Facts: Petitioner Shawn Francis was convicted of murder, first degree attempted robbery, and second degree assault in the Superior Court for Pierce County after assaulting two victims in the course of attempting to rob them, an assault that resulted in one of the victims dying of their injuries. Francis subsequently appealed his conviction, asserting that convicting him of both first degree attempted robbery and second degree assault violated the 5^th Amendment to the United States Constitution’s prohibition against double jeopardy insofar as the conduct giving rise to the second degree assault conviction had been relied upon to elevate the attempted robbery to first degree attempted robbery. The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Francis’s conviction, ruling that Francis had waived his right to raise a double jeopardy claim by pleading guilty to all three of the charges. Francis appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.

Question(s): Did Francis’s guilty plea waive his right to raise a double jeopardy claim?

If not, did convicting Francis of both first degree attempted robbery and second degree assault subject Francis to double jeopardy?

Conclusion: Justice Sanders’ opinion for the Court reversed the Washington Court of Appeals, concluding that a guilty plea merely admits factual guilt but cannot waive the right of a defendant to challenge the state’s attempt to enter duplicative convictions and sentences in violation of constitutional limitations. The Court also held that convicting Francis of both first degree attempted robbery and second degree assault subjected Francis to double jeopardy as the two crimes were not separate and distinct insofar as the sole purpose of the second degree assault was to facilitate the attempted robbery. Thus, the Court vacated Francis’s conviction for second degree assault and remanded the case to the trial court for resentencing.

Docket No. 82619-6 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 36804-8)

Petitioner: Sean D. Francis

(Counsel: Steven Witchley)

Respondent: State of Washington

(Counsel: Michelle Luna-Green and Thomas Charles Roberts)

Briefs:

Argument: Thursday, May 13, 2010 9:00am

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

Decided: Thursday, November 18th, 2010

Prevailing Party: Sean D. Francis (Petitioner)

Vote: 9-0

Citation: Pending

Court: Madsen1 Court (2010-2011)

Madsen
(Concurs)

Johnson

Alexander

Sanders
(Majority)

Chambers

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson

Stephens