Facts: Petitioner A.N.J., a minor, moved to withdraw the plea of guilty he had earlier entered in the Superior Court for Grant County to charges of child molestation, asserting that his court-appointed counsel had been ineffective and had failed to fully inform him of the consequences of his plea. The trial court denied A.N.J.’s motion and proceeded to sentence him, ruling that he had not demonstrated ineffective assistance of counsel and had understood both the direct and collateral consequences of his guilty plea. The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling. A.N.J. appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.

Question(s): Did A.N.J.’s attorney provide ineffective assistance of counsel that resulted in his client entering a plea that was not made knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently?

Conclusion: Justice Chambers’ opinion for the Court held that the trial court should not have accepted A.N.J.’s guilty plea as the representation provided by A.N.J.’s attorney fell below the objective standard required by the 6^th Amendment to the United States Constitution insofar as he conducted no meaningful investigation, consulted no experts, and failed to inform his client of both the nature of the charges against him and the likely consequences of his guilty plea. Thus, the Court vacated A.N.J.’s guilty plea and remanded the case to the trial court.

Docket No. 81236-5 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 25470-4)

Appellant: A.N.J.

(Counsel: George M. Ahrend and Garth Louis Dano)

Respondent: State of Washington

(Counsel: D. Angus Lee and Carole Louise Highland)

Briefs:

Argument: Thursday, May 21, 2009 10:00am

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

Decided: Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Prevailing Party: A.N.J. (Appellant)

Vote: 9-0

Citation: Pending

Court: Madsen1 Court (2010-)

Alexander

Johnson

Madsen

Sanders
(Concurs)

Chambers
(Majority)

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson
(Concurs)

Stephens