Personal Restraint Petition Of: Donald Lee Hogan, 54923-9

Background

Hogan was charged with attempted second-degree child rape and eight counts of communicating with a minor; he pleaded guilty to five counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
The plea agreement included a 36-month term of community custody and sex-offender registration consequences.
Hogan moved to withdraw his guilty plea; the trial court denied the motion and later imposed sentence.
Hogan appealed; this court affirmed his convictions and considered several claims on direct appeal.
Hogan filed a personal restraint petition (PRP) raising ineffective assistance of counsel, notice and voluntariness issues, Miranda/constitutional waiver claims, offender-score and sentencing challenges, and other trial- and sentencing-stage complaints.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance of counsel (general)	Counsel lacked experience, knowledge, and motivation	Counsel’s performance presumed reasonable; this claim was raised and rejected on direct appeal	Denied; claim previously rejected and Hogan shows no basis for reconsideration
Community custody notice	Hogan wasn't advised 36-month community custody would be imposed	Plea agreement expressly provided for a 36-month term	Denied; plea agreement included the term
Sex-offender registration notice	Hogan wasn't told plea would require sex-offender registration	Plea statement and plea colloquy informed him of registration requirement	Denied; record shows he was informed
Motion to withdraw plea — voluntariness, coercion, mental capacity	Plea involuntary due to coercion, ineffective counsel, and lack of mental capacity	No record evidence of coercion or incapacity; voluntariness not shown lacking; ineffective counsel issue already rejected on appeal	Denied; plea was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary; no coercion or incapacity shown
Court reading victim/defense letter at sentencing	Judge failed to read a six-page letter proclaiming innocence	Transcript shows court took a recess and read the letter; no further comment needed	Denied; record shows the court read the letter
Failure to obtain psychological evaluation / file motions (IAC)	Counsel failed to obtain psych eval re: seizure disorder and omitted various pre-sentencing motions	Strategic decisions presumed reasonable; Hogan fails to show deficient performance or prejudice	Denied; Hogan did not meet the two-prong IAC test
Offender score calculation / washout of priors	Two priors should have washed out, lowering offender score	Hogan did not prove washout; even if adjusted, offender score remained high and sentence was agreed below standard range	Denied; no showing priors should have washed out or that prejudice resulted
Requirement for explicit finding of intentional internet search	Court should have made a specific finding that Hogan intentionally sought a minor online	Admissions in plea were sufficient; no such explicit finding required for conviction on communication with a minor	Denied; plea admissions suffice
Miranda / waiver of constitutional rights before interrogation	Hogan was not advised of or did not waive constitutional rights before interrogation	These claims were considered and rejected on direct appeal	Denied; previously rejected on appeal and no basis to revisit

Key Cases Cited

In re Pers. Restraint of Domingo-Cornelio, 196 Wn.2d 255 (Wash. 2020) (defines unlawful restraint standard for PRPs)
In re Pers. Restraint of Dove, 196 Wn. App. 148 (Wash. Ct. App. 2016) (standards for collateral relief: prejudice and fundamental defect)
In re Pers. Restraint of Coats, 173 Wn.2d 123 (Wash. 2011) (collateral relief is extraordinary; high standard to disturb convictions)
In re Pers. Restraint of Yates, 177 Wn.2d 1 (Wash. 2013) (bars re-raising issues rejected on direct appeal absent interests of justice)
In re Pers. Restraint of Gentry, 137 Wn.2d 378 (Wash. 1999) (PRP should raise new issues of fact or law not raised on direct review)
State v. Estes, 188 Wn.2d 450 (Wash. 2017) (two-prong ineffective assistance of counsel test)