State v. Alvarado

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court, en banc, affirmed a 120-month exceptional sentence for residential burglary imposed under RCW 9.94A.535(2)(c), which allows an aggravated sentence without jury findings when a defendant's multiple current offenses and high offender score leave some current offenses unpunished. The court held that 'punishment' under the statute means confinement imposed by a sentence, not merely the fact of conviction, so the record — an offender score of 21 that capped the standard range — supported the trial court's finding that five felony counts would go unpunished within the standard range. The court further held that the statute satisfies the Sixth Amendment because the 'unpunished offenses' determination rests solely on criminal history and the jury's verdict, an automatic mathematical application of the sentencing grid within the prior-convictions exception requiring no judicial fact finding. No separate opinions were filed.