Court Opinion

ID: 9965557
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-05-02 18:16:05.788207+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:25:12.624000
License: Public Domain

FILED
                                                                        MAY 2, 2024
                                                               In the Office of the Clerk of Court
                                                              WA State Court of Appeals Division III

           IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
                              DIVISION THREE

STATE OF WASHINGTON,                         )
                                             )        No. 39154-0-III
                    Respondent,              )
                                             )
      v.                                     )
                                             )
PAUL ANTHONY MCVAY,                          )        UNPUBLISHED OPINION
                                             )
                    Appellant.               )

      COONEY, J. — Paul McVay was convicted of three crimes. At sentencing, the trial

court imposed a $500 victim penalty assessment (VPA). Mr. McVay appeals. Because

Mr. McVay was indigent, we remand for the trial court to strike the VPA.

                                   BACKGROUND

      The facts underlying Mr. McVay’s conviction are largely irrelevant to this appeal.

In short, on July 15, 2022, a jury found Mr. McVay guilty of first degree burglary, second

degree assault, and fourth degree assault. Later, the trial court sentenced Mr. McVay to

140 months of confinement. Before considering the imposition of legal financial

obligations (LFOs), the trial court found Mr. McVay indigent. The court waived all

discretionary LFOs and ordered Mr. McVay to pay a $500 VPA.

      Mr. McVay appeals.
No. 39154-0-III
State v. McVay

                                       ANALYSIS

       Mr. McVay asserts that recent amendments to RCW 7.68.035 entitle him to relief

from the $500 VPA. The State concedes.

       Formerly, RCW 7.68.035(1)(a) (2018) required the imposition of a VPA on any

adult found guilty of a crime in superior court. Effective July 1, 2023, RCW 7.68.035

was amended to prohibit a trial court from imposing a VPA on a defendant found

indigent as defined in RCW 10.01.160(3). See LAWS OF 2023, ch. 449, §§ 1, 4.

Amendments to statutes that impose costs upon conviction apply prospectively to cases

pending on appeal. State v. Ramirez, 191 Wn.2d 732, 748-49, 426 P.3d 714 (2018).

       Because Mr. McVay’s case is pending on appeal, the amendment to

RCW 7.68.035 applies. We remand for the trial court to strike the $500 VPA.

       A majority of the panel has determined this opinion will not be printed in the

Washington Appellate Reports, but it will be filed for public record pursuant to

RCW 2.06.040.

                                                 Cooney, J.

WE CONCUR:

Fearing, J.                                      Pennell, J.

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