MyBallard reader Marc wondered how the King County Prosecutor’s Office had come to the decision to ask the judge for a 23-year sentence for 17-year-old Elijah Hall, the teen who pleaded guilt of murdering Manish Melwani at the Quick Stop market on July 26, 2009, so he sent an email with these questions.
(1) Why, on the Offender Scoring Sheet, were there no scores marked under Mr. Hall’s Juvenile History? I see that on his Criminal History he indeed has two felony counts against him.
(2) Why was there no adjustment (weapons enhancement) sought for this crime pursuant to RCW 9.94.A.533(3)(a)?
Marc says, “I’m by no means a lawyer, but the press has been lax on providing information on the decision making process as to why the prosecutor’s office is suggesting 280 months, where it would seem like a range of 286-379 would appear to the layman to have been more appropriate, i.e., offender score of 4 + the weapons enhancement.”
Ian Goodhew from the Prosecutor’s office sent this response:
Thank you for contacting the King County Prosecutor’s Office regarding the prosecution of Elijah Hall for the murder of Manish Melwani. We appreciate hearing from you on this tragic case.
Mr. Hall pled guilty as charged to one count of Murder in the First Degree for the commission of a felony murder during the course of committing the crime of Robbery in the First Degree.
The Standard Sentence Range for the crime of Murder in the 1st Degree as mandated by the State legislature is 240 to 320 months, with an Offender Score of Zero.
Mr. Hall does not have any prior felony convictions. We had charged him with Attempted Robbery 2 and Assault 3 for an incident where he and two other friends tried to steal an I-Pod from a student at a neighborhood school. The Court released him and those charges were pending when Mr. Hall committed the murder of Mr. Melwani.
Only convictions can be counted against a person when calculating their offender score under the SRA. Because he is not yet convicted, the juvenile convictions do not score against him unless we require him to also plead to those counts.
Mr. Hall was not charged with a Firearm Enhancement on the murder count up front. The firearm enhancement would add 5 years to a standard range sentence for a Class A offense. he was not charged with this enhancement up front in the hope that he would plead guilty to charge. Our senior DPA who had prosecuted the case has met with the Mr. Melwani’s family on several occasions as has our victim advocate in order to understand the wishes of the family. The family supported an approach that would induce an early plea and spare the family a trial.
In exchange for Mr. pleading guilty as charged to the Murder 1 offense, we agreed not to file the firearm enhancement or to require a plea to the juvenile charges. The juvenile charges had proof problems develop prior to the murder that would have made proving the charges difficult. In consultation with the family, we agreed to a pea as charged to Murder 1 with a range of 240 to 320 with our recommendation being 280. The family is free to ask for what they feel is appropriate, which will likely be somewhere between 300 to 320 months.
Hall will be sentenced this Friday in King County Superior Court.
Maybe there is something I am missing, but why do we broker deals with criminals? Are the prosecutors really that unconfident in their ability to prove guilt, or is it laziness?
It seems that criminals are always “getting a deal.” This really takes away the effectiveness of consequences for committing crimes. Don't worry murderers, we'll never follow through on our threats of punishment.
Sigh.
So this POS cut a deal. Coward to the end. Raised by a family of cowards.
Have fun in Monroe Mr. Hall, you're going in with the big boys now. Tell them what a tough little gangsta' you are.
I'm curious what the conviction rate is when there is a trial. I doubt it's 100% so it makes sense that the prosecutors would take what they know they can get.
In this case it doesn't seem like he got too much for pleading guilty, then again five years is a long time…
I too am discouraged in the state of our criminal justice system. It's almost like the prosecutors are afraid to make a stand against lawlessness, doing whatever they can can not to ruffle feathers in the process. I do know that we are currently suffering the results of this methodology daily. It would certainly appear that todays criminals aren't the least bit afraid of justice. Go figure.
Sadly, you put this POS and his sobbing mother in a courtroom, and chances are a bunch of Seattle jurors would let him go.
Unfortunately, you're probably right. Too much stooopid in this town.
sounds like a lot of you don't like our legal system.
why don't you try to fix it instead of just bitching about it?
We do, by voting in people who believe in the rule of law, not listening to sob stories.
you need to vote out the legislators that give the legal system the laws to follow. that's were the REAL problem is. their the ones that allow for this to happen.
sorry….they're the ones
Since we're complaining about the justice system…
There seems to be a reluctance on the part of the same people who want everyone locked up forever to also pay for the locking up. Taxes get cut by the Eyman initiative type and libertarian leaning conservatives, and then they cry about how we're letting people out of jail. You can't have it both ways.
Since our hands are tied with this situation, we should clear out all the drug possession cases to make room for much stiffer penalties on the violent crime and even property crime cases. Divert the drug possession defendants to treatment/counseling before they become so bad that they are stealing to support their addiction. Once they are stealing, well then in they go to prison.
My taxes have been cut? Really? That's news to me. My property taxes are still going up faster than inflation, even as property values drop. Sales taxes? Also up.
Sorry SPG
No budget has ever declined year to year in Seattle, King County, or Washington State.
Hey Fiddler Crab, right-on!
If the system is broken, work to fix it! Chances are, these same people never participate.
While the legislature keeps passing larger spending budgets, the Prosecutors Office is hamstrung by the shrinking King County budget. Agencies throughout the county are cutting the fat where they can; I do not disagree that some agencies were fat in places! I'm glad this kid will be behind bars, and I'm glad the victims family had a say in the process.
Kudos to Marc and the Swedes for putting together a great article! It's great to have some in depth coverage of the working of our local government. Thanks to Mr. Goodhew from the KC Prosecutors Office for the response!
There is an enormous expense associated with Murder trials. The Haj Naveen trial resulted in a mistrial the first time, despite his obvious guilt. I applaud the swift justice in this case, I don't think he got “off” with a 23 year recommendation.
but our population grows and so do the costs of running a city.
I guess you don't realize that more population = more taxes…..population growth covers itself.
Out of control government growth on the other hand….
SPG
If spending had increased at the rate of inflation + population growth we would now have a surplus. Don't be an idiot.
Excellent information, thanks for getting it. Glad to know the prosecutor's office is handling it professionally. Too bad strong armed robbery is so hard to prove. Apparently you just have to have more robbers than victims to cover the he said/she said “proof problem”, if that was it.
Going to the big house. We're sorry this fellow fell through the cracks. How many more, like him, are coming down the assembly line?
Yep. It's long past time that we stop throwing away the key for folks with drug offenses while killers and rapists get out early time and time again.
Violent crimes deserve long hard sentences, personal choices that the government doesn't agree with, not so much.
And this is why our justice system is a giant cluster-****!
Well… the article mentions that the family of the victim didn't want to go thru the ordeal of a trial. I can understand not wanting to go to court for months at a time, have it interrupt your daily life even more then it is already.
If the family is happy with the result then justice is served.
If you.. who has no tie to the victim isn't happy..well who cares.
The happiness of the family with outcome of the trial does not stop the criminal from walking out of prison in a few years and murdering you or me. Right, who cares.
Too much stupid in these comments, too.