State Of Washington v. Benjamin Lee Smalls, 74232-9

Benjamin Smalls pleaded guilty in 2008 to second-degree murder (while armed) and second-degree assault; the assault plea was later vacated as time-barred.
On initial sentencing Smalls received 418 months total and 48 months community custody; the conviction was later affirmed except the unlawful assault conviction was vacated and remanded for resentencing with a corrected offender score.
At resentencing McDonald represented Smalls; the court granted one 30-day continuance but Smalls sought a second continuance one day before the October 23, 2015 hearing to retain private counsel.
Smalls’ requested continuance rested on family hiring a private attorney, gathering additional records/certificates, and alleged dissatisfaction/conflict with McDonald (who had acknowledged overlooking a statute-of-limitations issue).
The trial court denied the last-minute continuance, proceeded with sentencing, and imposed a 300-month total confinement sentence (below the standard-range midpoint).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether denial of a continuance violated Smalls’ right to counsel of choice	Denial prevented retention of privately hired counsel and forced sentencing with less-prepared counsel, warranting resentencing	Court balanced calendar, prior continuance, vagueness of new counsel status, witness inconvenience, and lack of prejudice	Denial was not an abuse of discretion; no Sixth Amendment violation

State v. Hampton, 184 Wn.2d 656 (2015) (sets framework for balancing right to counsel of choice against court calendar and public interest)
State v. Aquirre, 168 Wn.2d 350 (2010) (trial court discretion in evaluating continuance requests)
Gonzalez-Lopez v. United States, 548 U.S. 140 (2006) (discusses right to counsel of choice and limitations)
State v. Blackwell, 120 Wn.2d 822 (1993) (standard for abuse of discretion review)
State v. Sinclair, 192 Wn. App. 380 (2016) (guidance considered regarding appellate costs and indigency)