Washington Supreme Court hears argument on whether foreign convictions count toward offender score

The Washington Supreme Court heard oral argument on Nov. 19, 2024, in State of Washington v. Matthew Adam Lewis over whether convictions from foreign countries may be counted toward a defendant's offender score under Washington's Sentencing Reform Act. Counsel for the appellant, Stephanie Taplin, asked the court to remand for resentencing, arguing that the offender-score subsection of RCW 9.94A is ambiguous and that ambiguity must be resolved in Mr. Lewis's favor under the rule of lenity.

Taplin told the court that the statute's use of the phrase "out of state" can reasonably be read two ways: (1) to mean other jurisdictions within the United States (including federal courts and courts-martial) or (2) to mean anywhere outside Washington state's borders, including foreign countries. "Federal or foreign country convictions do not count as points under Washington's offender score statute," Taplin said, arguing that…