A man who raped and assaulted his former girlfriend during a night of savagery 13 years ago was sent back to prison after his motions were denied by an Island County Superior Court judge last week.

At the same time, the state is investigating whether Joseph G. Blue, formerly of Oak Harbor, should be civilly committed as a “sexually violent predator.”

Blue was transported from prison to the Island County jail earlier this month for hearings on a long list of issues he had raised in hand-written motions filed with the court.

Last week, Blue once again faced — via a video link from the jail — the man who prosecuted him and the judge who sentenced him.

In 2008, Prosecutor Greg Banks presented evidence against Blue during the emotional, week-long trial, which Judge Vickie Churchill presided over. The victim testified that Blue repeatedly raped, strangled and beat her over the course of a night and the following morning.

Two other women also testified that Blue had also beat and assaulted them in similar manners under similar circumstances. The testimony was allowed because it showed the attacks were part of a common scheme or plan.

The jury found Blue guilty of first-degree rape and assault in the second degree. Churchill handed him the maximum indeterminate sentence of 123 months to life in prison.

Blue appealed his conviction and the state Court of Appeals vacated the assault charge since it should have been merged with the rape charge. At the re-sentencing hearing, Churchill gave him the same sentence.

Blue lost on other, more significant issues in his appeal.

Under the indeterminate sentence, Blue had to serve the minimum sentence of 123 months and then the state Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board held a hearing to decide if he was “releasable.” He first became eligible for release in 2017, and the review board released him to community custody.

“Mr. Blue did not adjust well to life outside of prison,” Banks wrote in a response to Blue’s motion to modify the judgment, “and almost immediately violated the conditions of his release.”

During the three weeks outside of prison, Blue was hospitalized after using methamphetamine, violated a prohibition against unapproved romantic relationships and was accused of raping his then-wife, who later refused to testify at his termination hearing, according to Banks’ response.

The review board terminated his conditional release and sent him back to prison. In 2019, the review board denied Blue’s release and added two more years to his sentence. He was also referred for a forensic psychological evaluation to determine if he meets the criteria as a “sexually violent predator” because “he appears to meet the criteria for civil commitment,” according to a Court of Appeals slip opinion.

Blue then filed personal restraint petitions with the state Court of Appeals in 2019 and 2020, but the court dismissed them as untimely since they were filed years beyond the one-year deadline for such challenges, and his petition didn’t support an exception.

In July, Blue filed a “motion to modify or correct judgment and sentence,” as well as a “motion to raise additional arguments.”

Banks, however, argued that these motions were also untimely and that some of the issues had already been settled by the Court of Appeals. Churchill agreed and ruled against Blue.

“It was a frivolous motion,” Banks said. “His conviction is legally sound. His sentence of 123 months to life was what he deserves. I will continue to defend his conviction if he files more challenges in the future.”