Edwards v. People

• Decision Date: 02 December 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07SC279.,07SC279.
• Citation: 196 P.3d 1138
• Parties: Joseph EDWARDS, Petitioner. v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Respondent.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

196 P.3d 1138

Joseph EDWARDS, Petitioner. v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Respondent.

No. 07SC279.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

December 2, 2008.

The Noble Law Firm, LLC, Antony M. Noble, Lakewood, Colorado, Attorneys for Petitioner.

John W. Suthers, Attorney General, Melissa D. Allen, Assistant Attorney General, Appellate Division, Criminal Justice Section, Denver, Colorado, Attorneys for Respondent.

Justice BENDER delivered the Opinion of the Court.

Introduction

In this case we review the court of appeals' decision in People v. Edwards, 165 P.3d 904 (Colo.App.2007).¹ In that case, the court of appeals dismissed as moot Petitioner Joseph Edwards' request to have his presentence confinement credit ("PSCC") applied to the mandatory parole portion of his sentence. That court held that because Edwards was serving mandatory parole at the time of his appeal, rather than the confinement portion of his sentence, Colorado's PSCC statute did not apply. Edwards, 165 P.3d at 906-07.

We reverse. We hold that an offender who has earned PSCC is entitled to have that credit deducted from his mandatory parole. Contrary to the court of appeals' conclusion, the term "sentence" as used in the PSCC statute, section 18-1.3-405, C.R.S. (2008), refers to the mandatory parole portion of a defendant's sentence, as well as the confinement portion of that sentence. We rely upon the rationale of our case People v. Norton, 63 P.3d 339 (Colo.2003), which interpreted the word "sentence" as used in the fourth sentence of the PSCC statute to include the mandatory parole portion of an offender's sentence in addition to incarceration. We construe the word "sentence" as used in the first three sentences of section 405, the PSCC statute, to have the same meaning.

We vacate the court of appeals' judgment holding Edwards' appeal moot. The case is returned to that court to decide the issue Edwards raised on appeal: whether the trial court correctly determined that the forty-nine additional days of PSCC he sought were already credited to his concurrent sentence.

Background

To place this case in context, we briefly review the statutory mandate that the sentencing court must follow when it determines the number of days of PSCC that an offender must receive, and we review our precedent, Norton, which construes part of this same statute.

PSCC refers to the time credit a person earns when that person is in jail, unable to post bond, and awaiting sentencing on an offense. Under Colorado's PSCC statute, section 18-1.3-405, the number of days that an offender spends in jail before sentencing is deducted from the offender's "sentence." The first three sentences of section 405 prescribe the manner in which PSCC must be calculated and deducted from an offender's sentence: at the time the defendant is sentenced to incarceration and mandatory parole, the trial court must calculate the total number of days the defendant has spent in confinement before sentencing and then note this number on the offender's mittimus. It then becomes the statutory obligation of the Department of Corrections ("DOC") to deduct the number of days of PSCC noted on the mittimus from the offender's "sentence."

A person who is confined for an offense prior to the imposition of sentence for said offense is entitled to credit against the term of his or her sentence for the entire period of such confinement. At the time of sentencing, the court shall make a finding of the amount of presentence confinement to which the offender is entitled and shall include such finding in the mittimus. Such period of confinement shall be deducted from the sentence by the department of corrections.

§ 18-1.3-405 (emphasis added).

In most cases, PSCC will be applied to the incarceration portion of an offender's sentence because the correct amount of PSCC to which the offender is entitled will be noted on the original mittimus issued when the offender is remanded to DOC custody. If there is an alleged error in the trial court's calculation of PSCC, that error will usually be promptly brought to the sentencing court's attention, often on motion by defense counsel. Thus, as a practical matter, when a recalculation of PSCC is necessary, the additional PSCC awarded to the offender will usually be deducted from the incarceration portion of an offender's sentence because the error will be corrected relatively soon after the offender is remanded to DOC custody.

Unlike the typical scenario, this case represents a rare sequence of events involving sentence, award of PSCC, and the effort to correct the award. Edwards did not challenge the trial court's original calculation of his PSCC until halfway through his DOC sentence. The trial court did not conduct a hearing to address this alleged error until Edwards was only months away from release from incarceration to mandatory parole. While Edwards' appeal of the trial court's denial of his request for additional PSCC was pending, he was released from the confinement portion of his sentence and began serving mandatory parole. Hence, in this unique case, we must determine whether an award of additional PSCC to an offender who was released from incarceration and is serving mandatory parole may be applied toward the offender's mandatory parole term or whether, because he is no longer incarcerated, he has lost his claimed PSCC. In other words, we must determine whether the "sentence" from which the first three sentences of the statute direct that PSCC be deducted includes an offender's mandatory parole term.

While the first three sentences of the PSCC statute instruct the trial court and DOC on the calculation and application of PSCC, the fourth sentence of the statute addresses a narrow, discrete situation: it explains how PSCC earned by an offender who reoffends while he is already serving a sentence of confinement or mandatory parole should be applied. That sentence requires that, while the offender is confined and awaiting sentencing on the new offense or revocation of his parole, PSCC so earned must be deducted from the sentence the offender is serving at the time he reoffends, and not the sentence imposed by the trial court for the new offense.

If a defendant is serving a sentence or is on parole for a previous offense when he or she commits a new offense and he or she continues to serve the sentence for the previous offense while charges on the new offense are pending, the credit given for presentence confinement under this section shall be granted against the sentence the defendant is currently serving for the previous offense and shall not be granted against the sentence for the new offense.

§ 18-1.3-405 (emphasis added).

In Norton, an offender who was on parole reoffended and was confined in county jail pending revocation of his parole and sentencing on the new offense committed while on parole. 63 P.3d at 342. Upon revocation of his parole, he had to be reincarcerated for the period of his mandatory parole term. Id. Faced with the question of whether PSCC should be deducted from this period of mandatory parole or from the sentence on the new criminal charge, we construed the word "sentence," as used in this fourth sentence of the PSCC statute, to include an offender's mandatory parole term. Id. at 343-46. We held, therefore, that the language of the fourth sentence requires that PSCC be deducted from the offender's mandatory parole term and not from the sentence for the new offense. Id. at 350. Here, because Edwards did not reoffend while incarcerated or on parole, the fourth sentence of the PSCC statute is inapplicable. Hence, we must determine if our interpretation in Norton of the word "sentence" in the fourth sentence of the statute can be applied to the first three sentences of that same statute.

Facts and Proceedings Below

In 1994, Joseph Edwards was convicted of aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to ten years in the DOC on the aggravated robbery conviction and a concurrent term of six years on the conspiracy conviction. The trial court awarded Edwards nineteen days of PSCC.

In 2000, Edwards filed a pro se motion for post-conviction relief pursuant to Crim. P. 35(c), asserting, inter alia, ineffective assistance of counsel as the basis of this claim. The hearing on Edwards' motion did not take place until 2005. Initially, the trial court appointed counsel to represent Edwards, but this counsel failed to take any action. Alternative counsel was eventually appointed, but by the time the hearing was held, Edwards was nearing the end of the incarceration portion of his sentence.

At the hearing on the Rule 35(c) motion, Edwards and his counsel argued that Edwards' PSCC was incorrectly stated on the mittimus and that this was one of the errors Edwards' trial counsel should have raised with the trial court. The mittimus, issued April 17, 1995, awarded Edwards nineteen days of PSCC. Edwards argued that he was entitled to sixty-eight days total, forty-nine more than were credited on the original mittimus. Edwards' Rule 35(c) motion was denied without mention of PSCC in the trial court's order.

Later in 2005, Edwards filed a motion to correct his mittimus pursuant to Crim. P. 36,² which the trial court also denied without a hearing. Edwards filed a motion for reconsideration of the denial of the Rule 36 motion. The court again denied this motion, ruling that Edwards had already been awarded the forty-nine days of PSCC he was seeking on a concurrent sentence.

Edwards appealed the trial court's denial of his Rule 36 motion. During the pendency of his appeal, Edwards was released from the confinement portion of his sentence and began serving mandatory parole. The court of appeals dismissed Edwards' Rule 36 claim as moot. Edwards, 165 P.3d at 906. The court of appeals reasoned that, under Colorado's PSCC statute, section 18-1.3-405, PSCC may be deducted only from a "period of confinement."...