Martinez v. State
| Citation | 2002 WY 10,39 P.3d 394 |
| Parties | Fredrich Gary MARTINEZ, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Decision Date | 25 January 2002 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming |
Fredrich Gary Martinez, Pro Se, Representing Appellant.
Gay Woodhouse, Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; and D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Representing Appellee.
Before LEHMAN, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL, KITE, and VOIGT, JJ.
[¶ 1] Appellant Fredrich Martinez appeals from the district court's order denying his motion to correct an illegal sentence. Mr. Martinez claims his sentence is illegal because at the sentencing hearing the district court did not consider the possibility of probation. We affirm.
[¶ 2] Mr. Martinez presents the following issue on appeal:
The state rephrases the issue as follows:
Did the district court properly deny [Mr. Martinez's] motion for correction of an illegal sentence?
[¶ 3] In 1996, Mr. Martinez engaged in sexual intercourse with his sixteen-year-old niece. The girl became pregnant and underwent an abortion. A DNA test confirmed Mr. Martinez was the biological father of the fetus.
[¶ 4] On April 2, 1998, the state charged Mr. Martinez with one count of second-degree sexual assault and one count of taking indecent liberties with a child. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Mr. Martinez pleaded guilty to the indecent liberties charge, and the state dismissed the second-degree sexual assault charge. Prior to sentencing, the district court ordered a presentence investigation report from the Department of Probation and Parole.
[¶ 5] On March 3, 1999, Mr. Martinez appeared before the district court for sentencing. The district court noted it had reviewed the presentence investigation report and allowed the parties to comment on the report. It heard statements from Mr. Martinez and his wife and arguments by counsel. The court sentenced Mr. Martinez to serve a prison term of not less than four years nor more than six years. The court did not make an express verbal or written finding that it had considered probation in the sentencing process. Mr. Martinez did not, however, appeal the original judgment and sentence.
[¶ 6] Mr. Martinez subsequently filed a motion to reduce his sentence, which the district court denied. On July 18, 2000, Mr. Martinez filed a pro se motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to W.R.Cr.P. 35(a). In his motion, Mr. Martinez asserted his sentence was illegal because the district court did not consider the possibility of placing him on probation. He requested that the district court vacate his sentence and conduct another sentencing hearing to consider probation. Presumably in response to Mr. Martinez's motion, the district court issued an amended judgment and sentence which included the following statement: "THE COURT HEREBY considered probation for the defendant, but found that probation was inappropriate in this matter." A short time later, the district court entered a second amended judgment and sentence, apparently to correct an erroneous date included in the amended judgment and sentence. On October 20, 2000, the district court issued an order denying Mr. Martinez's motion to correct an illegal sentence, and Mr. Martinez appealed.
[¶ 7] W.R.Cr.P. 35(a) governs motions to correct illegal sentences. "A motion to correct an illegal sentence under W.R.Cr.P. 35(a) is addressed to the sound discretion of the sentencing court." Mead v. State, 2 P.3d 564, 566 (Wyo.2000). We, therefore, apply our abuse-of-discretion standard in reviewing a denial of a motion to correct an illegal sentence. Cardenas v. State, 925 P.2d 239, 240 (Wyo.1996). The abuse-of-discretion standard of review reaches the question of the reasonableness of the trial court's choice. Griswold v. State, 2001 WY 14, ¶ 7, 17 P.3d 728, ¶ 7 (Wyo.2001). Judicial discretion is a composite of many things, among which are conclusions drawn from objective criteria; it means exercising sound judgment with regard to what is right under the circumstances and without doing so arbitrarily and capriciously. Id.
[¶ 8] Mr. Martinez claims the sentence imposed by the district court was illegal because the court did not consider probation before passing sentence against him. In support of his argument, he points to the fact that the district court did not make a specific ruling granting or denying probation. The state maintains that the district court properly considered probation at his sentencing hearing.
[¶ 9] W.R.Cr.P. 35(a) gives district courts the authority to correct illegal sentences at any time. "An illegal sentence is one which exceeds statutory limits, imposes multiple terms of imprisonment for the same offense, or otherwise violates constitutions or the law." Duran v. State, 949 P.2d 885, 887 (Wyo.1997); see also Sanchez v. State, 982 P.2d 149, 150 (Wyo.1999)
.
[¶ 10] A district court is not obligated to grant probation to a defendant. Burk v. State, 848 P.2d 225, 236 (Wyo.1993). The court must, however, consider an application for probation and, if it does not grant probation, include a statement in the written sentence expressly acknowledging it considered the application. See Sanchez v. State, 592 P.2d 1130, 1137 (Wyo.1979)
[¶ 11] This court has stated that no particular amount of consideration of probation is required as long as the record reveals the district court did consider it. Beaulieu v. State, 608 P.2d 275, 275 (Wyo.1980); see also Volz v. State, 707 P.2d 179, 182-83 (Wyo. 1985)
. We applied this rationale in Beaulieu and held that, because a probation plan appeared in the presentence report and the defendant requested probation at the sentencing hearing, sufficient evidence existed in the record to support the conclusion that the district court considered probation. 608 P.2d at 275. Similarly, in Burk, we found sufficient proof that the district court had considered probation when it imposed sentences in two cases against the defendant. 848 P.2d at 236. In the first case, the defense counsel argued for leniency and mentioned that other persons involved in the defendant's case had received probation. Id. In the second case, the defense counsel asked for leniency, the defendant's parents requested that the court grant probation, and the presentence investigation report addressed the issue of probation. Id.
[¶ 12] After reviewing the record in the case at bar, w...
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