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Washington v. Creekmore11/6/1989
the same sentence even if it had not considered earned early release. The trial court considered Creekmore's killing "the most heinous crime that can be committed." The court also said:
I do impose an exceptional sentence, and that sentence is 60 years. . . . It is a sentence that I believe to be just under the circumstances of this case.
I started this sentence by saying, and I will conclude by saying, we must try to prevent child abuse. We cannot tolerate it. Under the facts of this case, I want to send a clear message to you and to others who may want to walk in your footsteps. It will not be tolerated in this court. . . . sentence of 60 years I believe to be just under the circumstances . . .
We see no point in remanding when the trial court believes the sentence imposed is just and we are unwilling to find it "clearly excessive."
Creekmore contends his 60-year sentence is tantamount to life imprisonment without possibility of parole, because
even if he receives one-third off for good time, RCW 9.94A.150(1), he will still be nearly 70 years old before he is released. We are not persuaded: Creekmore's sentence is hardly the equivalent of a sentence for aggravated first degree murder. The minimum sentence for aggravated first degree murder is life imprisonment without possibility of parole; the maximum is death.
Creekmore notes that his sentence exceeds by about 15 years the top end of the standard range for a person convicted of first degree murder who has an offender score of 9 or more. See RCW 9.94A.310. An offender score of 9 is the equivalent of 3 prior murders. See RCW 9.94A.360(9). However, a first degree murderer with three prior murders would have already served 80 years if he had received the presumptive sentence for those murders. See RCW 9.94A.310, .360(9).
Creekmore refers to a letter from the Sentencing Guidelines Commission which reveals that 11 exceptional sentences were imposed for second degree murder from 1985 through 1987. Creekmore's sentence was the highest of the 11 at 720 months. The lowest was 216 months, and the average, 361 months. In 7 of the 11 cases, the victims were vulnerable. During the same 3-year period, a total of 13 sentences for crimes other than aggravated first degree murder exceeded the upper end of the highest standard range, or 548 months. RCW 9.94A.310. The highest of the 13 sentences was 900 months; the lowest, 600 months; the average, 691 months. Eight of these thirteen cases involved vulnerable victims, including the 900-month sentence.
Creekmore attempts to distinguish the 900-month sentence by implying that it involved multiple counts served consecutively. However, the letter from the Sentencing Guidelines Commission says it was given for concurrent convictions of first degree rape and first degree kidnapping. The 900-month sentence contradicts Creekmore's claim that his sentence is more severe than any punishment meted out in this state for any crime other than aggravated first degree murder.
Moreover, statistics are dubious because there is no way of knowing whether the cases and crimes they represent are as serious as Creekmore's. The same can be said of four unpublished SRA cases cited in Creekmore's brief. Three of the cases allegedly involve second degree felony murder and child abuse, but nothing else is known of the facts. Nor is it established that the relatively small sampling is representative of other unpublished SRA cases involving second degree felony murder and child abuse. For this reason, and others,
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