In re the Personal Restraint of Lavery

¶1 Leonard B. Lavery was convicted of second degree robbery in 1998 and sentenced to life in prison under the Persistent Offender Accountability Act (POAA), former RCW 9.94A.120 (1998). At issue is whether Lavery’s 1991 federal bank robbery conviction was a “strike” under the POAA. We conclude that it was not and that Lavery’s personal restraint petition (PRP) is not barred either as untimely or successive.

Chambers, J.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶2 On July 20, 1998, Lavery was convicted for the May 1998 robbery of a Texaco convenience store in Woodinville, Washington. At sentencing, the State…