State v. Moon’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[R]isk management decisions of a defendant inherent in plea bargaining bear equally in situations where, as here, the correct standard range is lower than the mistaken standard range upon which a plea is entered. A defendant may evaluate the risks of trial versus guilty plea far differently if faced with a 12-month plus one day bottom of the standard range, rather than a 120-month bottom of the standard range.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Mendoza · 112 Wash. App. 239 - State v. McDermond

2. “adhere[d] to the analytical framework applied in Ross . " ¶ 14 When a defendant enters a plea agreement and learns of a requirement to pay restitution, to serve consecutive sentences, or to serve a mandatory community placement period, his unawareness of the full extent of punishment entitles him to withdraw his guilty plea. Thus, a defendant is entitled to the same relief where he agrees to plead guilty only to later learn of a miscalculated offender score and sentencing range higher than he had initially believed. ¶ 15 But where the defendant enters a plea agreement under the erroneous belief that his offender score and standard range are higher than in fact they are, he is not entitled to withdraw that plea under a claim that it was invalidly entered. In the former instance, the defendant suffers a manifest injustice because his sentence will be enhanced, but in the latter instance he does not similarly suffer because his sentence can only become less onerous. ¶ 16 The Moon court concluded: It is true that the cases cited involve the situation where a defendant was informed of a lower standard range, only to discover after the plea that the standard range was higher. However, the cases do not make this distinction. In other words, the cases simply state that where a plea agreement is based on "misinformation,”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 128 Wash. App. 267 - In Re Matthews

3. “shall not accept a plea of guilty, without first determining that it is made voluntarily, competently and with an understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Mendoza