State v. Samul

2015 UT App 23, 343 P.3d 719, 779 Utah Adv. Rep. 191, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 22, 2015 WL 389799
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedJanuary 29, 2015
Docket20121008-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2015 UT App 23 (State v. Samul) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Samul, 2015 UT App 23, 343 P.3d 719, 779 Utah Adv. Rep. 191, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 22, 2015 WL 389799 (Utah Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Opinion

BENCH, Senior Judge:

11 Theodore James Samul appeals from an amended sentence and from the dismissal of his motion to withdraw his 2008 guilty pleas. We affirm in part and reverse in part and remand.

BACKGROUND

T2 Samul was charged with aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping based on allegations that he choked, bit, raped, and threatened to kill his sister after she asked him to drive her home from a family party. On March 24, 2008, he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated kidnapping. The written statement in support of the guilty pleas listed both crimes as first degree felonies, each carrying a prison term of three years to life. At a sentencing hearing on May 12, 2003, the prosecutor and defense counsel addressed the court. After defense counsel had highlighted facts in mitigation and argued in favor of concurrent sentences, the trial court asked Samul whether he had anything to add. Samul responded, "No. I think it's all been said." The trial court then stated that because Samul's erimes were "disturbing in a number of different ways," the court would "keep [him] in prison as long as [it] possibly [could] because ... it's the only safe way to sentence [him] for [the] victim and for the community at large." The trial court sentenced Samul to two consecutive terms of three years to life in prison. In addition, the trial court ordered Samul to pay $2,094.68 in restitution. Samul did not appeal his sentences.

3 Nine years later, in 2012, Samul filed a pro se motion to correct the sentences pursuant to rules 22 and 11 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure and section 77-13-6 of the Utah Code. In the motion, Samul assert *722 ed that the trial court imposed his sentences in violation of rule 22(c) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure by failing to advise Sam-ul of his right to appeal and the time period for doing so. Samul also asserted that the trial court violated rule l1(e) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure by accepting Samul's guilty pleas without informing him of various rights. In addition, Samul moved to withdraw his guilty pleas and raised claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Samul requested that the court set aside his sentences and resentence him. He also requested an evidentiary hearing on his motions, .reimbursement of restitution, and merger of his convictions.

1 4 In its response to Samul's motion, the State argued that the motion to withdraw the guilty pleas was untimely and asked the court to dismiss it. However, the State urged the court to amend Samul's sentence on his attempted aggravated kidnapping conviction under rule 22(e) of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure. The State explained that the crime of attempted aggravated kidnapping is a second degree felony and that the trial court had sentenced Samul to three years to life, which, under the relevant statute, is a punishment reserved for attempt crimes that are first degree felonies. See Utah Code Ann. § 76-4-102(1) (LexisNexis Supp.2014) 2 The State therefore agreed that Samul's sentence for attempted aggravated kidnapping was an illegal sentence that should be corrected to a term of one to fifteen years. See id. § 76-8-208(2) (Lexis-Nexis 2012) (providing that a person conviet-ed of a second degree felony may be sentenced to a term of not less than one year or more than fifteen years in prison). Thereafter, Samul filed a reply, a request for an award of all legal expenses and fees incurred in filing his pro se motion, and a request to submit for decision.

T5 At a hearing on July 18, 2012, the prosecutor acknowledged that her office had encouraged the court to impose the original sentence on the attempted aggravated kidnapping conviction without having researched the appropriate sentence. The trial judge responded, "[Wle all should have known ... that the sentence and the level of offense for the attempted aggravated kidnapping was in error." Samul's counsel 3 addressed the court and explained that Samul had "raised a myriad of issues ... related to deprivation of rights" that he wanted to address. When the court asked whether counsel had anything further regarding the resen-tencing, defense counsel answered, "No ... [but] we would ask that nothing be done today, including the resentencing." The trial judge then stated that she was "anxious to go forward with the resentencing" and that she "wantled] to correct this error as soon as possible." The judge explained that the Board of Pardons "certainly will take a look at the amended sentence," which "can make a differen[cel" because "one to 15 years is substantially different from 'a three to life" sentence. Defense counsel again asked the judge to wait a couple of weeks to act.

T 6 After initially agreeing to postpone correcting the error, the trial court signed an amended sentence later that day. The court's order adjusted Samul's sentence on the attempted aggravated kidnapping convietion to a prison term of one to fifteen years. In all other respects, the amended sentence remained the same as the May 2008 sentence, with a three-years-to-life sentence on the attempted aggravated sexual assault conviction and an order that the sentences run consecutively.

17 At the rescheduled sentencing review hearing on August 31, 2012, defense counsel asked the court to set the matter over so that defense counsel could confer with the prosecutor regarding the issues of ineffective assistance of counsel, merger, and plea withdrawal. The following discussion of the amended sentence ensued:

THE COURT: Let's see. the sentence, correct? So I amended
DEFENDANT SAMUL: I objected to the amended sentence. I objected to all of *723 that. 'You said that you were going to-you weren't going to rule on any matter until you could hear all the issues because I had so many issues that needed to be addressed.
THE COURT: Uh-hub (affirmative).
DEFENDANT SAMUL: And you said you'd set the matter over, and it was supposed to be done [two weeks later], and it got continued until today.
[[Image here]]
THE COURT: [There was an] error in the plea affidavit that designated [attempted aggravated kidnapping] as a three to life ... first degree [felony] ... as opposed to a second degree, one to fifteen. Clearly, that's of concern. I don't know what the remedy is. I mean, the immediate remedy is to correct it, which I did nune pro tune, which changes his position before the Board of Pardons. The other remedies you'll just have to educate me on. All right.
[[Image here]]
DEFENDANT SAMUL: I'm unclear as to what happened because at the last hearing, ...

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

Related

State v. Hintze
2022 UT App 117 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2022)
State v. Featherston
2020 UT App 106 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2020)
State v. Samul
2018 UT App 177 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2018)
State v. Kelson
2015 UT App 91 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2015 UT App 23, 343 P.3d 719, 779 Utah Adv. Rep. 191, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 22, 2015 WL 389799, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-samul-utahctapp-2015.