Superior Court Statistical Reporting Manual

10. CASES RESOLVED

Case processing time standards are published in the Washington Rules of Court. The time standards identify three major milestones in the life of a case: filing, resolution, and completion. Case "resolution" occurs when the case is "tried, settled, or otherwise concluded;" that is, resolution is defined as the adjudication or settlement of all issues in a case (e.g., plea, trial verdict, oral order).

Case "completion" occurs when all necessary dispositive documents have been filed with the clerk.

A case must be resolved before it can be completed. In certain situations, resolution and completion can occur simultaneously (e.g., jury verdict of acquittal, order of dismissal). The case resolution date must be on the same day or prior to the case completion date entered on the SCOMIS basic screen.

The following table displays examples of decisions and orders involving resolution and/or completion.

RESOLUTION AND COMPLETION

Proceeding Decisions Resolved Completed

Jury Verdict - Guilty Yes No
Jury Verdict - Acquittal Yes No
Jury Verdict - Hung Jury/Mistrial No No
Court Decision - Guilty Yes No
Court Decision - Acquittal Yes No
Court Decision - Dismissed Yes No
Guilty Plea Yes No
Dismissed on Prosecutor's Motion Yes No

Judicial Orders

Order for Change of Venue Yes Yes
Order of Dismissal/Closure on Clerk's Motion Yes Yes
Order of Dismissal Yes Yes
Order of Deferred/Continued Prosecution Yes No
Order of Judgment & Sentence No Yes

Pursuant to office policy, courtroom clerks can determine case resolution if at the conclusion of a proceeding all charges in a case have been adjudicated. Since docketing clerks deal with maintaining the legal record, they can determine both case resolution and case completion. It is important that docketing clerks be advised of the adjudication of charges for which there is no documentation (e.g., oral dismissal).

Case resolution is recorded into the offense reporting category that corresponds to the most serious charge resulting in a conviction; or, for cases not resulting in a conviction, into the offense reporting category that corresponds to the charge which involved the greatest amount of resources to obtain a resolution. (Example: A defendant is charged with murder and assault. The murder charge is dismissed before trial, and the defendant is acquitted of the assault charge. The case resolution would be counted as one acquittal under the assault offense-reporting category.)

Mistrials - Do not record a case resolution if a mistrial occurs in a case. Record a resolution when the case has been retried or otherwise resolved. If the case is not retried it can be resolved and completed through the clerk's dismissal process or by judicial order.

To document the occurrence of a mistrial or hung jury for the legal record, use the docket code "MSTRIAL" or "HUNGJRY."

Cases Reopened - For a reopened case the resolution and completion codes and dates should be removed and the case should proceed as if it was never resolved or completed. (Example: When there is an order vacating judgment, change the resolution and completion codes and dates to blank to reflect that the case is no longer resolved and completed.) When all issues in the reopened case are resolved, enter the appropriate resolution code and date. When the reopened (and newly resolved) case reaches completion, enter the appropriate completion code and date (see Cases Reopened, page 1-6).

This may create a very small increase in resolutions since a few cases could have two resolutions reported in different calendar years. The reprocessing of monthly SCOMIS statistics in January for the previous year will eliminate the duplications that may have occurred during the previous calendar year.

Deferred/Continued Prosecution - A case for which a defendant has been granted deferred prosecution for misdemeanor charges or continued prosecution for felony charges, placing the defendant under court supervision with specific conditions of behavior before there is a formal finding by the court. The deferred prosecution resolution code ("DFPD") or continued order of prosecution ("CTOP") should be entered at the time the deferral or continuance is granted rather than waiting until the deferment period is completed.

This is a final resolution code, and should not be changed even when either (1) a defendant fulfills the conditions, or (2) prosecution is resumed. The outcome of each deferred or continued charge should be recorded with a result code on the SCOMIS charge screen (see Final Counts Resolved, page 1-9).

Vacation of Conviction – RCW 9.94A.230 states that every offender who has been discharged under RCW 9.94A.220 may apply to the sentencing court for a vacation of the offender’s record of conviction. If an order to vacate a conviction pursuant to RCW 9.94A.230 is issued, you should do the following.

(1) Change the result code for each charge covered by the order to “V” (Vacated Conviction -- Pursuant to RCW 9.94A.230).

(2) If there are no remaining guilty counts for the defendant, then change the defendant resolution code to “VOC” (Vacation of Conviction), and change the associated defendant resolution date to reflect the date of the order. (The defendant (DEF) resolution code and date are entered on the Charge Screen.) In multiple-defendant cases, only change the defendant resolution code for the defendants who have received the post-conviction vacation. [Note that for single-defendant cases, the only instance in which you do have to enter the defendant resolution code is for these rare cases in which there is a vacation of conviction pursuant to RCW 9.94A.230.]

(3) If there are no remaining guilty counts for any of the defendants, then change the case resolution code to “STCL” (Statistical Completion). (The case resolution code and date are entered on the Basic Screen.) Do not change the case resolution date. If there are remaining guilty counts for any defendant, then let the original case resolution code stand.

Note that vacated convictions are not reported in the caseload statistics.

Multiple Resolutions - In some instances a case has multiple result codes recorded on the final information filed on the SCOMIS charge screen. When this occurs it is necessary to choose the one case resolution category which best reflects the result code requiring the greatest amount of judicial time expended and the most serious case outcome. To assist in choosing the appropriate resolution code, the following resolution categories are ordered from least-to-most judicial time and case outcome severity, with the resolutions after trial commencement listed last.

RESOLUTION CATEGORIES IN ASCENDING ORDER BY JUDICIAL TIME REQUIRED AND CASE OUTCOME SEVERITY

10.A. RESOLUTION BEFORE OR NOT INVOLVING TRIAL

10.A.a. DISMISSAL/CLOSURE BY CLERK (DSCK)

Resolution by the court where the clerk initiates dismissal action and approval by the court is granted as a matter of routine with no opposition by any party.

10.A.b. UNCONTESTED RESOLUTION

Uncontested Resolution (UNDS) - Final resolution of a case that is not contested in superior court, and is not dismissed (e.g., a non-charge case for which no information was filed).

Consolidated Case (CONS) - Final resolution for same defendant cases consolidated into a single file. Record the appropriate case resolution in the consolidated case and the "CONS" code in the other case file(s); use the "UNCL" (uncontested completion) code for each case with a "CONS" resolution. Do not use for cases consolidated which involve different defendants, or when cases are consolidated only for a hearing or trial.

10.A.c. CHANGE OF VENUE (CHV)

Final resolution for an unadjudicated case transferred from the court of filing to another jurisdiction for all subsequent adjudication and/or proceedings, upon motion of a party or upon the court's own initiative.

10.A.d. EXTRADITION

Waiver of Extradition (WE) - Final resolution for a case transferred from the court of filing to another state or country for all subsequent adjudication and/or proceedings, upon motion of the other jurisdiction with defendant's waiver of right to an extradition hearing.

Governor's Warrant (GW) - Final resolution for a case transferred from the court of filing to another state or country for all subsequent adjudication and/or proceedings, upon motion of the other jurisdiction, by Governor's warrant, following an extradition hearing.

10.A.e. DEFERRED/CONTINUED PROSECUTION

Deferred Prosecution (DFPD) - Final resolution by placing the defendant under court supervision with specific conditions of behavior before there is any formal finding by the court where only misdemeanor charges are "deferred." The resolution code should be entered at the time deferral is granted rather than waiting until the deferment period is completed.

Continued Order of Prosecution (CTOP) - Final resolution by placing the defendant under court supervision with specific conditions of behavior before there is any formal finding by the court where at least one felony charge is "pending." If all "deferred" charges are misdemeanors, use the "DFPD" resolution code. The resolution code should be entered at the time continuance is granted rather than waiting until the deferment period is completed.

10.A.f. DECISION ON LOWER COURT APPEAL

Return of jurisdiction over a case from superior court to the originating district or municipal court. All RALJ appeals sent to the superior court for review are resolved by dismissal and remand, or a decision to affirm, reverse, or modify the previous ruling. All such resolutions are reported under this category.

Dismissal and Remand of Appeal/Review (DSRM) - Final resolution for a RALJ and de novo appeal that results in superior court dismissal of the judgment with the case sent back to the lower court for retrial and final judgment. Do not use for remand requesting further information from lower court for use later in final resolution by superior court. Do not use if the term "remand" is attached to superior court's decision without accompaniment of dismissal.

Court Decision to Affirm Appeal/Review (CDTA) - Final resolution affirming (upholding) entire decision of lower court after a review hearing has been held. The case is retained in superior court for judgment. The affirming decision might be included within the order dismissing the appeal.

Court Decision to Reverse Appeal/Review (CDTR) - Final resolution reversing entire decision of the lower court after a review hearing has been held. The case is retained in superior court for judgment while reversing the lower court's decision.

Court Decision to Modify Appeal/Review (CDTM) - Final resolution modifying the decision, OR reversing/affirming in part the decision of the lower court after a review hearing has been held. The case is retained in superior court for judgment while modifying the lower court's decision.

10.A.g. DISMISSAL WITHOUT TRIAL (DSM)

Final resolution by the court dismissing the case before trial commencement.

10.A.i. GUILTY PLEA BEFORE TRIAL COMMENCEMENT (GP)

Final resolution by guilty plea to any or all charges, and the case does not proceed to trial.

10.B. RESOLUTION AFTER TRIAL COMMENCEMENT

10.B.a. DISMISSAL AFTER TRIAL COMMENCEMENT

Dismissal After Non-Jury Trial Commencement (DAT) - Final resolution by dismissal of all charges after a non-jury trial has commenced.

Dismissal After Jury Trial Commencement (DJT) - Final resolution by dismissal of all charges after a jury trial has commenced.

10.B.b. GUILTY PLEA AFTER TRIAL COMMENCEMENT

Guilty Plea After Non-Jury Trial Commencement (GPAT) - Final resolution by guilty plea to any or all charges after a non-jury trial has commenced.

Guilty Plea After Jury Trial Commencement (GPJT) - Final resolution by guilty plea to any or all charges after a jury trial has commenced.

10.B.c. ACQUITTAL/NOT GUILTY

Acquittal by Court (AQCT) - Final resolution by acquittal of all charges with a formal court decision of "not guilty."

Acquittal by Jury (AQJV) - Final resolution by acquittal of all charges with a formal jury verdict of "not guilty."

Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) - Final resolution by acquittal of all charges with a formal court decision or jury verdict of "not guilty by reason of insanity."

10.B.d. CONVICTED AFTER TRIAL

Convicted - Court Decision After Trial (CVCT) - Final resolution by court decision to convict on any or all charges after a non-jury trial.

Convicted - Jury Verdict After Trial (CVJV) - Final resolution by jury verdict to convict on any or all charges after a jury trial.

*Statistical Completion (STCL) - The statistical completion code should only be used in two instances. (1) It can be used for a previously resolved and completed pre-SCOMIS case that is added to the system to file a document or record a proceeding held. "STCL" resolutions and completions are not counted in the caseload statistics. As an alternative to the "STCL" completion code, the appropriate resolution and completion codes can be used so that the legal record more accurately reflects the case outcome (see Historical Resolution and Completion Codes in Appendix E). If this method is used, it is important to enter the correct resolution and completion dates so that these events are not (re)counted in the caseload statistics and do not distort pending caseload reports. (2) “STCL” can also be used in cases involving vacated convictions pursuant to RCW 9.94A.230. See the section on “Vacation of Conviction.”