People v. Hill

296 P.3d 121, 2011 WL 1797178, 2011 Colo. App. LEXIS 736
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 12, 2011
DocketNo. 08CA1326
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 296 P.3d 121 (People v. Hill) 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. Hill, 296 P.3d 121, 2011 WL 1797178, 2011 Colo. App. LEXIS 736 (Colo. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge WEBB J.

During the pendency of this appeal from the denial of Kevin Hill's motion to withdraw guilty plea and vacate sentence, the trial court entered an order awarding $3332.45 in restitution. Hill did not file a notice of appeal from this order. More than a year later, he moved for leave to file an amended notice of appeal challenging it.

We conclude that the restitution order was separately appealable; that even if Hill's motion could be treated as a notice of appeal, it was untimely; and that he has not shown good cause under C.A.R. 26(b) to exeuse his untimeliness. Therefore, we exercise our discretion and deny the motion.

I. Chronology

On May 9, 2008, the trial court sentenced Hill to six years in the custody of the Department of Corrections (DOC), plus three years of mandatory parole, on his plea of guilty to second degree assault-serious bodily injury. The sentence included restitution, but the court gave Hill thirty days to object to the amount. He did so. He also moved to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate the sentence, which the court denied. Hill appealed this order on June 23, 2008, before the court had addressed the restitution dispute. On October 23, 2009, the court held a restitution hearing. It entered the restitution order on November 24, 2009.

On May 10, 2010, Hill moved to supplement the record with transcripts of several hearings, including the restitution hearing. The motion was granted except as to this hearing, because:

[Ilt does not appear that appellant sought to amend the notice of appeal to include review of the restitution order entered on November 24, 2009. Any motion to amend the notice of appeal was due in this court within 45 days of the date of entry of the [123]*123order on restitution, which would be on or before January 8, 2010.

The opening brief was due in fifteen days.

On February 9, 2011, after having obtained several extensions to file the opening brief, Hill moved for leave to file an amended notice of appeal "to include issues relating to the restitution order." A motions division of this court requested supplemental briefs addressing whether a separate notice of appeal was required once restitution became final, and, if so, what standard should apply to accepting an untimely notice of appeal of a restitution order.

II. Necessity of a Separate and Timely Notice of Appeal

The Attorney General asserts, Hill does not dispute, and we agree, that under the cireumstances presented here, the restitution order was separately appealable.

While every order of conviction must include consideration of restitution, section 18-1.3-608(1)(b), C.R.S.2010, "expressly permits the sentencing court to merely order that the defendant be obligated to pay restitution and postpone a determination of the specific amount of restitution." Sanoff v. People, 187 P.3d 576, 578 (Colo.2008). Thus, "the amount of the defendant's lability no longer [is] a required component of a final Judgment of conviction." Id. Consequently, "an order for a specific amount of restitution is itself an appealable order." Id.

The Attorney General further asserts, again Hill does not argue otherwise, and we also agree, that Hill's motion-which we will assume, without deciding, to be the equivalent of a separate notice of appeal-was untimely.

Because restitution is a component of a defendant's sentence, the defendant may directly appeal a restitution order under seetion 18-1-409(1), C.R.S.2010. People v. Garcia, 55 P.3d 248, 244 (Colo.App.2002). The notice of appeal must be filed within forty-five days of the date of the restitution order. C.A.R. 4(c)(1)(II)(A). Unless a timely notice of appeal is filed, the court of appeals lacks Jurisdiction to review a sentence. People v. Boespflug, 107 P.3d 1118, 1121 (Colo.App.2004); see also People v. Suttmiller, 240 P.3d 504, 507 (Colo.App.2010) ("Ordinarily, a defendant forfeits his or her right to appellate review of the amount of restitution awarded by failing to file an appeal within forty-five days of the sentencing hearing at which that amount was determined.").

Nevertheless, the Colorado Appellate Rules "confer discretion on the court of appeals to extend jurisdiction over appeals filed outside the forty-five day time limit under certain cireumstances upon a showing of excusable neglect or good cause." People v. Baker, 104 P.3d 898, 895 (Colo.2005). Here, Hill's motion for leave to file an amended notice of appeal does not explain the failure to act within forty-five days, but says only that "Mr. Hill is not responsible for the failure of his prior attorneys to amend the notice of appeal to include issues relating to the restitution order." According to Hill's supplemental brief, "[hlere the failure to file a notice of appeal or to request leave to amend the notice of appeal in a timely manner was not excusable." Instead, Hill asserts that he has shown good cause under Baker, which the Attorney General disputes.

III Good Cause

Initially, we address whether the good cause standard applies to a sentencing appeal, and conclude that it does, but we discern no good cause.

A. Good Cause Applies

Under CAR. 26(b):

The appellate court for good cause shown may upon motion enlarge the time pre-seribed by these rules or by its order for doing any act, or may permit an act to be done after the expiration of such time....

(Emphasis added.) Neither Hill nor the Attorney General cites any Colorado case applying this rule to extend the deadline for filing a sentencing appeal, nor have we found one.

The deadlines for appealing sentences appear in two places. Under CAR. 4(c)(1)(II)(A) ("Appellate Review of Felony Sentences"):

[124]*124The notice of 'appeal must be filed within forty-five days from the date of the imposition of sentence. The notice shall be filed with the appellate court with an advisory copy served on the clerk of the trial court which imposed the sentence. The time for filing the notice of appeal may be extended by the appellate court.

Under section 18-1-409(2):

No appellate court shall review any sentence which is imposed unless, within forty-five days from the date of the imposition of sentence, a written notice is filed in the trial court to the effect that review of the sentence will be sought; said notice must state the grounds upon which it is based.

This subsection does not provide for an extension of the deadline.

Here, because Hill acknowledges that he never filed a notice of appeal of the restitution order, we conclude that he could not have complied with section 18-1-409(2). Nevertheless, we further conclude that the good cause standard for an extension under CAR. 26(b) encompasses the statutory deadline in section 18-1-409(2) for the following two reasons.

First, under section 18-1-409(1), "[t] he procedures to be employed in the review shall be as provided by supreme court rule." Second, to the extent of any conflict between the deadline in section 18-1-409(2) and the extension language in C.AR.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
296 P.3d 121, 2011 WL 1797178, 2011 Colo. App. LEXIS 736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hill-coloctapp-2011.