State v. Clark

762 N.W.2d 64, 17 Neb. Ct. App. 361
CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 17, 2009
DocketA-08-735
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 762 N.W.2d 64 (State v. Clark) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Clark, 762 N.W.2d 64, 17 Neb. Ct. App. 361 (Neb. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

762 N.W.2d 64 (2009)
17 Neb. App. 361

STATE of Nebraska, Appellee,
v.
Kenneth W. CLARK, Appellant.

No. A-08-735.

Court of Appeals of Nebraska.

February 17, 2009.

*65 Dennis R. Keefe, Lancaster County Public Defender, Webb E. Bancroft, and Yohance L. Christie, Senior Certified Law Student, for appellant.

Jon Bruning, Attorney General, and Stacy M. Foust, for appellee.

*66 IRWIN, SIEVERS, and CARLSON, Judges.

SIEVERS, Judge.

This case presents the question of whether a sentence of imprisonment pronounced by the district court that gives the offender more credit for time served than he actually served before sentencing can be thereafter corrected by the district court to reflect the correct number of days to be credited against his jail term. Kenneth W. Clark appeals the corrected sentence, as well as asserting that the period of incarceration ordered is excessive. Because the sentence results from a no contest plea, under Neb. Ct. R.App. P. § 2-111(E)(5)(a), we do not hear oral argument on this case.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Pursuant to an amended information, Clark was charged with third degree sexual assault, a Class I misdemeanor, to which he pled no contest. The victim, C.C., was spending the night with Clark's sister and her children. C.C. awoke early in the morning of August 9, 2006, to find Clark in bed with her and with his hands under her shirt and bra, fondling her breasts. C.C. attempted to push him away, but he unbuttoned her pants and fondled her vagina. Clark's sister entered the room as C.C. was pushing him away, and C.C. immediately told Clark's sister what had occurred. C.C. was 14 at the time, and she did not consent to the sexual contact. The court accepted Clark's plea and found him guilty.

SENTENCING

The sentencing hearing was held May 19, 2008. At that sentencing hearing, counsel for the State and for Clark made comments. In the defense counsel's comments, he noted that Clark "stand[s] for sentencing today [having] served 61 days in jail." Counsel for the State made no mention before sentencing of time served. The trial court stated on the record: "So it will be the order of the Court, Mr. Clark, you be sentenced to a period of 360 days in the Lancaster County Jail, that you pay the costs of prosecution. You will be given credit for 361 days already served." Clark left the courtroom a "free" man.

Two days later, on May 21, 2008, the trial judge arranged to have counsel and Clark before him again and stated that although the record reflected that Clark had served 61 days, "the Court inadvertently gave him credit for 361 days." The trial court continued the matter until June 12 to give counsel time to submit authority on the issue of correction of the sentence.

On June 12, 2008, with Clark and counsel present, the court received the presentence investigation offered in evidence by the State over Clark's objection, which is not assigned as error. The presentence investigation clearly shows 61 days of time served before sentencing. The court then noted that no written order of sentence or commitment ever issued and that the fixing of credit for time served is not part of the sentence imposed and can be corrected. Thus, the court sentenced Clark to 360 days in the Lancaster County jail, with credit for 61 days already served. The court delayed execution of the sentence pending the appeal that Clark indicated he intended to file. The trial court rendered a written order memorializing such sentence on June 12, which order was file stamped by the clerk on that date. Clark filed a timely notice of appeal on June 30.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Clark asserts that the order of June 12, 2008, resentencing and committing Clark, was done without jurisdiction to modify a *67 lawfully imposed and final sentence pronounced by the court on May 19 and that the sentence imposed by the court was excessive and an abuse of discretion.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

To the extent issues of law are presented, an appellate court has an obligation to reach independent conclusions irrespective of the determinations made by the court below. See Union Ins. Co. v. Land and Sky, Inc., 253 Neb. 184, 568 N.W.2d 908 (1997).

A sentence imposed within statutory limits will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion by the trial court. State v. Kinkennon, 275 Neb. 570, 747 N.W.2d 437 (2008).

ANALYSIS

Can Trial Court Correct Mistaken Award of Credit for Time Served?

Clark's core argument is that the sentence pronounced on May 19, 2008, was a valid sentence; it cannot be modified, amended, or revised in any manner; any attempt to do so is ineffective; and therefore the original sentence remains in full force, citing State v. Schnabel, 260 Neb. 618, 618 N.W.2d 699 (2000). A fundamental predicate to this argument is that an invalid sentence is one that is not authorized by the permissible statutory penalty for the crime and is beyond the sentencing court's power to pronounce and, therefore, can be corrected. See State v. Wilcox, 239 Neb. 882, 479 N.W.2d 134 (1992). Accordingly, Clark argues that while the amount of credit for time served stated on May 19 may have been incorrect, it did not constitute an invalid sentence, and that therefore, it cannot be later modified.

While the State acknowledges the above holding of Schnabel, supra, it contends that Clark's original sentence was invalid because Neb.Rev.Stat. § 47-503(2) (Reissue 2004) provides that "[c]redit to any person sentenced to a city or county jail who is eligible for credit . . . shall be set forth as part of the sentence at the time such sentence is imposed." As a result, the State argues that because Clark had served only 61 days, the credit of 361 days invalidates the sentence and the court may reimpose any sentence that could have been validly imposed in the first place, citing State v. Blankenship, 195 Neb. 329, 331, 237 N.W.2d 868, 869 (1976) ("[t]he general rule is that if the original sentence is invalid, it is of no effect and the court may then impose any sentence which could have been validly imposed in the first place").

The record is beyond dispute that prior to sentencing, Clark had been incarcerated for only 61 days, and thus the credit due him under § 47-503 was 61 days, not 361 days. Therefore, the question is simply whether the trial court can correct its mistake, which depends on whether the flawed original sentence was invalid, erroneous, or void. A similar factual pattern is found in State v. Shelby, 194 Neb. 445, 232 N.W.2d 23 (1975), where the trial court, in addition to a term of years, sentenced the defendant to the security section of the Lincoln Regional Center (LRC) for such time as was necessary to be determined by the director of the LRC, and the court further ordered that the LRC director would provide such psychiatric, social, and vocational therapy as was needed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
762 N.W.2d 64, 17 Neb. Ct. App. 361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-clark-nebctapp-2009.