State Of Washington v. Floydale Eckles, Jr., 47588-0

Background

Appellant Floydale Eckles was convicted after a bench trial of three counts of child rape and one count of attempted child rape involving two victims aged 12–15.
Trial was continued from the original date because the prosecutor was in another homicide trial; defense counsel did not object and a later time-for-trial dismissal motion was raised but not expressly ruled on.
At trial Eckles admitted alcohol and drug use during incidents; victims were under the influence.
At sentencing the court adopted community custody conditions listed in the revised PSI Appendix H, but the judgment mistakenly incorporated conditions from the original PSI Appendix F.
Community custody conditions included bans on pornography/information pertaining to minors via computer, alcohol consumption/entering places where alcohol is primarily sold, and possession of tracking equipment.
The court imposed $2,535 in LFOs (including attorney fees), a $500 Kitsap County Special Assault Unit contribution, and a $100 Kitsap County expert witness fund contribution without an express individualized finding on Eckles’s ability to pay.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Eckles)	Held
Clerical error in judgment incorporating wrong PSI appendix	The court properly adopted Appendix H; the checked box was an oversight	Judgment incorrectly incorporates Appendix F; should reflect Appendix H	Remanded to correct clerical error to incorporate revised PSI Appendix H
Vagueness of pornography / "information pertaining to minors via computer" condition	Condition is clear enough and crime-related	Condition is unconstitutionally vague; lacks fair notice and invites arbitrary enforcement	Condition is unconstitutionally vague; remanded to strike it
Prohibition on entering places where alcohol is chiefly sold	Condition is crime-related given alcohol’s role in offenses	Not related to the crimes; improper	Affirmed — condition is crime-related and permissible
Ban on possessing tracking equipment	Related to public safety / supervision needs	No factual nexus to the crimes; not crime-related	Struck on remand — State concedes no relation to crimes
Imposition of discretionary LFOs and special local contributions	PSI and record provided notice of finances; standard LFOs appropriate	Court failed to make individualized ability-to-pay inquiry; Eckles lacks ability to pay; KCSAU contribution and expert fee not statutorily authorized	Reversed as to discretionary LFOs; remanded to strike them and the $500 KCSAU and $100 expert fund contributions
Continuance and ineffective assistance claim	Continuance justified by prosecutor’s unavailability; counsel’s non‑objection was reasonable	Continuance violated time-for-trial right; counsel ineffective for not objecting or inquiring	Continuance was proper; counsel performance not deficient; claims rejected

Key Cases Cited

State v. Bahl, 164 Wn.2d 739 (holding that a probation condition banning possession/access to "pornographic materials" was unconstitutionally vague)
State v. Valencia, 169 Wn.2d 782 (holding that overbroad terms like "paraphernalia" can render conditions unconstitutionally vague)
State v. Armendariz, 160 Wn.2d 106 (standard of review and statutory authority for imposing community custody conditions)
State v. Blazina, 182 Wn.2d 827 (requirement for individualized inquiry into ability to pay LFOs)
State v. McKee, 141 Wn. App. 22 (upholding alcohol-related conditions when reasonably related to the offense)
State v. Carson, 128 Wn.2d 805 (unavailability of counsel due to being in trial can justify continuance)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance of counsel standard)
State v. Grier, 171 Wn.2d 17 (application of Strickland in Washington)
State v. Hardtke, 183 Wn.2d 475 (statutory limits on court-imposed costs)
State v. Kinzle, 181 Wn. App. 774 (striking community custody condition lacking nexus to the charged conduct)