Opinion ID: 1244665
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: future use as a basis for increasing a sentence

Text: The juveniles point to this court's decision in State v. Holsworth, 93 Wn.2d 148, 607 P.2d 845 (1980) for the proposition that an unconstitutional conviction cannot be the basis for increasing a prison sentence. In Holsworth, this court refused to allow a conviction based on an unconstitutionally obtained guilty plea from being used in a habitual criminal sentencing hearing. This court reasoned that the use of the conviction to impose a habitual criminal finding renewed the constitutional violation which had occurred at the time of the earlier guilty plea. [3] To the extent the juveniles rely on the fact that an unconstitutionally obtained diversion agreement cannot be used to enhance a sentence, we dismiss the argument because we have ruled the process used in their cases was constitutional. However, the juveniles also claim that, because the diversion agreement can later be used to increase a detention sentence, additional constitutional rights associated with criminal adjudications apply. In essence, the juveniles attempt to bootstrap additional constitutional rights to the initial diversion agreement because the agreement can later have the effect of increasing a detention sentence. This argument is without merit. In these cases the diversion agreement plainly indicated that it could serve to enhance a future crime's penalty. The agreement warned the juveniles of its effect on their criminal histories, and therefore, the juveniles cannot complain that they were unaware of its consequences. Therefore, because the agreement warned about the possibility of its future use, and because the agreement itself was not the same as a conviction, its future use did not violate their constitutional rights.