State v. Hunley

Docket No. 86135-8 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 39676-9)
Synopsis: Whether RCW 9.94A.500(1) and .530(2), which provide that a prosecutor’s criminal history summary is prima facie evidence of a defendant’s prior convictions, and that a defendant’s “acknowledgment” of criminal history includes not objecting to the prosecutor’s summary, unconstitutionally relieves the State of its burden to prove prior convictions for sentencing purposes.

In re the Detention of Coe

Docket No. 85965-5 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 27520-5)
Synopsis: Whether the trial court in a sexually violent predator commitment proceeding properly admitted expert testimony that the detainee probably committed several unsolved sex offenses based on a comparison of the detainee’s adjudicated offenses with the characteristics of the unsolved offenses identified in a criminal acts database.

State v. Saenz

Docket No. 84949-8 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 27683-0)
Synopsis: Whether, in attempting to prove the existence of a prior strike offense for persistent offender purposes, the State adequately established that the defendant, who was a juvenile when he committed the prior offense, validly waived juvenile court jurisdiction and consented to trial in adult court, qualifying the offense as a strike offense.

In re detention of Moore

Docket No. 81201-2 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 58087-6)  Facts: Petitioner Paul Moore challenged the judgment of the Superior Court for Snohomish County that civilly committed Moore as a sexually violent predator (SVP) pursuant to Chap. 71.09 RCW. Under his due process challenge, Moore argued that the trial court erred in accepting his stipulation to certain facts in lieu of witness testimony without conducting inquiry into Moore’s competency; Continue reading