Pasco man wins appeal, can withdraw rape plea

A Pasco man serving a life sentence for raping and molesting a grade-school girl in 2007 will get the opportunity to withdraw his plea because of mistakes made at sentencing.

Jose Fidel Mandujano’s case is being sent back to Franklin County Superior Court with instructions for Judge Vic VanderSchoor.

That means the case would start anew with a scheduled trial date, unless Mandujano again decides to change his plea.

This comes after the state Court of Appeals cited “the combination of mistakes made in the statement of defendant on plea of guilty and the overall lack of clarity as to the sentence faced by Mr. Mandujano.”

Mandujano, now 50, entered an Alford plea in September 2013 to first-degree rape of a child and first-degree child molestation. The Alford plea means he did not admit to committing the crimes but believed prosecutors had enough evidence to get a jury conviction.

Mandujano, who speaks Spanish, did not personally read the plea statement, but it was read to him by either his lawyer or an interpreter.

The plea form included a line that because of the sex offense, his “minimum term of confinement” could be increased by the state Indeterminate Sentence Review Board, which ultimately will decide when he is ready to be released from prison.

At sentencing six weeks later, VanderSchoor said he was going along with the agreed recommendation of a maximum life sentence with a minimum of 10 years and nine months.

However, the judgment and sentence document did not include the life sentence. Five months later, the state Department of Corrections sent it back because the words “to life” were not written in the confinement section.

Mandujano’s attorney objected to the amendment, saying prosecutors had not demonstrated that an error had been made in the original document and a transcript had not been provided of the sentencing.

VanderSchoor rejected the defense arguments and made the change in the paperwork ordering Mandujano to be locked up potentially for life.

The Court of Appeals noted that it was questionable whether Mandujano believed he was facing a maximum term of life, or if he just thought that was the statutory maximum.

Mandujano had been a visitor at a home where the girl stayed while her mother was at work, court documents show. The girl told police that Mandujano abused her more than five times.

The girl disclosed the abuse to her mother in 2010 when she learned one of her relatives was going to stay at the same house.

“I am scared he will do this to another child. He shouldn’t be able to do this to another child,” the girl wrote in a statement to the judge for sentencing. “It wouldn’t be fair for him to hurt another family like he hurt mine.”

Documents said the abuse affected the girl’s performance in school and her relationships with men. In her letter to the judge, she said her personality has changed and she is scared to sleep with the door closed.

The girl’s mother had said she felt the abuse was partially her fault because she had her daughter stay at the house where the abuse took place, and she had no idea what was going on.

Franklin County prosecutors filed charges against Mandujano in July 2011, but he was not arrested until April 2013.

Mandujano told Department of Corrections officials in advance of sentencing that the only time he remembers sexually abusing the girl was in a garage at the house, court documents said. He claimed he had been drinking, called the girl over, started to grab her, and then he got scared when she said no.

Mandujano also told officials he had an alcohol problem and would drink at least three beers a day.

His criminal history includes two years in an Arizona federal prison in 2004 for distributing methamphetamine.

This story was originally published November 29, 2015 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Pasco man wins appeal, can withdraw rape plea."