State v. Murawski

¶1 — The State charged Barby Murawski with theft in the first degree before the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Blakely v. Washington1 rendered Washington’s procedures for imposing exceptional sentences unconstitutional. She pleaded guilty after RCW 9.94A.537, a statute intended to bring Washington law into compliance with Blakely, became effective. This appeal results from the State’s repeated efforts to constitutionally obtain an exceptional sentence against Murawski during this period when the law was unsettled. The State argues that the sentencing court erroneously refused to…