People v. Brosh

2012 COA 216M, 297 P.3d 1024, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 2146, 2012 WL 6700436
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 27, 2012
DocketNo. 11CA1586
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2012 COA 216M (People v. Brosh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Brosh, 2012 COA 216M, 297 P.3d 1024, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 2146, 2012 WL 6700436 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge FOX.

T1 Defendant, Jeffrey Denton Brosh, appeals the trial court's order denying his Crim. P. 85(b) motion. We affirm.

I. Background

T2 Brosh was charged with multiple counts arising from incidents in which he sexually assaulted and provided alcohol to a twelve-year-old vietim. Brosh pled guilty to one count of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust in exchange for dismissal of the other charges. The trial court sentenced Brosh to an indeterminate term of four years to life in the Department of Corrections.

18 After a hearing, the trial court designated Brosh a sexually violent predator (SVP) under section 18-8-414.5, C.R.S.2012. On direct appeal, this court affirmed the trial court's SVP designation. People v. Brosh, 251 P.3d 456, 460-61 (Colo.App.2010) (Brosh I).

14 While the direct appeal from the SVP designation was pending, Brosh filed a Crim. P. 85(b) motion, but requested that the court withhold its ruling for one year. The trial court entered a minute order noting that it lacked jurisdiction, and that it would address the Crim. P. 85(b) motion when it had jurisdiction. Following remand from the direct appeal, the trial court requested that Brosh supplement his Crim. P. 85(b) motion. Brosh's supplemental motion sought recon[1026]*1026sideration of his sentence and SVP designation.

{5 The trial court denied the Crim. P. 35(b) motion, explaining that it could not reconsider the SVP designation because it was not part of Brosh's sentence. Brosh appeals on grounds that the trial court erred by (1) concluding that it lacked authority to address the SVP designation; (2) failing to recognize that it had authority under Crim. P. 35(b) to order a new SVP evaluation; and (8) applying incorrect legal standards.

IL Standard of Review

T6 Brosh's appeal requires us to review the trial court's interpretation of Crim. P. 35(b). Interpretation of the criminal rules of procedure presents a question of law, which we review de novo. People v. Romero, 197 P.3d 302, 305 (Colo.App.2008).

III. SVP Designation

T7 Brosh contends that the trial court should have reconsidered the SVP designation under Crim. P. 85(b) because it is part of his sentence. We disagree.

T8 The purpose of Crim. P. 85(b) is to permit a court to reconsider a previously imposed sentence. See People v. Fuqua, 764 P.2d 56, 60 (Colo.1988); People v. Olivas, 911 P.2d 675, 677 (Colo.App.1995).

T9 All sex offenders in Colorado are required to register pursuant to the Colorado Sex Offender Registration Act. §§ 16-22-101 to -115, C.R.S.2012. A sex offender designated as an SVP, however, is subject to more stringent registration requirements, including lifetime registration and automatic listing on the state's website. See $ 16-22-108, C.R.S.2012 (registration requirements); § 16-22-111, C.R.S.2012 (website listing requirements).1 "Sex offender registration is not an element of a defendant's sentence, and the purpose of registration is not to punish the defendant, but to protect the community and to aid law enforcement officials in investigating future sex crimes." People v. Carbajal, 2012 COA 107, ¶ 37, - P.3d --, 2012 WL 2581023; see People v. Rowland, 207 P.3d 890, 892-93, 895 (Colo.App.2009); Fendley v. People, 107 P.3d 1122, 1125 (Colo.App.2004); People v. Stead, 66 P.3d 117, 120 (Colo.App.2002); see also Brosh I, 251 P.3d at 460 ("The SVP statute is protective, not punitive ...."); see also § 16-18-901, C.R.S. 2012.

110 The trial court makes findings of fact regarding SVP criteria. See Brosh I, 251 P.3d at 460. Those findings either support or do not support a determination of SVP, Id. We review the findings for clear error, and determine whether those findings are sufficient, as a matter of law, to support a finding of SVP. Id. Thus, review of an SVP designation is ultimately an issue of law, and, unlike the determination of a sentence within the sentencing range, not discretionary. See People v. Dunlap, 36 P.3d 778, 781 (Colo.2001) (explaining that a motion for a reduction of sentence is addressed purely to the discretion of the trial court). Accordingly, discretionary reconsideration of an SVP designation by the trial court, under Crim. P. 35(b), is not available.

11 Brosh cites People v. Tuffo, 209 P.3d 1226 (Colo.App.2009), to support his position that an SVP designation is subject to reconsideration. There, the sentencing court permitted the defendant to file a motion to reconsider the court's SVP finding because the defendant was unprepared to address the issue at the original sentencing hearing. Id. at 1228, At a second hearing seven months later, the sentencing court reconsidered its SVP finding in light of the defendant's factual and legal arguments. Id. The court affirmed its SVP designation, and the defendant directly appealed. Id. Despite the trial court's language that it would "reconsider" its ruling, it effectively continued the issue because it considered the defendant's arguments for the first time at the second hearing. Id.

112 In assessing the timeliness of the defendant's appeal, a division of this court noted that the "Colorado procedural rules do not expressly provide for motions to reconsider SVP rulings." Id. at 1229. Nonetheless, under "the unusual cireumstances of [1027]*1027thle] case," the division declined to hold that the "defendant ha[ld] forfeited his SVP challenge." Id. The division ultimately vacated the SVP designation and remanded for specific factual findings on contested factual issues. Id. at 1281-82.

{13 The Tuffo division did not hold that a defendant can use Crim. P. 85(b) to lodge a collateral attack on an SVP designation. Id. Indeed, the division disapproved of the sentencing court's decision to reconsider, explaining that the "procedure followed here on the SVP ruling is certainly not a model one." Id. at 1229. Unlike the defendant in Tuffo, Brosh has already directly appealed the SVP designation, and a division of this court considered and rejected his arguments. See Brosh I, 251 P.3d at 461-62 (affirming the SVP designation).

T 14 Because sex offender registration is not part of a sentence, the trial court cannot reconsider Brosh's SVP designation under Crim. P. 85). See Carbajal, ¶ 37; Rowland, 207 P.3d at 892-93.

IV. SVP Re-Evaluation

115 Brosh contends that the trial court erred in failing to recognize it had authority under Crim. P. 35(b) to order a new SVP evaluation. We disagree.

116 Even if we assume, without deciding, that Brosh preserved this issue, Brosh cites no authority to support his position that a trial court can, sua sponte, order a new SVP evaluation after the designation has been affirmed on direct appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
2012 COA 216M, 297 P.3d 1024, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 2146, 2012 WL 6700436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-brosh-coloctapp-2012.