Supreme Court to hear Washington case

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will consider whether inmates can reopen challenges to prison sentences based on a court ruling two years ago that limited judges' discretion in sentencing criminal defendants.

Justices will hear arguments this fall from Lonnie Burton, who is serving nearly 47 years in prison in Washington state for a 1991 rape, robbery and burglary in Federal Way.

Burton was convicted in 1994 of forcing his way into a home and raping a 15-year-old boy at gunpoint. He stole $160 from the house before leaving.

Prosecutors asked for a 25-year sentence for Burton — about the maximum outlined under the state's sentencing guidelines — but a King County judge gave him 47 years, saying he deserved the harsher sentence.

Burton's appeal follows a Supreme Court ruling in 2004 that overturned the sentence of another Washington man, Ralph Blakely, who was convicted of kidnapping his estranged wife. A judge, acting alone, had determined that Blakely of Grant County had acted with "deliberate cruelty" and deserved a longer prison term.

The issue in question centers around judges' ability to issue "exceptional sentences," said Helen Anderson, assistant professor of law at the University of Washington.

The Legislature about two decades ago created sentencing guidelines, which laid out sentence ranges for every crime based on factors such as the nature of the crime and the criminal's previous convictions. The Legislature also gave judges the authority to give higher sentences in certain exceptional cases.

"The hope was that these ranges would provide more equality" over the much-larger, less-defined sentencing ranges used before the reforms, Anderson said.

But in a 5-4 decision in the Blakely case, the justices found that exceptional sentences were unconstitutional because they allowed judges to independently consider facts that the jury had not used in reaching a verdict.

Burton had an appeal pending when the court resolved Blakely's case.

Brian Tsuchida, Burton's attorney, said the Supreme Court case is a highly technical one that will determine what remedies, if any, are available for inmates possibly affected by the Blakely case.

"It has to do with whether Blakely v. Washington established a new rule, and if it did, does that new rule apply retroactively. It doesn't address whether the sentencing scheme [in Washington] is legal or illegal."

After Blakely, the Legislature changed the law to say that the state itself, and not judges, must decide before trial whether to seek an exceptional sentence, thereby ensuring that a jury determine the facts that would allow for a longer sentence.

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com

Information from The Associated Press and Seattle Times archives is included in this report.