Court Opinion

ID: 9550780
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:42:22.549847+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:22:24.791328
License: Public Domain

*422Andersen, J.
(concurring) — I concur in the majority opinion but write separately to express my disagreement with the Court of Appeals determination in its published opinion that Mr. Strauss did not demonstrate deliberate cruelty toward his rape victim. State v. Strauss, 54 Wn. App. 408, 419, 773 P.2d 898 (1989). Based on this record I could not have found that the trial judge's finding in that regard was "clearly erroneous". It appears that the conduct of Mr. Strauss was significantly more egregious and serious than typical of the crime of rape in the second degree. State v. Hicks, 61 Wn. App. 923, 928, 812 P.2d 893 (1991); State v. Holyoak, 49 Wn. App. 691, 696, 745 P.2d 515 (1987), review denied, 110 Wn.2d 1007 (1988). Had this issue been before us, I would have found that deliberate cruelty on the part of Mr. Strauss was demonstrated and that it justified the imposition of the exceptional sentence in this case. The State did not, however, cross-appeal on this issue and, as the majority opinion correctly notes, the law of the case doctrine prevents our considering it at this point.
Brachtenbach and Guy, JJ., concur with Andersen, J.