v.
Anthony Enrico Hamilton
THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTON STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 80473-1-I (Consolidated with 79219-9-I) Respondent, DIVISION ONE v. UNPUBLISHED OPINION ANTHONY ENRICO HAMILTON,
Appellant.
ANDRUS, A.C.J. —Anthony Hamilton appeals his 1990 second degree robbery conviction, arguing that the information failed to allege all essential elements of second degree robbery. He also contends his guilty plea should be vacated because the record of his plea hearing is insufficient for direct appellate review and his plea was not voluntary. Finally, he appeals a 2018 order correcting the duration of a no contact order in the judgment and sentence, arguing it was an improper ex parte order that rendered the judgment and sentence invalid. We disagree and affirm. FACTS The State charged Anthony Hamilton with second degree robbery on May 2, 1990. He appeared with counsel in King County Superior Court for a plea Citations and pin cites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material. No. 80473-1-I/2 hearing on May 29, 1990. The minute entry for this hearing stated “change of plea” and “cause continued to [May 30, 1990].” There is no transcript of the May 29 hearing and the parties cannot locate the court reporter’s notes. On May 30, 1990, he again appeared before the court and entered an Alford 1 plea—stating that he was not guilty of robbery, but recognized he would likely be found guilty at trial and wished to take advantage of the State’s offered plea deal. The court asked Hamilton if he had reviewed the plea materials with his attorney and whether he understood that by pleading guilty he was waiving his trial rights. It further asked if his statements in the plea form were accurate and if all of his questions had been answered. Hamilton answered yes to each question and the court accepted the guilty plea. The court later sentenced Hamilton to 3 months’ confinement and 12 months of community custody. In 1998, a Pierce County Superior Court jury convicted Hamilton of first degree murder, first degree kidnapping and first degree robbery. That court sentenced Hamilton to life without parole as a persistent offender, 2 with one of his prior “strike” offenses being the 1990 second degree robbery conviction. 3 In June 2017, Hamilton filed a CrR 7.8 motion to withdraw his 1990 guilty plea in King County Superior Court, claiming it was not knowing, intelligent and voluntary. For reasons not evident in this record, the court took no action on the 1 North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S. Ct. 160, 27 L. Ed. 2d 162 (1970). 2 Washington voters passed Initiative 593, entitled “Persistent Offender Accountability Act” in November 1993, also known as the “three strikes and you’re out” law, after Hamilton was convicted of second degree robbery in 1990 and before he was convicted in Pierce County of murder, kidnapping and first degree robbery. See State v. Thorne, 129 Wn.2d 736, 746, 921 P.2d 514 (1996). Under Initiative 593, robbery in the second degree was “a most serious offense,” and thus a “strike.” Id. at 747 (quoting former RCW 9.94A.030(23)(1993)). 3 Hamilton’s second “strike” was a 1991 conviction for first degree robbery.
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motion. A year later, he filed a CrR 7.8 motion to correct his sentence, this time arguing that the failure of the original sentencing court to identify a specific term for the no contact order contained in the judgment and sentence rendered it invalid. He refiled the same motion in September 2018.
A month later, the court entered an “Order on Defendant’s Motion to Correct Judgment & Sentence,” specifying that the judgment “should reflect that the no contact [order] was for (10) TEN years.” The order added, “However, even the 10 years has passed, Department of Corrections has terminated supervision and any [no contact order] in the judgment is hereby expired.” Hamilton timely appealed this order.
In September 2019, Hamilton filed a notice of appeal of the 1990 judgment and sentence. He moved to extend the time to file his appeal, which this court granted because he had not been informed of his limited right to appeal in 1990. In February 2020, we consolidated Hamilton’s two appeals.
In July 2020, Hamilton filed a motion to reverse his conviction, alleging there was an insufficient record of the 1990 proceedings for effective direct review. Pursuant to RAP 17.4(f), Hamilton provided a series of declarations establishing that the court reporter’s notes from the May 29, 1990 hearing had been lost and that Hamilton’s attorney in that case had no memory of the proceedings. Hamilton also attached his own declaration, dated May 22, 2020, in which he stated he did not understand the proceedings of his 1990 plea hearing, he had limited opportunity to review the case with his appointed attorney, and he simply followed the attorney’s advice to plead guilty and answer all of the court’s questions with No. 80473-1-I/4
[*3]“yes.” We denied this motion and Hamilton filed a motion for discretionary review with the Supreme Court. 4
The Supreme Court commissioner stayed Hamilton’s appeal pending its decision in State v. Jenks, No. 98496-4. The Court issued its opinion in May 2021, holding that ESSB 5288, which amended the persistent offender statute in 2019 to eliminate second degree robbery from the list of “strike” offenses, did not apply retroactively. 197 Wn.2d 708, 727, 487 P.3d 482 (2021). Shortly thereafter, the Supreme Court denied discretionary review of Hamilton’s motion to reverse, noting that the legislature had, after Jenks, amended the persistent offender statute to make the statutory amendment retroactive, and acknowledging that Hamilton will be resentenced regardless of the outcome of this appeal. 5 The Supreme Court
4 Supreme Court No. 99162-6. 5 See Laws of 2021 ch. 141, § 1, codified at RCW 9.94A.647, which now provides: (1) In any criminal case wherein an offender has been sentenced as a persistent offender, the offender must have a resentencing hearing if a current or past conviction for robbery in the second degree was used as a basis for the finding that the offender was a persistent offender. The prosecuting attorney for the county in which any offender was sentenced as a persistent offender shall review each sentencing document. If a current or past conviction for robbery in the second degree was used as a basis for a finding that an offender was a persistent offender, the prosecuting attorney shall, or the offender may, make a motion for relief from sentence to the original sentencing court. (2) The sentencing court shall grant the motion if it finds that a current or past conviction for robbery in the second degree was used as a basis for a finding that the offender was a persistent offender and shall immediately set an expedited date for resentencing. At resentencing, the court shall sentence the offender as if robbery in the second degree was not a most serious offense at the time the original sentence was imposed. (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of RCW 9.94A.345, for purposes of resentencing under this section or sentencing any person as a persistent offender after July 25, 2021, robbery in the second degree shall not be considered a most serious offense regardless of whether the offense was committed before, on, or after the effective date of chapter 187, Laws of 2019 [July 28, 2019].
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lifted the stay in Hamilton’s case in October 2021 and it is now before us to address his consolidated appeal on the merits.
ANALYSIS
A. Legal Adequacy of the Information
Hamilton challenges the legal adequacy of his 1990 information. He argues that the information failed to include the element of second degree robbery that “force or fear must be used to obtain or retain possession of the property, or to prevent or overcome resistance to the taking.” We disagree.
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 22 of the Washington Constitution require that a charging document allege all essential elements of a crime, statutory and nonstatutory, to inform the defendant of the charges against him and to allow him to prepare his defense. State v. Hopper, 118 Wn.2d 151, 155, 822 P.2d 775 (1992); State v. Kjorsvik, 117 Wn.2d 93, 101-02, 812 P.2d 86 (1991); State v. Ralph, 85 Wn. App. 82, 84, 930 P.2d 1235 (1997).
The sufficiency of an information is an issue of constitutional magnitude that may be raised for the first time on appeal. RAP 2.5(a)(3); Kjorsvik, 117 Wn.2d at 102. Because Hamilton challenges the charging document for the first time after the verdict was rendered, we construe the information liberally and ask (1) whether the necessary elements of the offense do not appear in any form, or by fair construction cannot be found, in the charging document; and (2) whether he was actually prejudiced by the faulty information. Id. at 105-06. We review the No. 80473-1-I/6 constitutional sufficiency of an information de novo. State v. Johnson, 180 Wn. 2d 295, 300, 325 P.3d 135 (2014).
[*5]“A person is guilty of robbery in the second degree if he or she commits robbery.” RCW 9A.56.210(1). RCW 9A.56.190 provides
A person commits robbery when he or she unlawfully takes personal property from the person of another or in his or her presence against his or her will by the use or threatened use of immediate force, violence, or fear of injury to that person or his or her property or the person or property of anyone. Such force or fear must be used to obtain or retain possession of the property, or to prevent or overcome resistance to the taking; in either of which cases the degree of force is immaterial. Such taking constitutes robbery whenever it appears that, although the taking was fully completed without the knowledge of the person from whom taken, such knowledge was prevented by the use of force or fear. The charging information alleged:
That the defendant Anthony Enrico Hamilton in King County, Washington, on or about April 27, 1990, did unlawfully take personal property, to-wit: lawful money of the United States from the person and in the presence of Dannielle Johnson against her will, by the use or threatened use of immediate force, violence and fear of injury to such person or her property. This language is verbatim to the first sentence of RCW 9A.56.190.
Hamilton contends that the information is deficient because it did not include the language of the second sentence of RCW 9A.56.190, that “force or fear must be used to obtain or retain possession of the property, or to prevent or overcome resistance to the taking.” But this court rejected the same argument in State v. Phillips, 9 Wn. App. 2d 368, 444 P.3d 51, review denied, 194 Wn.2d 1007 (2019). In that case, we held that the first sentence of RCW 9A.56.190 sets forth the essential elements of robbery, while the second and third sentences are merely definitional. Id. at 377. We adhere to that ruling here.
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Hamilton cites State v. Todd, 200 Wn. App. 879, 885-86, 403 P.3d 867 (2017), in which Division Three of this court held that the second sentence of RCW 9A.56.190 constituted a statutory element of the crime of robbery. But, as we explained in Phillips,
The Todd opinion is best understood in light of its assertion that the Supreme Court has identified force or fear being used to obtain or retain possession of property as an element of robbery. See 200 Wn. App. at 885-86, 403 P.3d 867. In fact, the Supreme Court opinion to which the Todd opinion cited for this proposition, State v. Allen, 159 Wn.2d 1, 147 P.3d 581 (2006), did not so hold. Phillips, 9 Wn. App. 2d at 379 (emphasis in original). In Allen, the defendant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for first degree murder with an aggravating circumstance of robbery. Allen, 159 Wn.2d at 7. It held that,
to establish the aggravating factor of robbery in this case, the State had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Allen: (1) took the cashbox from his mother's person or in her presence, (2) against her will, and (3) used force or fear to take the cashbox or to prevent his mother from resisting the taking. Id. at 9. Thus,
the Allen court was not engaged in announcing a new statutory element of robbery. Rather, it was discussing what the State—in that case, as the case had been tried—had to establish to prove guilt of the charge. There are no statutory elements of robbery requiring proof of “cashboxes” or “mothers.” Instead, the court was referencing the State's theory of the case at hand—and the court was evaluating whether the evidence adduced actually proved that theory. The Allen opinion did not purport to add to the statutory elements of robbery.
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Phillips, 9 Wn. App. 2d at 380. 6 We reject Hamilton’s challenge to the legal sufficiency of his information for the reasons set out in Phillips.
B. Voluntariness of Hamilton’s Guilty Plea
Hamilton next argues he is entitled to withdraw his guilty plea to second degree robbery for several reasons. First, he argues, the record below is insufficient to determine that his plea was in fact knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. Second, he maintains he did not understand the nature of the Alford plea he entered or the consequences of the plea.
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unable to produce a record which satisfactorily recounts the events material to the issues on appeal, the appellate court must order a new trial.” Id. at 783.
RAP 9.3 and 9.4 establish the procedure for reconstructing a record when the tape recording of the proceedings has been lost. State v. Waits, No. 37894-2- III, slip op. at 6 (January 20, 2022). 7 These rules authorize the parties to give a “fair and accurate” non-verbatim summary of testimony and events in the event of a lost report of proceedings. Id.
Although Hamilton tried to comply with these procedures, the age of the case made it impossible to create a narrative report of proceedings for May 29, 1990. Thirty years have passed since that hearing and, as Hamilton has noted, both the prosecutor and judge have since passed away and Hamilton’s attorney cannot recall the proceeding. The State does not dispute these facts.
Hamilton argues that remand for a new trial is required by the Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Larson, 62 Wn.2d 64, 381 P.2d 120 (1963). In that case, the defendant was convicted of attempted burglary after a jury trial. Id. On appeal, the parties determined that the court reporter's notes of the trial had been lost and that a verbatim statement of proceedings could not be furnished. Id. at
65. The State asked the trial court to furnish the defendant with a narrative statement of proceedings based on the trial court's own notes, but the defendant's appellate counsel contended he was unable to test the sufficiency of this narrative statement of proceedings since he did not participate in the trial. The Supreme Court agreed and concluded that the defendant was unable to test the sufficiency
7 https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/378942_pub.pdf.
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of completeness of the narrative statement of proceedings for an adequate review by this court or to determine what errors to assign for the purpose of obtaining an adequate review on appeal. Id. at 67.
Larson is distinguishable. The report of proceedings for Larson’s entire jury trial was lost. We confront a completely different situation; the lost report of proceedings consists of a single hearing originally scheduled for the entry of a plea, but during which the court continued the plea hearing to the following day. We have a complete transcript of Hamilton’s May 30, 1990 plea hearing, during which Hamilton was notified of his rights, questioned about his understanding of them, and discussed the consequences of his plea in open court.
Hamilton has not demonstrated how the contents of the transcript of the May 29, 1990 hearing would be material to this appeal. Hamilton is challenging the validity of his plea. The plea was not entered on May 29; his plea hearing took place on May 30. The record contains the complete verbatim report of proceedings for that hearing. We have an adequate record with which to review Hamilton’s claims of error.