Washington v. Granath

The issue in this case was whether the duration of a domestic violence (DV) no-contact order entered by a court of limited jurisdiction was limited to the length of the underlying suspended sentence. A jury convicted Wendy Granath in King County District Court of two gross misdemeanor DV crimes - cyberstalking and violation of a DV no-contact order -based on e-mails she sent to her estranged husband. The judge did not enter an expiration date, and so, by the terms of the pattern form order, it expired by default five years later. Granath completed her sentence in December 2014. She thereafter moved to vacate the no-contact order on the basis that it ended when she was no longer subject to the underlying no-contact condition of the sentence. The State appealed the published Court of Appeals decision that vacated the no-contact order and held that the district court lacked authority pursuant to RCW 10.99.050 to enter a no-contact order exceeding the duration of the underlying sentence. The Washington Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding that RCW 10.99.050 authorized a district court to issue a DV no-contact order that lasts for the duration of the defendant's suspended sentence. The no-contact order issued in this case was not enforceable after Granath completed her suspended sentence in December 2014, and the district court should have granted her motion to vacate. View "Washington v. Granath" on Justia Law