Man receives 21-year sentence for near-fatal 2021 shooting in dispute over puppies
A Clallam County man accused of shooting and nearly killing another man in Whatcom County following a dispute over puppies in summer 2021 has avoided a life sentence but will spend the next two decades in prison.
Scott Richard Baker, 55, of Sequim, Washington, was sentenced Nov. 22 in Whatcom County Superior Court to 21 years in prison, with 1.5 years of probation. Baker pleaded guilty the same day to two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of attempting to elude for the July 15, 2021 shooting of 57-year-old Wade Ray Dickerson and a subsequent high-speed chase.
Baker was originally charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempting to elude and unattended hit and run, but his charges were reduced as part of an agreed recommendation between the prosecuting and defense attorneys, according to court records.
Baker entered an in re: Barr plea, which stems from a precedent-setting Washington State Supreme Court case that allows a person to plead guilty to lesser charges that may not have been committed in order to take advantage of a plea deal.
By pleading to the reduced charges, Baker avoided a “third strike” conviction, which would have automatically required him to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The plea deal presented to the court by the attorneys recommended Baker be given an exceptional prison sentence above the standard range for the amended charges, that he serve his prison time for each charge consecutively and included a dismissal of a March 2023 court case against Baker, in which he was accused of possessing and overdosing on fentanyl while incarcerated in the downtown Whatcom County Jail, according to court records.
The court ultimately followed the recommendations and sentenced Baker to 10 years for one of the robbery charges, five years for the eluding charge and six years for the second robbery charge. The court also ordered Baker to serve each of his prison sentences consecutively, rather than at the same time (which is more common), meaning Baker will spend 21 years in prison.
His sentence reflects an exceptional sentence above the standard sentencing range for his crimes, court records show.
As part of his sentencing conditions Baker must register as a felony firearm offender once released from prison and will have his driver’s license revoked by the state licensing department. A no-contact order was also put in place between Baker, Dickerson and Dickerson’s wife, court documents show.
“Mr. Baker has had a troubled life. He suffered severe burns as a child and spent a long time at Harborview and other hospitals, causing him to be in and out of custody and using controlled substances and alcohol throughout his life. I have no doubt that all played into the commission of this offense,” Whatcom County Public Defender’s Office Director Starck Follis said in a phone interview with The Bellingham Herald.
“Mr. Baker is certainly remorseful. He considered Dickerson a friend — a childhood friend,” Follis said, adding that Baker apologized during the sentencing hearing to Dickerson’s family and said he would take his actions back if he could.
Whatcom County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ben Pratt said in an interview that the agreed-upon plea deal became the best resolution in the case from the prosecution’s perspective due to “recent issues with witnesses that developed that placed the case in jeopardy.”
Pratt said two key witnesses in the case likely wouldn’t have been able to testify if the case had gone to trial; one because they couldn’t be found and the other for health reasons. He said the prosecutor’s office ultimately had to decide whether to risk taking Baker to trial and him potentially receiving no accountability for his actions, or work on a plea bargain that would ensure Baker serve time in prison.
Pratt said the prosecutor’s office decided to mitigate the risk by agreeing to a plea deal that would recommend Baker serve roughly the same amount of prison time that would have been within the standard sentencing range for his original charges.
“This gave substantial accountability in a case that was suddenly and potentially in jeopardy based on the (witness’ medical issues),” Pratt said.
Baker was released into the custody of the state corrections department and transferred to prison on Tuesday, Nov. 28, according to jail and state prison records. He will get credit for the roughly two years he spent incarcerated in the Whatcom jail while awaiting a resolution in his case.
Dickerson, the shooting victim, resolved a related 2022 case in which he was accused of offering to say Baker did not shoot him if Baker’s mother paid him $150,000, The Herald previously reported.
Dickerson was charged in February 2022 with two counts of bribe receiving by a witness, both felonies.
He entered an Alford plea in late August 2022 to one count of bribe receiving by a witness. An Alford plea is a guilty plea in which the accused person does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that there is sufficient evidence to convict them of the crime.
Dickerson was given an exceptional sentence below the standard sentencing range for his crime. He was sentenced to six months in jail. Dickerson was released from jail the same day he was sentenced, as he had already served that amount of time while awaiting a resolution in his case, court records show.
