Opinion ID: 1428277
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Seventy-one-year-old R.L. was found brutally bludgeoned to death in her bedroom. She had been sexually assaulted. Evidence at the scene implicated a fifteen-year-old neighbor, Gregory Thomas. He later confessed. Thomas was charged with aggravated first degree murder, felony murder in the first degree, and attempted residential burglary. He pleaded guilty to attempted burglary but went to trial on the two murder charges. The jury failed to return a unanimous verdict on the charge of aggravated murder in the first degree, but found Thomas guilty of felony murder in the first degree. In convicting on the felony murder count, the jury unanimously found Thomas had committed each of three predicate felonies argued by the State: (1) rape in the first degree; (2) rape in the second degree; and (3) burglary in the first degree. In response to a special sexual motivation charge and verdict question, the jury also unanimously found the murder was committed with sexual motivation. Thomas' offender score on the murder conviction resulted in a standard range sentence of 250 to 333 months. The State requested an exceptional sentence of 999 months based on three aggravating circumstances: victim vulnerability due to advanced age; violation of the victim's zone of privacy; and sexual motivation. The defense requested the mandatory minimum (240 months) or a standard range sentence, arguing the defendant's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct was significantly impaired. Finding all three aggravating factors urged by the State, the court imposed an exceptional sentence of 999 months. Thomas appealed his conviction and sentence on various grounds. In an unpublished opinion, the Court of Appeals affirmed. State v. Thomas, No. 38324-8-I, 1998 WL 312847 (Wash.Ct.App. June 15, 1998). We granted review solely to determine whether a felony murder conviction predicated on rape constitutes a sex offense for purposes of RCW 9.94A.127, thereby precluding an exceptional sentence based on a special finding of sexual motivation.