State of Washington v. Russell Paul Kassner, 427 P.3d 659

Russell Kassner allegedly began molesting his adopted sister at age 10; abuse allegedly continued until he was 17. Investigation occurred while he was a juvenile but he was charged after turning 18.
In March 1996 Kassner pleaded guilty in adult court to first-degree child molestation (relating to the older offense) as part of a plea deal; a more serious second-degree rape charge was dismissed and the State recommended SSOSA.
Kassner was sentenced in May 1996 consistent with the SSOSA recommendation.
In June 2017 Kassner moved under CrR 7.8 to vacate the 1996 conviction, arguing the trial court never held the RCW 9A.04.050 capacity hearing required for children aged 8–12 (he was 10 when the offense occurred), so the conviction lacked jurisdiction/authority.
The superior court denied the motion, citing that Kassner was charged as an adult, represented by counsel, negotiated a beneficial plea, the motion was untimely, and vacatur would unfairly resurrect the dismissed rape charge.
The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding the superior court had jurisdiction to enter the conviction despite no prior capacity finding and rejecting the argument that failure to hold the RCW 9A.04.050 hearing deprived the court of authority under subsequently clarified law.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether failure to hold an RCW 9A.04.050 capacity hearing when defendant was 10 deprived the court of jurisdiction/authority to convict	Kassner: lack of capacity finding meant court lacked authority; conviction invalid	State: superior courts have constitutional felony jurisdiction; capacity requirement does not strip jurisdiction	Court: Held Posey controls; trial court had jurisdiction to convict despite no prior capacity finding; Golden’s contrary holding overruled by Posey
Whether CrR 7.8 vacatur was required or otherwise proper after plea and sentencing	Kassner: conviction must be vacated because statutory capacity hearing was never conducted	State: plea as adult, counsel, beneficial plea, and untimeliness/bar to relief; vacatur would prejudice State	Court: Denied vacatur; affirmed trial court’s discretionary denial (no abuse of discretion)
Admissibility of a lost presentence report as additional evidence on appeal	Kassner: moved to strike the report (Attachment A); argued it was not before the 2017 court	State: report existed in confidential file but was lost in scanning; contains statements relevant to capacity	Court: Initially allowed for commissioner review but ultimately declined to consider it on appeal and granted Kassner’s motion to strike Attachment A and references

State v. Posey, 174 Wn.2d 131 (2012) (overruled Werner’s distinction and clarified when statutory prerequisites affect jurisdiction/authority)
State v. Werner, 129 Wn.2d 485 (1996) (discussed three elements of a valid judgment; later limited by Posey)
State v. Golden, 112 Wn. App. 68 (2002) (held juvenile court lacked authority to act absent capacity hearing; treated as limited by Posey)
State v. Ellis, 76 Wn. App. 391 (1994) (standard: CrR 7.8 denial reviewed for abuse of discretion)
State v. McCormick, 166 Wn.2d 689 (2009) (defines abuse of discretion standard)
Sears v. Grange Ins. Ass'n, 111 Wn.2d 636 (1988) (discusses standards for supplementing the appellate record with additional evidence)