A.W. reported to law enforcement her father raped her in the 1990’s. Her report occurred in 2020. The State charged Mr. Anderson one month after this report with multiple counts of Rape of a Child in the First Degree (‘ROC 1’). Mr. Anderson filed a pre trial motion to dismiss under criminal rule CrR 8.3(b) that there was wrongful “preaccusatorial delay” that prejudiced his case. He argued the State first learned in the early 2000s that he may have sexually abused A.W., but delayed filing until 2020.
The Trial Court held two hearings on the CrR 8.3(b) motion, then granted Mr. Anderson’s motion and dismissed his charges. The State moved to ‘reconsider’ and the Court held another hearing. The Trial Court upheld its dismissal decision. The State appealed to Division One.
Dismissal of criminal charges under CrR 8.3(b) is an extraordinary remedy where there are “arbitrary actions or governmental misconduct.” The State argued there was no showing of this high standard.
The problem here was the Trial Court is supported to set forth its reasons for dismissal in a written order. Division One held that the Trial Court did not adequately set forth reasons for dismissal in writing, nor did it make an adequate oral record that there was either arbitrary action (which the court seemed to rely on) or the accused’s right to a fair trial were “materially prejudiced”. The court merely mentioned in its oral opinion that after such a long time there were “faded memories” and “lack of surviving reports” (which the State strongly disputed on reconsideration). The State argued for reversal of the dismissal, not for remand so that the Trial Court could do a full written order.
Division One avoided what appeared to be strong persuasive arguments by the State for reversal and reinstatement of the ROC 1 charges by remanding Mr. Anderson’s case so that the Trial Court could adequately set forth in writing its reasons for dismissal. The merits of the State’s appeal were not considered.
The amazing thing is that this is a thirty-year-old case that is not yet concluded at the trial level.