Court Opinion

ID: 9549680
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:23:11.565794+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:20:45.087161
License: Public Domain

Finley, C. J.
(concurring in the result)—In enacting RCW 69.33.410, the legislature stated—and, in my best judgment, with significant purpose and intent—that second offenders shall “be imprisoned for not less than five years.” The statement was made against the backdrop of a statutory scheme setting forth three general categories of crime: (1) Misdemeanors are crimes punishable by fine “or by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than ninety days.” RCW 9.01.020; 9.92.030. (2) Gross misdemeanors are crimes which are neither misdemeanors nor felonies; the punishment, if not otherwise provided, is by fine or “by imprisonment in the county jail for not more *464than one year,” or both. RCW 9.01.020; 9.92.020. (3) Felonies are crimes “which may be punished by death or by imprisonment in the state penitentiary.” RCW 9.01.020.
RCW 69.33.410, to be sure, does not declare that the term of imprisonment is to be served in the state penitentiary. Indeed, this omission has given rise to a semblance of confusion or ambiguity in the instant case. The statute, however, does define the crime of uttering a false or forged narcotic prescription, and it goes on to state or fix the minimum term of imprisonment. This declaration—by the legislature—of this five-year minimum does not seem to me to be logically and reasonably in accord with ordinary, every-day conceptions of a gross misdemeanor. In this connection, it certainly is to be noted that, unless specified, the maximum time of incarceration for gross misdemeanors is one year.
I am strongly persuaded to the conclusion, which I think is reasonably clear, that the legislature intended the crime involved in the instant case to be a felony. The next question is whether the language of RCW 69.33.410 is adequate to allow giving effect to such a legislative intent. I believe it is. The crime is defined and the extent of punishment is provided. The only matter not expressly declared is the place of imprisonment. But, for the reasons stated above, this potential gap in the statute is bridged by inferences as to legislative intent too strong to be denied. Added to this is the not at all inconsiderable factor that the evils resulting from the crime are among the most serious affecting our society today. Under these circumstances, it is unreasonable to invalidate the imprisonment portion of the statute because the legislature failed to state expressly what almost unavoidably must be inferred—that the crime is a felony, and the place of imprisonment is the state penitentiary.
I agree with the majority for the reasons advanced herein that the writ should be denied.