To limit judges’ sentencing discretion, with a few recognized exceptions, the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (‘SRA’) provides appropriate ‘times for crimes’, based on an individual’s particular crime and prior convictions. Priors do include ‘out-of-state’ convictions. RCW 9.94A.525. Mr. Lewis pleaded guilty to multiple child porn counts. He had six prior convictions: 3 from Washington Read More…
Category: Uncategorized
TALES FROM THE TRENCHES State’s Peremptory Juror Challenge Is Reversible Error State v. Shawn Bell #103077-1
Washington General Rule (‘GR’) 37 was enacted in 2018 to address the danger of implicit racial bias in the use of peremptory challenges during jury selection at the beginning of trial. A “peremptory challenge” is when a party is permitted to exclude a prospective juror from being empaneled without justification. In contrast, a challenge “for Read More…
Danger of Multiple Interviews of a Child
I practice primarily in King, Pierce and Snohomish county in Washington State. These counties have a similar policy when a report of child sexual abuse (‘CSA’) is made; it is routed to a professional interviewer for a ‘CFI’ (Child Forensic Interview). A very common scenario would be as follows: ‘Janie Doe’, an 8-year-old third grader, Read More…