Dean v. People

2016 CO 14
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedFebruary 29, 2016
Docket12SC585
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 2016 CO 14 (Dean v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dean v. People, 2016 CO 14 (Colo. 2016).

Opinion


Colorado Supreme Court Opinions || February 29, 2016

Colorado Supreme Court -- February 29, 2016
2016 CO 14. No. 12SC585. Dean v. People.

The Supreme Court of the State of Colorado
2 East 14th Avenue • Denver, Colorado 80203


2016 CO 14


Supreme Court Case No. 12SC585
Certiorari to the Colorado Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Case No. 09CA1747


Petitioner:
Charles Dean,
v.
Respondent:
The People of the State of Colorado.


Judgment Affirmed
en banc
February 29, 2016


Attorney for Petitioner:
Alison Ruttenberg, Alternate Defense Counsel

Boulder, Colorado

Attorneys for Respondent:
Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General
Ryan A. Crane, Assistant Attorney General

Denver, Colorado

JUSTICE MÁRQUEZ delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1       A jury convicted Charles E. Dean of second degree murder, a class 2 felony that carries a maximum presumptive range sentence of twenty-four years. The trial court adjudicated him an habitual criminal based on five previous felony convictions and sentenced him under subsection (2) of the habitual criminal statute, § 18-1.3-801(2), C.R.S. (2015). That provision required the trial court to sentence Dean to four times the maximum presumptive sentence for second degree murder, or ninety-six years. Id.  Under the corresponding parole eligibility provision governing his conviction, Dean must serve seventy-five percent of his sentence, or seventy-two years, before he is eligible for parole. § 17-22.5-403(2.5)(a), C.R.S. (2015).

¶2       Dean contends that the interplay of the habitual criminal statute (section 18-1.3-801) and the parole eligibility statute (section 17-22.5-403), as applied in his case, violates his right to equal protection because he must serve a longer period of incarceration before he is eligible for parole than an habitual offender with a history of more serious felony convictions. Specifically, had his prior criminal history included two or more convictions for violent or more serious felonies, he would have been sentenced instead to life imprisonment under subsection (1) of the habitual criminal statute, but he would have been parole eligible after only forty calendar years. See §§ 18-1.3-801(1)(a), (c); see also 17-22.5-104(2)(d)(III), C.R.S. (2015). Dean argues that his lengthier parole eligibility period violates equal protection because it punishes him more harshly for his less serious prior offenses. The court of appeals rejected Dean’s as-applied equal protection challenge and affirmed his sentence. People v. Dean, 2012 COA 106, ¶¶ 30–32, 292 P.3d 1066, 1073.

¶3       We granted Dean’s petition for a writ of certiorari1 and now affirm the court of appeals. We hold that the sentencing and parole eligibility scheme for habitual criminal offenders does not violate Dean’s constitutional right to equal protection.

I. Facts and Procedural History

¶4       In October 2004, Dean severely beat his friend, Timothy Ware, and left him in a closet to die. Dean later dismembered Ware’s body with a chainsaw in the bathtub. He placed the body parts into trash bags and deposited them in various dumpsters around Denver, then set fire to Ware’s apartment in an attempt to hide the remaining evidence. Dean was charged with first degree murder and several habitual criminal counts. A jury convicted him of the lesser included offense of second degree murder, a class 2 felony.

¶5       The trial court adjudicated Dean an habitual criminal based on five prior felony convictions: first degree burglary (class 3 felony); attempted theft (class 5 felony); attempted first degree trespass (class 6 felony); second degree assault (class 6 felony); and second degree burglary (class 4 felony). The trial court sentenced Dean under subsection (2) of the habitual criminal statute, which governs habitual offenders who have three or more prior felony convictions that do not qualify for a sentence to life imprisonment under subsection (1). § 18-1.3-801(2); see also id. § -801(4) (requiring persons who meet the criteria for subsection (1) to be sentenced to life imprisonment under that subsection). Subsection (2) of the habitual criminal statute required the trial court to sentence Dean to four times the maximum presumptive range sentence for the class 2 felony triggering offense of second degree murder, or ninety-six years. § 18-1.3-801(2)(a)(I)(A); see also § 18-1.3-401(1)(a)(V)(A) (providing a presumptive sentencing range of eight to twenty-four years for class 2 felonies). Under the parole eligibility statute, an offender such as Dean is eligible for parole after serving seventy-five percent of his sentence—in Dean’s case, seventy-two years. § 17-22.5-403(2.5)(a). By contrast, subsection (1) of the habitual criminal statute requires a life sentence for an individual who is convicted of a class 1 or 2 felony or level 1 drug felony, or a class 3 felony that is a crime of violence, and who has been twice convicted previously for any of these offenses. § 18-1.3-801(1)(a). A subsection (1) offender who is sentenced to life imprisonment is eligible for parole after serving at least forty calendar years. § 18-1.3-801(1)(c).

¶6       Dean argued below that his habitual criminal sentence and corresponding parole eligibility deny him equal protection of the laws because, despite his less serious, nonviolent criminal history, Dean must serve a longer period of incarceration before becoming eligible for parole than an habitual criminal sentenced to life imprisonment for a history of serious or violent felonies.

¶7       The trial court rejected Dean’s equal protection challenge, and the court of appeals affirmed Dean’s conviction and sentence. Dean, ¶ 56, 292 P.3d at 1077. The court of appeals concluded that the habitual criminal and parole eligibility statutes, as applied to Dean, did not violate equal protection. Id. at ¶¶ 10, 30, 292 P.3d at 1069, 1073. It reasoned that the legislature rationally distinguished habitual criminals who had committed more serious felonies from those who had committed lesser felonies, and assigned correspondingly severe sentences under the habitual criminal statute. Id.  at ¶ 31, 292 P.3d at 1073. It further reasoned that, for defendants sentenced to life imprisonment, the legislature rationally set parole eligibility at forty years because it is not possible to establish parole eligibility as a percentage of a life sentence given that the duration of a life sentence depends on how long an inmate lives. Id. at ¶ 32, 292 P.3d at 1073. We granted Dean’s petition for a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals’ determination that Dean’s sentence does not violate equal protection.

II. Standard of Review

¶8       The constitutionality of a statute is a question of law subject to de novo review. Coffman v. Williamson, 2015 CO 35, ¶ 13, 348 P.3d 929, 934; see also People v. Lovato, 2014 COA 113, ¶ 12, 357 P.3d 212, 219 (“We review the constitutionality of a statute, both facially and as applied, de novo.”). A statute is presumed to be constitutional; the challenging party bears the burden of proving its unconstitutionality beyond a reasonable doubt. Hinojos-Mendoza v. People,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Peo v. Nunez-Bustamante
Colorado Court of Appeals, 2026
Peo v. Redd
Colorado Court of Appeals, 2025
Davis v. Wolf
Colorado Court of Appeals, 2025
Peo v. Loveday
Colorado Court of Appeals, 2025
Peo v. Jacobs
Colorado Court of Appeals, 2025
Peo v. Diaz-Olivas
Colorado Court of Appeals, 2025
People v. Mena
2025 COA 14 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2025)
Peo v. Erickson
Colorado Court of Appeals, 2024
Cheryl Lynette PLEMMONS v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado
517 P.3d 1210 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2022)
In Re: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado v. Juan Johnny HERNANDEZ
488 P.3d 1055 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2021)
People v. Lee
2020 CO 81 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2020)
Peo v. Houser
2020 COA 76 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2020)
v. Maloy
2020 COA 71 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2020)
v. Ornelas-Licano —
2020 COA 62 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2020)
v. McDonald
2020 COA 65 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2020)
v. People
2020 CO 15 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2020)
v. Quezada-Caro
2019 COA 155 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2019)
in Interest of T.B
2019 COA 89 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2019)
TABOR Foundation v. Regional Transportation District
2018 CO 29 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2016 CO 14, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dean-v-people-colo-2016.