People v. Lehmkuhl

2013 COA 98, 369 P.3d 635, 2013 WL 3584754, 2013 Colo. App. LEXIS 1137
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 20, 2013
DocketCourt of Appeals No. 12CA1218
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 2013 COA 98 (People v. Lehmkuhl) 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. Lehmkuhl, 2013 COA 98, 369 P.3d 635, 2013 WL 3584754, 2013 Colo. App. LEXIS 1137 (Colo. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

Opinion by

JUDGE GABRIEL

T1 Defendant, Jordan Lehmkuhl, appeals the district court's order denying his Crim. P. 85(c) motion challenging, on cruel and unusual punishment grounds, the constitutionality of sentences he received in connection with acts committed while he was a juvenile, Because we conclude. that (1) [636]*636Lehmkuhl's sentence was not the functional equivalent of a life without parole sentence, and (2) the district court properly considered his youth and other mitigating circumstances, we affirm.

I. Background

12 In October 2001, Lehmkuhl, who was then seventeen years old, broke into a house where three high school girls were staying. While brandishing a gun, he bound the girls' hands with duct tape, put a blanket over their heads, and rummaged around the house, before taking one of the girls out of the house and placing her in the trunk of a car. After driving the car for some distance, he stopped, took her out of the trunk, disrobed her, and sexually assaulted her in the backseat of the car. Afterwards, he removed her from the car, partially cut the duct tape on her wrists, left her clothes in a pile on the ground, and drove off,

T3 For his actions, Lehmkuhl was prosecuted as an adult and was ultimately conviet-ed of two counts of first degree burglary, three counts of menacing, one count of motor vehicle theft, and one count of sexual assault. After a series of postconviction motions, he was sentenced to consecutive terms totaling 76 years to life imprisonment. His convie-tions and his ultimate aggregate sentence were upheld on appeal by divisions of this court. People v. Lehmkuhl, (Colo. App. No. 06CA2507, 2008 WL 256406, Jan. 31, 2008) (not published pursuant to CAR. 35(F)); People v. Lehmkuhl, 117 P.3d 98 (Colo.App.2004).

T4 Thereafter, Lehmkubl filed a number of Crim. P. 85 motions for postconviction relief, In his latest motion, he asserted that, in violation of Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 130 S. Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010), he had been impermissibly sentenced to de facto life imprisonment without parole for crimes committed as a juvenile (He also asserted that his trial counsel had been ineffective, but he has not reasserted that claim on appeal, and, thus, he has abandoned it. See People v. Brooks, 250 P.3d 771, 772 (Colo.App.2010).)

T5 The district court denied Lehmkuhl's request for relief, reasoning:

The majority opinion in Grakam categorically rules out the imposition of sentences to prison for life, without parole, upon juvenile offenders. To be sure, Mr. Lehm-kubl's sentence is not of that nature. However, he argues that his sentence is, in effect, life without parole, in light of his belief that he will not be given a "meaningful opportunity to obtain release." According to the Department of Corrections Inmate Locator, Mr. Lehmkuhl's current parole eligibility date is May 15, 2050, at which point he will be just under 67 years of age. Statistically, his life expectancy is 78.2 years. See § 18-25-108[, C.R.S 2012]. Thus, while Mr. Lehmkuhl would likely be close to the end of his life if paroled at his earliest eligibility date, that date is not past his life expectancy. Here, the Defendant is not guaranteed eventual release, but Colorado has provided a realistic opportunity to obtain release before the end of his life, and Defendant has not shown otherwise.

(Additional citations omitted.)

1 6 Lehmkuhl now appeals.

II. Meaningful Opportunity for Parole

T7 Lehmkuhl first contends that his sentences constitute unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment because they do not provide him with a meaningful opportunity of being paroled within his lifetime, We are not persuaded.

T8 In Grakom, the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed that for purposes of sentencing, juvenile offenders are different from adult offenders because (1) juveniles have " 'a lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility' "; (2) they "'are more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures'"; and (8) their characters "are 'not as well formed.'" 560 U.S. at 68, 180 S.Ct. at 2026 (quoting Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 569-70, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005)).

[ 9 Because of these differences, the Court in Graham held that the Eighth Amendment categorically prohibits sentencing a juvenile convicted of a nonhomicide crime to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. [637]*637Id. at 74-75, 180 S.Ct. at 2080. As the Court explained, "A State is not required to guarantee eventual freedom to a juvenile offender convicted of a nonhomicide erime. What the State must do, however, is give defendants . some meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation." Id. (emphasis added). See also Miller v. Alaboma, - U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 2469, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012) (extending Graham to mandatory sentences of life imprisonment without parole for juvenile homicide offenders).

T10 In People v. Rainer, 2013 COA 51, ¶ 21, - P.3d -, 2013 WL 1490107, a division of this court recently concluded that "the rule announced in Grakam is a new substantive rule that should be applied retroactively to all cages involving juvenile offenders under the age of eighteen at the time of the offense, including those cases on collateral review." In Rainer, the defendant had received an aggregate sentence of 112 years imprisonment for two counts of attempted first degree murder, two counts of first degree assault, one count of first degree burglary, and one count of aggravated robbery, all committed in a single criminal episode when he was seventeen years old. Id. at 11 2-8, 10. Despite having a life expectancy measured under Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tables of between 68.8 and 72 years of age, he would not have been eligible for parole until he was 75 years old. Id. at 136. On these facts, the division held that because the defendant's aggregate sentence did not offer him a meaningful opportunity to obtain release before the end of his expected life span, his sentence was the functional equivalent of a life without parole sentence and, thus, was unconstitutional under Graham. Id. at 111 38, 66; see also People v. Caballero, 55 Cal.4th 262, 145 Cal.Rptr.3d 286, 282 P.3d 291, 295 (2012) (striking down a juvenile's life sentence where he would not become eligible for parole for 110 years).

{11 Notably, in reaching its conclusion, the Rainer division rejected the applicability of Close v. People, 48 P.3d 528, 540 (Colo.2002), in which our supreme court determined that an abbreviated proportionality review must consider each separate sentence rather than the aggregate term of multiple sentences. Rainer, §°68. According to the Rainer division, Graham's categorical proportionality analysis for nonhomicide juvenile offenders "effectively overruled Close" with respect to this particular class of defendants. Id.

] 12 In People v.

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Bluebook (online)
2013 COA 98, 369 P.3d 635, 2013 WL 3584754, 2013 Colo. App. LEXIS 1137, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-lehmkuhl-coloctapp-2013.