Straight Talk From DOC - October 1, 2007

On Sept. 27-28, 2007, several newspapers published stories about the sentencing in King County Superior Court of 17-year-old Jordan Tautua-Jantoc, who pleaded guilty as an adult to Manslaughter 1. In lieu of incarceration, the judge on Sept. 14, 2007 ordered Tautua-Jantoc to serve an exceptional sentence of 24 months of electronic home detention in the custody of the Department of Corrections. One article reported that DOC “refused” to accept the sentence; another said the agency was “flummoxed” (confused) by the unusual sentence. In one news report, a family member expressed concern that the sentence might not be carried out as the judge had ordered.    

Background

DOC does not operate an electronic home detention program for sentenced offenders. Electronic home detention involves placing a transmitter on the offender that sends a signal from up to 150 feet away to a unit connected to a telephone. If the signal is not received for several minutes, it can notify authorities.

Electronic home detention systems differ from electronic monitoring systems that utilize global positioning satellites to detect an offender’s location. The global-positioning technology is being utilized in a public safety program currently being implemented by DOC to help supervise high-risk, Level 3 sex offenders in the community.

At the time the news reports were published, Tautua-Jantoc had not been transferred into DOC custody. When a sentenced offender is transferred to DOC, the agency’s records staff review the judgment and sentence. Occasionally, possible errors in the computation of a sentence are discovered. When that occurs, DOC typically writes to the sentencing court and advises it of the possible error. However, that communication usually only occurs after the offender has been transferred into DOC custody. That has not occurred in this case. 

In the Tautua-Jantoc case, a representative of the King County Prosecutor’s Office contacted DOC by phone and e-mail on Sept. 19, 2007 to discuss the sentence and to ask if DOC could take the offender into custody. DOC did not refuse to take custody of the offender but agreed to review legal issues related to the sentence. Tautua-Jantoc remains in the King County Jail’s electronic home detention program while issues concerning his exceptional sentence are resolved.

In its review of the matter, DOC has noted  RCW 9.94A.734(1)(a), which states that “[h]ome detention may not be imposed for offenders convicted of…(a) violent offense.” The definition of violent offense includes Manslaughter 1.

Next Steps

The King County Superior Court has scheduled a hearing in Tautua-Jantoc’s case for Oct.12. The Department is awaiting the results of that hearing before deciding whether additional communication with the court is necessary. 

Divider image - horizontal green bar