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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Firearm possession (including sale) |
Sentence: |
2-1/2 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
1.45 |
Year Crime: |
2007 |
Year Convicted: |
2008 |
Year Cleared: |
2012 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Washington |
County or Region of Crime: |
Thurston |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Ryan Wayne Allen was wrongly convicted on April 3, 2008 of being a felon in possession of a firearm in Thurston County, Washington. Ryan Allen had been convicted in 1994 of one count of residential burglary in Thurston County Juvenile Court. He was arrested on December 21, 2007 when a Thurston County sheriff's deputy responded to a noise complaint. The deputy arrived at Allen's mobile home that was in an isolated area, and he knocked on the door twice before Allen answered. Allen opened the door while holding a rifle in his right hand. The deputy ordered Allen to put down the weapon and Allen complied. The deputy pulled Allen out of the doorway and handcuffed him. Allen told the officer he also had a loaded .22 caliber rifle on his bed. The deputy radioed headquarters and learned Allen had a previous felony conviction, which prohibited him under Washington law forbade Allen from possessing a firearm. Allen was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree unlawful possession of a firearm: one count for the assault rifle, the other count for the .22 caliber rifle. He was released on a personal recognizance bond pending his trial. In February 2008 Allen's bail was revoked after he failed to appear for a urinalysis test, and he was charged with bail jumping. After his convictions of bail jumping and being a felon in possession of a firearm following a jury trial, Allen was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison. Allen appealed. On August 11, 2009 the Washington Court of Appeals, Div. 2, reversed Allen's bail jumping conviction based on insufficient evidence at trial to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court's ruling stated: "Reviewing the relevant dates here, it becomes readily apparent that the State could not put a notice into the mail on Monday afternoon, February 11, and have Allen receive the required three days' notice of a 9:15 a.m. hearing on Thursday, February 14. At best, he would have had only two days' notice. The State simply did not give him the notice the trial court required, and he did not knowingly fail to appear. The State could not convict him for bail jumping under these circumstances. The conviction must be reversed and the matter remanded with instructions to dismiss. State v. Smith, 155 Wn.2d 496, 505, 120 P.3d 559 (2005) (remedy is reverse and dismiss without retrial where insufficient evidence support an element of the crime)." [State v. Allen, No. 37646-6-II (Wash. Court of Appeals, 2nd Div., 8-11-2009)] Allen was released on parole in September 2009, and he filed a state habeas petition (In Washington state called a personal restraint petition.) On August 8, 2012 the Washington Court of Appeals, Div. 2, reversed Allen's felon in possession of a firearm convictions on the bais his cnstitutional right to due process was violated by his plea agreement to burglary when a juvenile not including notice that he would be subject to any restriction on gun ownership/possession after he became 23. Allen had waited until he was 23 to obtain a firearm. The Court's ruling stated: " Allen was similarly affirmatively misled by the representation that the juvenile convictions would no longer be part of his criminal record after his 23rd birthday. The statement of juvenile offender of plea of guilty and the disposition order listed Allen's legal obligations and consequences. Allen apparently relied on this representation and waited to purchase a firearm until his 23rd birthday. We hold that Allen was affirmatively misled as to whether he was entitled to possess firearms and that a conviction for unlawful possession of firearms without notice violated his right to due process. ... We grant Allen's PRP and reverse his two convictions for unlawful possession of a firearm." [In re the Personal Restraint of: Ryan Wayne Allen, No. 41345-1-II (Washington Ct. of Appeals, Div. II, 8-8-2012)]" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 8, 2012 the Washington Court of Appeals, Div. 2, reversed Allen's felon in possession of a firearm convictions on the bais his cnstitutional right to due process was violated by his plea agreement to burglary when a juvenile not including notice that he would be subject to any restriction on gun ownership/possession after he became 23. Allen had waited until he was 23 to obtain a firearm." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
31 |
Age When Released: |
33 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"In re the Personal Restraint of: Ryan Wayne Allen, No. 41345-1-II (Washington Ct. of Appeals, Div. II, 8-8-2012) (Constitutional right to due process was violated by plea agreement to burglary when a juvenile did not include notice that he would be subject to any restriction on gun ownership/possession after he became a legal adult at the age of 21. Allen waited until he was 23 to obtain a firearm.)" |
Information Location 1: |
https://law.justia.com/cases/washington/court-of-appeals-division-ii/2012/41345-1.html |
Information Source 2: |
"In re the Personal Restraint of: Ryan Wayne Allen, No. 41345-1-II (Washington Ct. of Appeals, 8-8-2012) (Constitutional right to due process was violated by plea agreement to burglary when a juvenile did not include notice that he would be subject to any restriction on gun ownership/possession after he became a legal adult at the age of 21. Allen waited until he was 23 to obtain a firearm.)" |
Information Location 2: |
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1580681350459896695&q=Ryan+Wayne+Allen&hl=en&as_sdt=2006 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org