Opinion ID: 2604201
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: encompassing the same criminal conduct

Text: Under the SRA, the first step in determining the length of a sentence is to calculate the appropriate standard range. Generally, a defendant is to be sentenced within this standard range unless substantial and compelling reasons justify a different sentence. Former RCW 9.94A.122(2). The standard range is based on two factors: (1) the severity of the crime for which the defendant is being sentenced (offense seriousness level) and (2) the length and seriousness of the defendant's criminal history (offender score). RCW 9.94A.350-.370. The defendant's offender score is computed from his criminal history, including prior and current convictions. RCW 9.94A.400(1)(a). At issue in the present cases is how related convictions are used in calculating the offender score. At the time of the sentencings involved in these cases, RCW 9.94A.400(1)(a) explained the analysis of criminal history as follows: Except as provided in (b) of this subsection [not applicable in the current cases], whenever a person is convicted of two or more offenses, the sentence range for each offense shall be determined by using all other current and prior convictions as criminal history. All sentences so determined shall be served concurrently. Separate crimes encompassing the same criminal conduct shall be counted as one crime in determining criminal history. (Italics ours.) [3] The focus of this opinion concerns the interpretation of the last sentence quoted above. This language was first dealt with in State v. Edwards, 45 Wn. App. 378, 380-82, 725 P.2d 442 (1986). There, a passenger in a car pulled a gun on the driver. The driver yelled for help, and a man approached the car to assist but retreated when the passenger waved the gun at him. The passenger was convicted of kidnapping the driver and of assaulting the rescuer. The Court of Appeals held that the kidnapping and the assault encompassed the same criminal conduct. [W]e find that Edwards' actions encompassed the same criminal conduct. The kidnapping of the supervisor and the assault on the paramedic were intimately related; there was no substantial change in the nature of the criminal objective. The kidnapping was continuing and still in progress at the time the assault occurred. Moreover, the assault was committed in furtherance of the kidnapping. State v. Edwards, supra at 382. The Edwards court based this analysis on cases interpreting the Juvenile Justice Act of 1977 (JJA), RCW 13.40. Under the JJA's calculation of a juvenile's criminal history, separate convictions are treated as one if they arise out of the same course of conduct. RCW 13.40.020(6)(a). This phrase has been interpreted to mean: [a] criminal event which is intimately related or connected to another criminal event. State v. Adcock, 36 Wn. App. 699, 706, 676 P.2d 1040, review denied, 101 Wn.2d 1018 (1984). Another JJA case has held that the necessary intimate relationship between criminal events is met only if there is no substantial change in the nature of the criminal objective. State v. Calloway, 42 Wn. App. 420, 423-24, 711 P.2d 382 (1985). This test is an objective one, not dependent on the juvenile's subjective intent. Calloway, at 424; State v. Hayes, 46 Wn. App. 684, 687, 732 P.2d 168 (1987); State v. Huff, 45 Wn. App. 474, 478, 726 P.2d 41 (1986). [1] Three recent Court of Appeals decisions have followed Edwards in using this objective intent analysis in interpreting the SRA's same criminal conduct language. See State v. Boze, 47 Wn. App. 477, 735 P.2d 696 (1987); State v. King, 47 Wn. App. 38, 733 P.2d 568 (1987); State v. Rienks, 46 Wn. App. 537, 731 P.2d 1116 (1987). We find this approach persuasive, [4] especially in light of evidence that the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission intended this interpretation to be used. [5] Therefore, in deciding if crimes encompassed the same criminal conduct, trial courts should focus on the extent to which the criminal intent, as objectively viewed, changed from one crime to the next. As it did in Edwards, part of this analysis will often include the related issues of whether one crime furthered the other and if the time and place of the two crimes remained the same. See Edwards, at 382. Despite our general endorsement of the Edwards approach, we specifically overrule one portion of its holding. The Edwards court held that crimes involving two victims could constitute the same criminal conduct. We disagree. Convictions of crimes involving multiple victims must be treated separately. To hold otherwise would ignore two of the purposes expressed in the SRA: ensuring that punishment is proportionate to the seriousness of the offense, and protecting the public. RCW 9.94A.010(1), (4). As one commentator has noted, to victimize more than one person clearly constitutes more serious conduct and, therefore, such crimes should be treated separately. D. Boerner, Sentencing in Washington § 5.8(a), at 5-18 (1985). Additionally, treating such crimes separately, thereby lengthening the term of incarceration, will better protect the public by increasing the deterrence of the commission of these crimes. For these reasons, we conclude that crimes involving multiple victims must be treated separately. We note in passing that the standard for same criminal conduct we have adopted today is similar to a recently enacted legislative definition of the same term. In the 1987 session, the Legislature amended RCW 9.94A.400(1)(a) to read as follows: Same criminal conduct, as used in this subsection, means two or more crimes that require the same criminal intent, are committed at the same time and place, and involve the same victim. Laws of 1987, ch. 456, § 5, p. 1980. This amendment was not effective until July 26, 1987 and, therefore, was not expressly applicable to the present cases unless we give the amendment retroactive effect, which we decline to do. [6] We now apply these principles to the facts at hand. Green and Franklin each committed armed robbery and then each attempted to murder his victim. The murders were attempted after receiving the money but before leaving the premises. When viewed objectively, the criminal intent in these cases was substantially different: the intent behind robbery is to acquire property while the intent behind attempted murder is to kill someone. RCW 9A.56.190; RCW 9A.32.030. The defendants have argued that the intent behind the crimes was the same in that the murders were attempted in order to avoid being caught for committing the robberies. However, this argument focuses on the subjective intent of the defendants, while the cases make clear that the test is an objective one. State v. Huff, 45 Wn. App. 474, 478-79, 726 P.2d 41 (1986); State v. Edwards, 45 Wn. App. 378, 382, 725 P.2d 442 (1986); State v. Calloway, 42 Wn. App. 420, 424, 711 P.2d 382 (1985). Additionally, neither crime furthered the commission of the other. While the attempted murders may have been committed in an effort to escape the consequences of the robberies, they in no way furthered the ultimate goal of the robberies. Clearly, the robberies did not further the attempted murders. Accordingly, we hold that these crimes did not encompass the same criminal conduct. Turning to the Dunaway case, we have already determined that crimes involving two victims constitute two separate incidents of criminal conduct. We need only decide if Dunaway's kidnapping and robbery of a single victim encompassed the same criminal conduct. Analysis of the Edwards factors shows that Dunaway's kidnapping and robbery were intimately related. First, his objective remained the same with respect to each crime. Dunaway pleaded guilty to the charge of intentionally abducting his victim with the intent to commit robbery. Indeed, it was Dunaway's very intent to commit robbery that enabled the prosecutor to raise the charge from second degree to first degree kidnapping. RCW 9A.40.020(1)(b); RCW 9A.40.030. Therefore, robbery was the objective intent behind both crimes. As to the other two factors, it is evident that the kidnapping furthered the robbery and that the crimes were committed at the same time and place. Therefore, the kidnapping and robbery of a single victim should be treated as one crime for sentencing purposes. For the foregoing reasons, we reverse all three Court of Appeals opinions. In Dunaway, we remand for recalculation of the standard range with the defendant's four current offenses being treated as two separate crimes. In Franklin, the sentencing judge correctly calculated the standard range, so we reinstate the sentence imposed there. In Green, the sentencing judge correctly calculated the standard range, but then imposed an exceptional sentence, i.e., one outside the standard range. We now turn to analysis of that issue.