Facts:  Petitioner Gaylon Thiefault was convicted of attempted second degree rape in the Superior Court for Snohomish County.  As Thiefault had three prior convictions, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole pursuant to Washington’s Persistent Offender Accountability Act (Washington Revised Code §9.94A).  Thiefault appealed his sentence, asserting that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel when his attorney failed to object to the comparability of a previous conviction in Montana to a Washington “strike” offense.  The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Thiefault’s sentence.  Thiefault appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.

Question(s):  Did Theifault receive ineffective assistance of counsel when his attorney failed to object to the comparability of his Montana conviction?

Conclusion:  Justice Owens’ opinion for the Court reversed the Washington Court of Appeals, concluding that as the offense Thiefault was convicted of in Montana requires a lesser mens rea than its Washington counterpart and as there is a reasonable probability that his attorney’s failure to object to the state’s comparability analysis prejudiced Thiefault, Thiefault received ineffective assistance of counsel.  Thus, the Court remanded the case for resentencing.

Docket No. 77753-5 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 53214-6)

Petitioner: Gaylon Thiefault

(Counsel: Oliver Ross Davis)

Respondent: State of Washington

(Counsel: Seth Aaron Fine and Mary Kathleen Webber)

Argument: Thursday, September 21, 2006 10:00am

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, May 17th, 2007

Prevailing Party: Gaylon Thiefault (Petitioner)

Vote: 9-0

Citation: Pending

Court: Alexander3 Court (2005-2007)

Alexander

Johnson

Madsen

Sanders

Bridge

Chambers

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson