State v. Liggins

741 P.2d 349, 113 Idaho 62, 1987 Ida. App. LEXIS 419
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 14, 1987
DocketNo. 16660
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 741 P.2d 349 (State v. Liggins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho 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. Liggins, 741 P.2d 349, 113 Idaho 62, 1987 Ida. App. LEXIS 419 (Idaho Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

SWANSTROM, Judge.

The district court denied a motion by Todd Liggins under I.C.R. 35 to reduce three sentences imposed upon him. Lig[63]*63gins appeals, contending that the district court abused its discretion in refusing to reduce the periods of incarceration. The state asks us to hold that the district court did not have jurisdiction to entertain a Rule 35 motion to reduce the first two sentences, following violation and revocation of probation, because of the lapse of time. Also, the state contends that the court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to modify the third sentence. For reasons which follow, we affirm the order denying the motion.

The facts may be simply stated. In 1982, Todd Liggins was charged with two counts of second degree burglary. On May 5, 1982, following dismissal of one count and entry of a guilty plea to the other, the court sentenced Liggins to an indeterminate five-year term. Later, while jurisdiction was retained for 180 days, the court placed Liggins on probation. Approximately ten months into his probationary period, Liggins was charged with another count of second degree burglary. He pled guilty to this burglary and also admitted to having violated his probation. He was sentenced on September 28,1983, to an indeterminate five-year term to run concurrently with the previous five-year term. The court suspended this second sentence, extended the probationary term of the first sentence and allowed both terms to be served on probation. Finally, almost two and one-half years later, Liggins was charged with grand theft by possession of stolen property. Again he pled guilty. As a result of this violation, however, on April 19, 1986, the court ordered execution of the two indeterminate five-year concurrent terms and added a consecutive seven-year term for the grand theft.

On July 15, 1986, Liggins filed a Rule 35 motion for reconsideration of all three sentences. Following a hearing on September 2, the district judge denied the motion. Liggins appealed from this order, contending it was an abuse of discretion.

Before reaching Liggins’ contention, we must answer a threshold jurisdictional question. Specifically, we must determine whether the time statutorily allowed for filing a Rule 35 motion may commence from the time probation is revoked and the original, suspended sentence is reinstated.

Rule 35,1.C.R., is a jurisdictional limit on the sentencing court’s power. The rule provides that:

The court may reduce the sentence within 120 days after the sentence is imposed____ The court may also reduce a sentence upon revocation of probation as provided by law.

Absent a timely filing, the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the motion. State v. Parrish, 110 Idaho 599, 716 P.2d 1371 (Ct.App.1986). The state advocates a narrow interpretation of the word “imposed,” emphasizing the difference between imposition and execution of a sentence. Liggins argues, with some justification, that differentiation is irrational; that it unjustly grants the benefits of Rule 35 to defendants who received their probation upon the conditional entry of a withheld judgment but not to those whose probation follows a suspended sentence or a period of retained jurisdiction. He asserts that reinstatement of a sentence in either of the latter two situations is the functional equivalent of imposition of a sentence, triggering the statutory time limit for a Rule 35 filing.

Liggins’ contentions are thought sound and are well-received in many jurisdictions. E.g., United States v. Colvin, 644 F.2d 703 (8th Cir.1981); United States v. Johnson, 634 F.2d 94 (3rd Cir.1980). However, the state’s position prevails in Idaho. The Idaho Supreme Court has held that a sentence is deemed to be “imposed” from its original pronouncement. E.g., State v. White, 107 Idaho 941, 694 P.2d 890 (1985). Consistent with this position, we issued State v. Salsgiver, 112 Idaho 933, 736 P.2d 1387 (Ct.App.1987), and State v. Omey, 112 Idaho 930, 736 P.2d 1384 (Ct.App.1987). Salsgiver and Omey review in detail the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the “imposition” of a sentence, acknowledging the constraints placed upon us by reason of the Supreme Court’s restrictive interpretation. There is now a clear delineation of the relationship between Rule 35 and the concepts of retained jurisdiction and probation. [64]*64We ruled that the 120-day period for filing for Rule 35 relief begins running from the initial pronouncement of the sentence. The time period does not begin anew when jurisdiction — retained under I.C. § 19-2601(4) —is relinquished (State v. Salsgiver, supra) or when a sentence — suspended under § 19-2601(2) — is reinstated following violation of probation (State v. Omey, supra ). These opinions control here. Hence, the statutory time limits for challenging the two earlier burglary sentences had expired well before July 1986, when Liggins filed his motion.

We turn now to Liggins’ main contention concerning the district court’s denial of leniency on the consecutive, indeterminate seven-year sentence for grand theft. Liggins’ Rule 35 motion was timely filed from imposition of this sentence, while the court still had jurisdiction to consider the motion.

Liggins concedes the legality of the grand theft sentence and asks that the sentence be made to run concurrently, rather than consecutively, to the five-year burglary terms. A Rule 35 motion allows appropriate leniency to be accorded if, at the time the motion was filed, the original sentence appears for any reason to be unduly severe. State v. Torres, 107 Idaho 895, 693 P.2d 1097 (Ct.App.1984). The question becomes whether the district court abused its discretion in denying leniency from the seven-year sentence.

The district court analyzes a Rule 35 motion using the information that was available to the court at the imposition of the sentence plus any additional information provided in support of the motion. Our review of the district court’s ruling utilizes the same criteria applicable to alleged excessiveness of the original sentence — the sentencing goals of societal protection, retribution, rehabilitation, and deterrence. State v. Toohill, 103 Idaho 565, 650 P.2d 707 (Ct.App.1982). We examine these criteria as they relate to the reasonableness of the sentence, looking first to the nature of the crime, then to the character of the offender. For limited purposes of appellate review of indeterminate sentences, we deem one-third of the total sentence to be the period of incarceration, absent contrary indications. Thus, the assumed period of incarceration for the grand theft charge is one-third of seven years, or two years and four months. This is in addition to the assumed confinement on the concurrent burglary sentences, a period of one year and eight months. Hence, Liggins may serve at least four years in confinement before being paroled on the grand theft sentence.

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741 P.2d 349, 113 Idaho 62, 1987 Ida. App. LEXIS 419, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-liggins-idahoctapp-1987.