In Re the Personal Restraint of Frederick

This is a personal restraint petition originally filed in the Court of Appeals, Division Three, and transferred to this court by certification. The sole question we consider is whether a juvenile offender can be convicted of first-degree escape.

On August 22, 1978, petitioner Michael J. Frederick pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree burglary and became a juvenile offender. Upon leaving the courtroom he ran from the custody of the probation officer. He returned to custody but subsequently escaped from the detention facility. The details of the escapes are not relevant.

Frederick was…