State v. Saenz

¶1 This case requires us to examine how our juvenile justice laws interact with the Persistent Offender Accountability Act (POAA) of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981, chapter 9.94A RCW, also known as the “three strikes law.” When Jorge Saenz was 15 years old, he agreed to waive juvenile court jurisdiction and transfer his case to adult court, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of felony assault in exchange for a moderately lower sentencing recommendation. As a result, seven years later he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole under the POAA. We now examine whether his…