Guadalupe Solis-Diaz Jr., right, with his attorney appear before Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt today seemed to give clues as to how he might resentence a former Centralia High School student serving a nearly 93 year prison term for a 2007 drive-by shooting in which several bar patrons on a sidewalk escaped injury.
Hunt imposed the time on Guadalupe Solis-Diaz Jr. almost six years ago, but the state Court of Appeals last year tossed out the virtual life sentence referencing various matters that should have been handled more thoroughly, given that he was a juvenile.
The appeals court called it clearly excessive.
“This is ridiculous,” Hunt said, focusing on one of the several criticisms of the local court proceedings and the then-teenager’s then-defense attorney.
The unanimous opinion of the three-judge panel stated local attorney Michael Underwood mistakenly indicated the teen was “declined” as a juvenile and tried as an adult, when in fact no decline hearing was held to determine if the teen’s maturity and mental development warranted prosecution as an adult. The case was actually “auto-declined” by operation of a statute.
Hunt told the attorneys in his courtroom today he helped draft the rules for the so-called automatic assumption of jurisdiction in Washington. He called the issue Underwood’s misuse of a word.
Solis-Diaz, dressed in red jail garb and chains, sat quietly in the courtroom while the judge, his defense attorney Robert Quillian and Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh addressed matters to be taken care of before the new sentencing hearing.
Quillian was requesting more time and also for an authorization to expend funds for an expert to evaluate his client’s emotional and mental maturity.
He’s already been waiting in the local jail nearly a year, the judge said, at an estimated cost of $88 per day when he is the responsibility of the state Department of Corrections, Hunt pointed out.
“All so I could be told that Mr. Underwood made a mistake by not advising me this was not a decline and when I imposed a sentence within the standard range, that that was somehow incorrect,” Hunt said.
Solis-Diaz is 23 years old. He was 16 when the offense occurred.
He was arrested in August 2007 after gunfire from a car was sprayed along the east side of South Tower Avenue in Centralia, outside two taverns. Witnesses testified it was gang-related. Solis-Diaz maintained he was innocent.
He was convicted by a jury of six counts of first-degree assault, one count of drive-by shooting and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. State law required the time for the assaults to be served consecutively and there were 30 years of mandatory time for firearm enhancements.
The issue comes back to Lewis County Superior Court not from a direct appeal, but a personal restraint petition. The challenge was made in light of a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, specifically a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held a sentence of life without parole is forbidden for a juvenile who did not commit homicide.
However, the appeals judges focused on the deficient performance of the court-appointed attorney. Among the reasons cited, was Underwood failed to produce or request a pre-sentencing report which could have shed light upon issues related to the teen’s mental and emotional sophistication.
Quillian said he would like to postpone the hearing currently scheduled for the end of this month, as the specialist he was working with took leave for a family illness.
He proposed to hire Dr. Ron Roesch from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia who specializes in forensic juvenile criminal work. Quillian told the judge Dr. Roesch would review the case materials, conduct a battery of tests on his client and submit a report concerning the matters at hand.
Hunt said he wondered if such an evaluation is even a proper topic to consider.
“It’s his maturity level back then he’s going to need to assess, and he won’t be able to do that,” Hunt said.
Quillian said his reading of the appeal decision was that his client was entitled to present the information of an expert before getting sentenced.
“I think it would be remiss for Mr. Solis-Diaz not to have the benefit of these services,” Quillian told the judge.
Judge Hunt noted the Supreme Court has already said everybody knows juveniles are different in that they engage in more reckless behavior. He pondered if Quillian’s request meant all juveniles accused of crimes deserved an evaluation by an expert.
“Why do we need to spend $6,000 of public money to find out what everybody already knows?” Hunt asked.
During the half hour hearing today, Hunt pointed out he imposed a sentence that was authorized by law, by statute Solis-Diaz was treated as an adult and noted the defendant was at the time, 16 years plus 362 days old.
The judge told the attorney he didn’t want the chosen expert to be someone that charged more than twice as much than the $75 per hour the original attorney was paid. Dr. Roesch estimated 30 hours of time at $200 an hour.
He said he would consider approving the expense if Dr. Roesch submitted a report but didn’t incur travel expenses to provide live testimony.
The new date for sentencing was set for Dec. 17, and expected to last half a day.
•••
For background, read:
• “Appeals court gives Centralia teen a “do-over” on 90-plus-year drive-by shooting sentence” from Wednesday September 19, 2012, here
• “Former Centralia High School student getting a shot at shorter sentence from 2007 drive-by shooting” from Thursday January 24, 2013, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
MyExperience says:…”perhaps it’s because he’s not white”
Well, no…it’s because there were 6 people out in front of the building he was shooting at, when he did his drive-by. Each was counted as a victim, each was charged individually, which is common, and each assault charge had a firearms enhancement. Each firearms enhancement meant a mandatory 5 years sentence, so he started with 30 years, add each assault, the mandatory sentence for drive-by, and the gang enhancements, and you have the perfect storm. It ain’t about his complexion, a**wipe, it’s about the fact that he got into a f*#%ing car with another pissant, poop-butt gang banger and shot up the front of a tavern with a bunch of people out front. BTW…Reeder got a lesser sentence because of a plea deal. Most people do. Solis-Diaz could have gotten a deal, but he wouldn’t take one…he was sure his homies would “convince” the witnesses not to testify. Well, as it turned out, the witnesses weren’t afraid of a bunch of punk a** wannabe’s. Take that race baiter bullsh*t somewhere else. BTW – Hispanic – is european, and as a race classification, is considered “white”.
I knew some pretty stupid 16 and 17 year olds who matured into fairly decent adults. I think the 99 year sentence is unfair in light of other lesser sentences for far greater crimes right her in Lewis County…. Reeder (child rapist/murderer) is a good example. Solis-Diaz got THREE TIMES greater sentence. Perhaps it is because he is not white?
Somehow I don’t think he’s going to get much better of a deal. Kinda strange how they have him in front of the same judge who sentenced him to almost 100 years last time…..
Prepare for take off Mr. Solis-Diaz. You are about to be launched….again.
The 16 year old in Lacey took a plea deal which was a smart move. If he would’ve taken it to trial, he too would have had the gun enhancements added. This tool shed was cool up until the point when he got caught. Spooker also thought he was cool, randomly beating a young juvenile until he got 10 years. I think the judges are within their rights to send these jackalopes away for as long as they legally can to show the up and coming hood rats the seriousness of being a LVL member.
Just this year a 16yr old teen-ager was sentenced to 15 yrs in jail for his part in a drive-by shooting in Lacey Wa. In which he shot & injured another teen-ager. Those of u who like to pick apart how people type their messages can just ignore this one.
I have seen murderer’s get less time and people who rape children. It is very sad. I do not know this man either but I do know people have done a lot worse and got less time. Maybe it is a bad idea to even let them in our country at least it would be one less for all of us to deal with RIGHT?????
I do believe these sentences at the time were excessive to deter the gangs from moving into this area. This was being done in several parts of the country. Alot of the people who come here prefer our countries prisons to their own. They bring their gang business right into our communities and take over. The fact that he was 16 was irrelevant , alot of them are born into this and are third and forth generation gangbangers just like our tweekers are getting to be. I’m not saying I know this fella is one of those cases but I remember the whole period was an effort to send a message to the gangs that are decimating whole generations of children. That is a Damn shame no matter what race or color. I have lost a child to cancer, and I know it is different then losing a child to violence , but my heart still goes out to the Mothers of all these young men , and especially to the innocent bystanders that are slaughtered in our streets.
Hang his ass!
This is clearly the money hungry attorneys pulling shit outta their ass to get more money. Throw out all of them, they’re breaking our county!!!