State v. Kaspar

749 A.2d 237, 131 Md. App. 459, 2000 Md. App. LEXIS 66
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedApril 4, 2000
Docket1350, Sept. Term, 1999
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 749 A.2d 237 (State v. Kaspar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Kaspar, 749 A.2d 237, 131 Md. App. 459, 2000 Md. App. LEXIS 66 (Md. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

*461 EYLER, Judge.

On April 27, 1998, Donald Keith Kaspar, appellee, was charged with second degree rape, attempted second degree rape, child abuse, and three counts of fourth degree sexual offense. On September 10, 1998, pursuant to a plea agreement, appellee pleaded guilty to child abuse. In exchange for the plea, the State nol prossed the remaining charges.

The Circuit Court for St. Mary’s County, pursuant to the plea agreement, sentenced appellee to five years with all but eighteen months suspended, to be served in the local detention center commencing on October 19, 1998, between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. and all day on Sundays.

On October 2, 1998, the circuit court granted appellee’s motion to reconsider his sentence and modified the commencement date from October 19, 1998 to November 23, 1998. The State did not object to that request. On December 21, 1998, the circuit court granted appellee’s second motion for reconsideration, over the State’s objection, allowing appellee to serve the remaining period of his sentence on home detention.

On June 2,1999, appellee filed his third motion for reconsideration, requesting that the balance of his sentence be suspended due to the burden on his family, and particularly, on his wife who was ill. Over the State’s objection, the circuit court, on June 21,1999, granted the motion.

On appeal, the State contends that the circuit court erred because (1) appellee’s third motion for reconsideration was not timely filed and (2) the sentence was imposed pursuant to a binding plea agreement. We agree with the State and shall reverse the judgment of the circuit court. Before doing so, however, we shall discuss the issue of appealability raised by appellee.

Discussion

A. The State’s Right to Appeal.

Md.Code (1974, 1995 Repl.Vol.), § 12-302(c) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article (CJ), sets forth the *462 statutory authority for the State to appeal from a circuit court judgment in a criminal case. It provides in pertinent part:

(c) In a criminal case, the State may appeal as provided in this subsection.
(2) The State may appeal from a final judgment if the State alleges that the trial judge failed to impose the sentence specifically mandated by the Code.

Appellee maintains that the statute sets forth two prerequisites for a viable state appeal: (1) the appeal must be from a final judgment and (2) the State must allege that the trial judge did not impose a sentence specifically mandated by the Code. Here, appellee asserts that the first prerequisite was not met, because the “final judgment” provision contemplates only direct appeals from the imposition of sentence, not from decisions on motions for modification or reduction of sentence. Appellee argues, therefore, that the state had no right to appeal from the circuit court’s order granting appellee’s motion for modification of sentence.

Appellee relies on Chertkov v. State, 335 Md. 161, 642 A.2d 232 (1994), for the proposition that action on a motion for modification or reduction of sentence is not a final judgment which is appealable. In Chertkov, a plea bargain was accepted by the circuit court and the court imposed a sentence in accordance with it. Id. at 165, 642 A.2d 232. The defendant, pursuant to Md. Rule 4-345(b), filed a timely motion for reconsideration of sentence. Id. The petitioner did not seek an immediate hearing, and the hearing did not take place until after the petitioner had completed the unsuspended portion of her sentence. Id. After her release, the defendant filed another pleading requesting the court to strike her previously entered guilty finding and impose probation before verdict. Id. The circuit court granted her motion. Id. The State appealed that ruling and we held that, under CJ § 12-302, the State had the statutory authority to appeal from the granting of the motion because the circuit court lacked authority to modify the binding- plea agreement. State v. Chertkov, 95 Md.App. 104, 109, 619 A.2d 556 (1993). The Court of Appeals *463 dismissed the appeal, holding that CJ § 12-302 authorizes appeals from “direct appeals from final judgments disposing of cases”, not “collateral challenges or motions.” 335 Md. at 168, 642 A.2d 232.

In a Court of Appeals decision coming on the heels of Chertkov, Cardinell v. State, 335 Md. 381, 644 A.2d 11 (1994), a defendant filed a motion for revision of sentence within 90 days of sentencing, which was denied. Id. at 384, 644 A.2d 11. Four months after the denial, the defendant filed a second motion to revise his sentence, as a “supplemental” motion for revision of sentence. Id. Despite the labeling of the motion as “supplemental,” the Court of Appeals held that the second motion was untimely and the lower court lacked authority to rule on it. Id. at 385, 644 A.2d 11. The Court of Appeals held that an “appeal will lie pursuant to common law principles that have not been abolished by the legislature.” Id. at 386, 644 A.2d 11.

Similarly, in the case sub judice, appellee’s third motion for reconsideration was not timely filed. Therefore, the trial judge had no inherent or common law authority to reduce appellee’s sentence. As the Court of Appeals has held, “the State’s limited common law right of appeal ... was not abolished by the enactment of § 12-302 or subsequent amendments thereto.” Id. at 397, 644 A.2d 11. Therefore, the appeal is properly before us.

B. Authority of Circuit Court to Modify.

The State argues that the circuit court lacked the necessary authority to modify appellee’s sentence. The Court of Appeals has held that where a motion to modify a sentence was untimely filed, the trial judge does “not enjoy a common law or inherent right to reduce or modify the legal sentence he ha[s] imposed.” Cardinell, 335 Md. at 385, 644 A.2d 11. Md. Rule 4-345(b) states in pertinent part:

Modification or reduction — Time for. The court has revi-sory power and control over a sentence upon a motion filed within 90 days after its imposition ... in a circuit court, *464

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

Related

Butler v. State
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2022
State v. Karmand
961 A.2d 1152 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2008)
Pitts v. State
843 A.2d 212 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
749 A.2d 237, 131 Md. App. 459, 2000 Md. App. LEXIS 66, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kaspar-mdctspecapp-2000.