became 

final on February 22, 2011, when we issued the mandate of his direct appeal. RCW 

10.73.090(3)(b). His July 29, 2014 motion for new trial was filed more than one year after his 

conviction became final; therefore, it is untimely under RCW 10.73.090(1). Thus, trial court 

exceeded its authority when it denied Alverto’s motion for new trial instead of transferring it to us 

to be considered as a personal restraint petition.

The State concedes that Smith applies to the order denying Alverto’s motion for new trial, 

but it asks that we abandon Smith in favor of a rule under which we would convert a notice of 

appeal from a wrongly denied CrR 7.8 motion into a personal restraint petition. In order for us to 

abandon Smith, that decision must be shown to be both incorrect and harmful. State v. Abdulle, 

174 Wn.2d 411, 415, 275 P.3d 1113 (2012). The State fails to show that Smith is either incorrect 

or harmful. The rationale for rejecting the State’s proposed rule is fully discussed in Smith, 144 
No. 47000-4-II

3

Wn. App. at 863-64, and the State’s arguments for rejecting that rationale are unpersuasive. We 

decline to abandon Smith.

We reverse the trial court’s order denying Alverto’s CrR 7.8 motion for new trial and 

remand this matter to the trial court to transfer the motion to us for consideration as a personal 

restraint petition.

A majority of the panel having determined that this opinion will not be printed in the 

Washington Appellate Reports, but will be filed for public record in accordance with RCW 2.06.040, 

it is so ordered.

Lee, J.

We concur:

Johanson, P.J.

Melnick, J.