Filed
Washington State
Court of Appeals
Division Two
September 7, 2016
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
DIVISION II
In the Matter of the No. 48825-6-II
Personal Restraint Petition of
MICHAEL TROY YEAGER,
Petitioner.
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
SUTTON, J. — Michael Troy Yeager seeks relief from personal restraint following his
guilty plea convictions of three counts of third degree child molestation and one count of felony
voyeurism. Yeager contends that he is under unlawful restraint due to the sentencing court’s error
in imposing a community custody term that, when added to his base sentence, exceeds the statutory
maximum sentence for his offenses. The State concedes error. We accept the State’s concession,
grant Yeager’s petition, and remand to correct his sentence by striking the portion of the sentence
imposing a 12-month community custody term.
FACTS
Yeager pleaded guilty to three counts of third degree child molestation and one count of
felony voyeurism. The sentencing court sentenced Yeager to 60 months of incarceration for each
of his third degree child molestation convictions, the statutory maximum for the offenses, each to
No. 48825-6-II
run concurrently. The sentencing court also imposed a 12-month community custody term for
each of the third degree child molestation convictions. With regard to the community custody
term, Yeager’s judgment and sentence states that “[t]he defendant shall be on community custody
for 12 months or until . . . the period of early release,” and “the combination of community custody
and incarceration may not exceed 60 months, including the period of early release.” Pet. App. A
at 5. On April 4, 2016, Yeager filed a CrR 7.8 motion in the superior court for relief from
judgment, asserting that his sentence was unlawful for exceeding the statutory maximum penalty
for his offenses. The superior court subsequently transferred Yeager’s motion to this court for
consideration as a personal restraint petition.
ANALYSIS
Yeager asserts that the sentencing court erred by imposing a 12-month community custody
term in addition to a 60-month term of incarceration because the combined total exceeds the
statutory maximum sentence for a class C felony. The State concedes error and we accept its
concession.
RCW 9A.20.021(1)(c) limits the maximum sentence that a sentencing court may impose
for a class C felony to 60 months. Third degree child molestation is a class C felony. RCW
9A.44.089(2). Because the sentencing court imposed the statutory maximum 60-month term of
incarceration for each of Yeager’s third degree child molestation convictions, the portion of the
sentence imposing a 12-month community custody term renders Yeager’s judgment and sentence
facially invalid. State v. Bruch, 182 Wn.2d 854, 866, 346 P.3d 724 (2015) (sentencing court must
reduce period of community custody so as not to exceed statutory maximum sentence); In re Pers.
Restraint of Snively, 180 Wn.2d 28, 30, 32, 320 P.3d 1107 (2014) (in an otherwise untimely
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No. 48825-6-II
petition, the relief allowed for facial invalidity is correction of the sentence, not withdrawal of the
plea). Accordingly, we grant Yeager’s petition and remand for a correction of his sentence by
striking the portion of the sentence imposing a 12-month community custody term.1
A majority of the panel having determined that this opinion will not be printed in the
Washington Appellate Reports, but will be filed for public record in accordance with RCW 2.06.040,
it is so ordered.
SUTTON, J.
We concur:
LEE, P.J.
MELNICK, J.
1
Under Bruch, the portion of Yeager’s judgment and sentence imposing community custody for
the period of his early release is not impermissibly indeterminate and, thus, should not be stricken
from his judgment and sentence. 182 Wn.2d at 862-66.
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