The conviction of a Mount Vernon woman for soliciting to have her ex-husband killed has been reversed by an appeals court.
The conviction of Vanessa Valdiglesias LaValle was reversed by the Washington Court of Appeals on Monday. The choice was initially reported by the Seattle Times.
She had been convicted in 2021 for attempting to get her son to use rat poison to murder his father. Valdiglesias LaValle was found guilty and given a 15-year jail term; the case will now be submitted back to the trial court.
According to a covertly recorded discussion stated in court filings, Valdiglesias LaValle told her then 10-year-old son in 2020 that if he put rat poison in her ex-meal, husband’s the boy’s dad would die, and she and the children could live together forever.
The three judges of the Court of Appeals Division 1 determined that Valdiglesias LaValle’s wish to spend the rest of her life with her two children did not constitute a “thing of value” required to establish a conviction for criminal solicitation. When someone “offers to donate or gives money or other object of value” with the intention of promoting or facilitating the commission of a crime, they are guilty of criminal solicitation in Washington.
The court asked in a published decision, “While it may be claimed that a mother’s love is priceless, can her stated wish to stay with her children forever equivalent to a ‘thing of value’ to justify a criminal solicitation conviction…?” We maintain that it does not because a “thing of value” has to be worth money.
The son of Valdiglesias LaValle testified during his mother’s trial in Skagit County Superior Court that she never mentioned providing him anything.
The Washington Appellate Project’s Suzanne Lee Elliott, who represents Valdiglesias LaValle, expressed satisfaction with the court’ decision.
According to the Seattle Times, she stated, “I believe they made the appropriate choice because how one defines’solicitation’ may be either enormously overinclusive or encompass activities that don’t properly demonstrate a purpose or an exchange for the crime.
According to court filings, the father advised his son to covertly record the talk using a phone tucked beneath a duvet. Extracted audio from the tape of Valdiglesias LaValle talking to her kid about poisoning his father’s drink was included in the papers.
“He takes it and drinks it while being completely ignorant, so nobody is nothing. That’s a trade secret between us, “Valdiglesias LaValle reportedly stated to her son in court papers.