Facts: After reaching a plea agreement, petitioner Anthony Bradley was convicted of simple possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and sentenced in the Superior Court for King County. When it was subsequently revealed that a miscalculation of his offender score had led to his being misinformed with regard to the standard range sentence that would be associated with a conviction for simple possession of cocaine, Bradley filed a personal restraint petition requesting to withdraw both of his pleas, asserting that they were part of an indivisible package agreement and that that agreement was involuntary. The Washington Court of Appeals transferred the petition to the Supreme Court of Washington on grounds that it appeared to be successive as Bradley had earlier filed a petition requesting to withdraw his plea of guilty to the charge of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver.
Question(s): Was Bradley’s plea of guilty to the charge of simple possession of cocaine involuntary?
If so, were both pleas involuntary insofar as they were part of an indivisible package agreement?
Conclusion: Justice Stephens’ opinion for the Court concluded that the miscalculation of Bradley’s offender score rendered Bradley’s plea of guilty to the charge of simple possession of cocaine involuntary as it resulted in Bradley being uninformed of a direct consequence of his plea. The Court also held that Bradley’s pleas to the charges of simple possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to deliver were part of an indivisible package agreement given that the pleas were made at the same time and accepted in a single proceeding. Thus, the Court ordered both pleas withdrawn and remanded the case to the trial court.
Docket No. 81045-1 (from Original Case No. Action)
Petitioner: Anthony Lamount Bradley
Respondent: State
Briefs:
Argument: Thursday, September 11, 2008 9:00am
[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]
Audio: Washington Supreme Court
Decided: Thursday, April 16th, 2009
Prevailing Party: State (Respondent)
Vote: 7-2
Citation: Pending
Alexander
(Dissent)
Johnson
Madsen
Sanders
Chambers
Owens
(Concurs)
Fairhurst
Johnson
Stephens
(Majority)
Note: We post only slip opinion(s) as published at the time of the decision. Please consult Washington Reports printed volumes for the opinion(s) in their final form. Each opinion should appear next to the Justice who authored it.