| In 1985, Michael Wheeler pled guilty to third-degree statutory rape in Pierce County, Washington.
In 1990, the state of Washington enacted a sex offender registration law and the state Department of Corrections required Wheeler to register because of his prior conviction.
On December 13, 1999, Wheeler, 51, was arrested in Thurston County, Washington on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. On April 4, 2000, Wheeler pled guilty in Thurston County Circuit Court to failing to register as a sex offender. He was sentenced to 20 days in jail.
In June 2009, Wheeler was arrested in Tacoma, Washington and charged again with failing to register as a sex offender. On January 14, 2011, Wheeler pled guilty in Pierce County Circuit Court to failing to register as a sex offender. He was sentenced to 17 months in prison. In July 2011, the Court of Appeals of Washington reversed the conviction of Homer Taylor III for failing to register as a sex offender. Taylor had been convicted of third-degree statutory rape in 1987—the same offense to which Wheeler had pled guilty in 1985.
The appeals court noted that in 1988, the Washington state legislature had repealed the third-degree statutory rape statute. As a result, Taylor was not required to register and vacated his conviction. The charge was subsequently dismissed.
Based on that decision, Wheeler moved to vacate his convictions in Pierce and Thurston County. The Pierce county conviction was vacated and the charge dismissed on June 27, 2013. He had served a total of 328 days in prison on that conviction. On June 30, 2015, Wheeler’s conviction in Thurston County was vacated and dismissed.
Wheeler sought compensation from the state of Washington, and in October 2015, Pierce County Circuit Judge Philip Sorensen awarded him $466,000.
– Maurice Possley
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