FINAL BILL REPORT

SHB 1071

                                  C 395 L 89

BYHouse Committee on Judiciary (originally sponsored by Representatives H. Myers, Padden, Nealey, Patrick, Wolfe, Wood, P. King and Crane)

Regarding collateral attacks on convictions.

House Committe on Judiciary

Senate Committee on Law & Justice

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

After a defendant is convicted of a crime, the defendant may appeal the conviction directly to the appellate court if the defendant did not plead guilty and waive the right to an appeal. Court rules require the defendant to file a notice of appeal within 30 days after entry of the judgment and sentence or the defendant waives the right of appeal.

In addition to direct appeals, the constitution, statutes and court rules allow a convicted defendant to challenge a judgment by a collateral attack.  One mechanism of collateral attack is the writ of habeas corpus which a defendant may pursue by filing a "personal restraint" petition. A defendant may also move to withdraw a guilty plea, move for a new trial, or move to vacate a judgment.

Court rules establish the grounds for challenging a conviction through a personal restraint petition.  Those grounds include: (1) the convicting court lacked jurisdiction, (2) the conviction was obtained in violation of state law or the state or federal constitution; (3) material facts, not disclosed at trial, exist that in the interest of justice require the petitioner's release; (4) sufficient reasons exist to retroactively apply a post conviction change in the law; (5) there are "other grounds" for a collateral attack on the conviction; (6) the conditions or manner of the petitioner's restraint violate the state or federal constitution; or (7) "other grounds" exist to challenge the legality of the detention.

Current law imposes no time limit on filing a personal restraint petition. Also, no limit exists on the number of petitions a petitioner may file if the petitioner asserts different grounds each time.  Consequently, a person may file numerous petitions years after conviction.

SUMMARY:

The law governing personal restraint petitions is amended to restrict a convicted person's right to file personal restraint petitions.  A convicted person who has either pled guilty, failed to exercise appellate rights or has exhausted appellate rights must file a personal restraint petition within one year of final judgment.  The new one year time limit prohibits filing of personal restraint petitions except on theses grounds:  (1) newly discovered evidence if the defendant acted with reasonable diligence in discovering the evidence; (2) the statute under which the defendant was convicted is unconstitutional on its face; (3) double jeopardy bars the conviction; (4) the defendant pled not guilty and the evidence at trial was insufficient to convict; (5) the sentence imposed was in excess of the court's jurisdiction; or (6) the Legislature or a court has determined that a significant change in the law material to the conviction should be applied retroactively.

Defendants and incarcerated persons will receive notice of the time limit and exceptions.  A one-year "grandfather" provision allows prisoners whose judgements have been final for over one year an additional year to file petitions.  Additional restrictions require the petitioner to certify that the basis for the petition is not repetitive of prior petitions.  If the petitioner has filed prior petitions, the petitioner must show good cause why the petitioner failed to raise the basis for relief in the previous petitions.  The court of appeals will dismiss a petition without requiring the state to respond to the petition, if the court finds that the position is repetitive, frivolous, or fails to show good cause why the petitioner did not request the relief in previous petitions.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      House 74  20

      Senate    37     6 (Senate amended)

      House 78  19 (House concurred)

EFFECTIVE:July 23, 1989