Case Name: STATE of Washington, Appellant, v. James Austin YANCEY, Respondent.
Court: Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3
Jurisdiction: Washington
Decision Date: 2018-05-24
Citations: 418 P.3d 157
Docket Number: No. 35216-1-III
Parties: STATE of Washington, Appellant,
v.
James Austin YANCEY, Respondent.
Judges: 
Reporter: Pacific Reporter 3d
Volume: 418
Pages: 157–164

Head Matter:
STATE of Washington, Appellant,
v.
James Austin YANCEY, Respondent.
No. 35216-1-III
Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3.
FILED MAY 24, 2018
James Lyle Nagle, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, 240 W Alder St. Ste. 201, Walla Walla, WA, 99362-2807, Teresa Jeanne Chen, Attorney at Law, PO Box 4242, Pasco, WA, 99302-4242 for Appellant.
Tanesha La Trelle Canzater, Attorney at Law, PO Box 29737, Bellingham, WA, 98228-1737 for Respondent.
PUBLISHED OPINION

Opinion:
Fearing, J.
¶ 1 The State appeals from the sentencing court's grant of James Yancey's request of a residential drug offender alternative sentence (DOSA). We remand for further consideration by the sentencing court of the sentencing alternative.
FACTS
¶ 2 James Yancey sold suboxone strips, for which he held a prescription, to a confidential informant. A day later, Yancey repeated his misconduct.
PROCEDURE
¶ 3 The State of Washington charged James Yancey with two counts of delivering a controlled substance, each with a sentence enhancement of selling within one thousand feet of a school bus stop. Yancey pled guilty to both counts and the enhancements.
¶ 4 During the sentencing process, James Yancey sought a residential drug offender sentencing alternative. The State registered its opposition and argued that Yancey lacked eligibility for a residential DOSA due to a high standard range.
¶ 5 RCW 9.94A.525(1) states that convictions entered or sentenced on the same date as the conviction, for which the sentencing court computes the offender score, shall be deemed "other current offenses" within the meaning of RCW 9.94A.589. Therefore, Yancey accrued an offender score of only one despite pleading guilty to two counts. The standard range for each charge was twelve to twenty months. The school zone enhancement added twenty-four months to the range, raising the total standard range to thirty-six to forty-four months. Under a Washington statute, an offender loses eligibility for a residential DOSA if the midpoint of his standard range exceeds twenty-four months.
¶ 6 James Yancey argued before the sentencing court that a judge may waive imposition of school zone enhancements if the defendant is otherwise eligible for a sentencing alternative. In a declaration submitted with the brief, defense counsel averred that he had attended court sessions where prosecutors removed enhancements on drug delivery cases involving methamphetamine so that the defendant might qualify for a residential DOSA. The State of Washington responded by arguing that Yancey lacked eligibility for the sentencing alternative because the mid-point of Yancey's standard range exceeded twenty-four months. The trial court granted Yancey's request for the residential DOSA.
LAW AND ANALYSIS
DOSA Sentence
¶ 7 The State of Washington appeals James Yancey's residential DOSA sentence. RCW 9.94A.660, a section of the historic Sentencing Reform Act of 1981, chapter 9.94A RCW, allows alternative sentences for drug offenders. State v. Grayson , 154 Wash.2d 333, 337, 111 P.3d 1183 (2005). The statute reads, in part:
(1) An offender is eligible for the special drug offender sentencing alternative if:
(a) The offender is convicted of a felony that is not a violent offense or sex offense and the violation does not involve a sentence enhancement under RCW 9.94A.533(3) or (4) ;
(b) The offender is convicted of a felony that is not a felony driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug under RCW 46.61.502(6) or felony physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug under RCW 46.61.504(6) ;
(c) The offender has no current or prior convictions for a sex offense at any time or violent offense within ten years before conviction of the current offense, in this state, another state, or the United States;
(d) For a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act under chapter 69.50 RCW or a criminal solicitation to commit such a violation under chapter 9A.28 RCW, the offense involved only a small quantity of the particular controlled substance as determined by the judge upon consideration of such factors as the weight, purity, packaging, sale price, and street value of the controlled substance;
(e) The offender has not been found by the United States attorney general to be subject to a deportation detainer or order and does not become subject to a deportation order during the period of the sentence;
(f) The end of the standard sentence range for the current offense is greater than one year; and
(g) The offender has not received a drug offender sentencing alternative more than once in the prior ten years before the current offense.
(2) A motion for a special drug offender sentencing alternative may be made by the court, the offender, or the state.
(3) 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.662or 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.
RCW 9.94A.660 (emphasis added).
¶ 8 RCW 9.94A.660, known as DOSA, provides meaningful treatment and rehabilitation incentives for those convicted of drug crimes, when the trial judge concludes that the sentence would serve the best interests of the individual and the community. State v. Grayson , 154 Wash.2d at 343, 111 P.3d 1183 (2005) ; State v. Waldenberg , 174 Wash. App. 163, 166 n.2, 301 P.3d 41 (2013). It authorizes trial judges to give eligible nonviolent drug offenders a reduced sentence, treatment, and increased supervision in an attempt to help them recover from addictions. State v. Grayson , 154 Wash.2d at 337, 111 P.3d 1183. The offender has significant incentive to comply with the conditions of a DOSA sentence, since failure may result in serving the remainder of the sentence in prison. RCW 9.94A.660(2) ; State v. Grayson , 154 Wash.2d at 338, 111 P.3d 1183.
¶ 9 RCW 9.94A.660 allows the offender to serve the DOSA sentence either in prison or in a residence. Nevertheless, the offender cannot serve his or her time in a residence if the midpoint of the standard range exceeds two years. If we exclude James Yancey's sentence enhancements, the midpoint of his standard range is sixteen months. If we include the sentence enhancements, the midpoint rises to forty months.
¶ 10 The State impliedly concedes that James Yancey qualifies for a DOSA, but not for a residential DOSA. The State, on appeal, contends the trial court lacked authority to grant the residential DOSA because the court must include the sentence enhancements in the calculation of the midpoint. In turn, Yancey argues that the trial court held authority to waive the sentence enhancements in order to impose a residential DOSA.
¶ 11 This court, in State v. Mohamed , 187 Wash. App. 630, 350 P.3d 671 (2015), adopted James Yancey's argument. A jury convicted Ali Mohamed of four counts of delivery of a controlled substance. The jury also found the special allegation for three of the counts that the crimes occurred within one thousand feet of a school. Based on the offender score and seriousness level, both parties agreed Mohamed's base standard range for the delivery charges was twenty to sixty months. Both parties also agreed the twenty-four months' school zone enhancement applied to three of the four charges. Mohamed asked the court to ignore a standard sentence and instead sentence him to a DOSA. The State argued the judge may waive the standard range part of the sentence, but that Mohamed must be sentenced to at least seventy-two months' confinement for the three school zone enhancements. The sentencing court deemed it lacked authority to award a DOSA and sentenced Mohamed to concurrent sentences of twenty months for the delivery charges and seventy-two months for the three enhancements for a total sentence of ninety-two months' confinement.
¶ 12 This court, in State v. Mohamed , held that the trial court mistakenly concluded that it lacked authority to waive the school zone enhancement if it chose to impose a DOSA and that the trial court erred when it failed to consider waiving the school zone enhancements to impose a DOSA. We explained that RCW 9.94A.660 permits waiver of a sentence within the standard sentence range. "Because standard sentence range means the base sentence range plus enhancement of such range, a sentencing court may waive the enhancements as part of the standard sentence range under a DOSA or [parenting sentencing alternative]." State v. Mohamed , 187 Wash. App. at 641, 350 P.3d 671 (internal quotation marks omitted) (emphasis added). Despite the fact that Mohamed's midpoint range with the sentence enhancements exceeded twenty-four months, the court remanded the case for resentencing so the trial court could explore a DOSA. We discern no reason to reject the ruling in State v. Mohamed .
¶ 13 In James Yancey's appeal, the State relies on In re Post Sentencing Review of Gutierrez , 146 Wash. App. 151, 188 P.3d 546 (2008) for support on how to accurately calculate James Yancey's standard and midpoint range. We find this decision unhelpful because our appeal does not ask how to calculate the standard range. Gutierrez does not address waiving imposition of the enhancement to return the midpoint range to within the twenty-four months' restriction stated in the statute.
¶ 14 Unfortunately, this reviewing court lacks a transcript of James Yancey's sentencing hearing. Therefore, we do not know if the trial court expressly waived the requirements of the sentence enhancements in order to grant a DOSA. Therefore, we remand to the sentencing court to either confirm or exercise waiver of the enhancements or to resentence Yancey if the court did not intend to waive the enhancements.
Scrivener Error
¶ 15 Both parties concede the judgment and sentence contains an error as to the seriousness levels for both convictions. James Yancey pled guilty to delivery of a Schedule III non-narcotic controlled substance under RCW 69.50.401(2)(c). Thus, the seriousness level for each count should be a II, not a I as indicated on the judgment and sentence. RCW 9.94A.518. Despite this error, the sentencing court calculated the correct standard range. Yancey asks this court to remand the judgment and sentence to the trial court for correction of this slight mistake. We grant this request.
CONCLUSION
¶ 16 We remand this appeal to the sentencing court to determine whether to expressly waive sentence enhancements in order to impose a DOSA and to correct the seriousness level of the convictions.
I CONCUR:
Pennell, A.C.J.