People v. Rainer, Supreme Court Case No. 13SC408
| Docket Nº | Supreme Court Case No. 13SC408 |
| Citation | 394 P.3d 1141 |
| Case Date | May 22, 2017 |
| Court | Supreme Court of Colorado |
394 P.3d 1141
The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Petitioner,
v.
Atorrus Leon RAINER, Respondent.
Supreme Court Case No. 13SC408
Supreme Court of Colorado.
May 22, 2017
Attorneys for Petitioner: Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General, Rebecca A. Adams, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado
Attorneys for Respondent: Lord Law Firm, LLC, Kathleen A. Lord, Denver, Colorado, Ashley Ratliff Attorney at Law LLC, Ashley Ratliff, Denver, Colorado
Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth: Colorado Juvenile Defender Center, Hannah Seigel Proff, Denver, Colorado
Attorney for Amicus Curiae Colorado Criminal Defense Bar: Philip A. Cherner, Denver, Colorado
Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Colorado Public Defender: Douglas K. Wilson, Public Defender, Ryann S. Hardman, Senior Deputy Public Defender, Denver, Colorado
Attorneys for Amici Curiae Juvenile Law Center, Colorado Juvenile Defender Center, Center for Children's Law and Policy, Coalition for Juvenile Justice, National Center for Youth Law, and Youth Law Center: Juvenile Law Center, Marsha Levick, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Colorado Juvenile Defender Center, Hannah Seigel Proff, Denver, Colorado
En Banc
JUSTICE EID delivered the Opinion of the Court.
¶1 In 2000, a jury convicted Atorrus Rainer of two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of aggravated robbery, and crime of violence. Rainer was seventeen at the time of the charged offenses, and he was charged and tried as an adult. Upon the jury's verdict, the trial court sentenced Rainer to forty-eight years for each attempted murder charge, thirty-two years for each assault charge, and thirty-two years each for the charges of burglary and aggravated robbery. The sentences for the two counts of attempted murder were subsequently ordered to run concurrently, as were the sentences for the two counts of assault, resulting in an aggregate sentence of 112 years in the custody of the Department of Corrections.
¶2 Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Graham v. Florida , 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010), which categorically banned sentences of life without parole for juveniles who were not convicted of homicide, Rainer filed a motion with the district court arguing that his aggregate term-of-years sentence is the functional equivalent of life without parole and is therefore unconstitutional under Graham . The district court denied Rainer's motion. On appeal, the court of appeals reversed the
district court, holding that, because Rainer will be eligible for parole at age seventy-five, and thus not eligible for parole within his expected natural lifetime, his sentence denies him a "meaningful opportunity to obtain release," and is unconstitutional under Graham and the subsequent case of Miller v. Alabama , 567 U.S. 460, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012). People v. Rainer (Rainer II ), 2013 COA 51, ¶ 38, ––– P.3d ––––. The court concluded that Rainer must be resentenced in a manner consistent with the principles announced in Graham and Miller . Id. at ¶¶ 81 –82.
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McCullough v. State, No. 1081, Sept. Term, 2016.
...cert. denied ––– U.S. ––––, 137 S.Ct. 568, 196 L.Ed.2d 448 (2016) ; Lucero v. People , 394 P.3d 1128 (Co. 2017) ; People v. Rainer , 394 P.3d 1141 (Co. 2017) ; Willbanks v. Dep't of Corrections , 522 S.W.3d 238, 2017 WL 2952445 (Mo. 2017), pet. for cert. filed , No. 17–165 (Jul. 28, 2017). ......
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McCullough v. State, No. 1081
...781 S.E.2d 920 (Va. 2016), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 137 S.Ct. 568 (2016); Lucero v. People, 394 P.3d 1128 (Co. 2017); People v. Rainer, 394 P.3d 1141 (Co. 2017); Willbanks v. Dep't of Corrections, ___ S.W.3d ___, 2017 WL 2952445 (Mo. 2017), pet. forPage 17 cert. filed, No. 17-165 (Jul. 28......
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People ex rel. T.B., Court of Appeals No. 16CA1289
...Graham , which "established a new rule of substantive law which should be applied retroactively"), rev'd on other grounds , 2017 CO 50, 394 P.3d 1141.B. Abuse of Process and the Law of the Case Doctrine ¶12 The Attorney General characterizes T.B.’s appeal "as an abuse of process" because he......
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Lucero v. People, Supreme Court Case No. 13SC624
...but not in its analysis of the issue presented.--------Notes:1 Today we also decide the companion cases of People v. Rainer , 2017 CO 50, 394 P.3d 1141, Armstrong v. People , 2017 CO 51, 395 P.3d 748, and Estrada-Huerta v. People , 2017 CO 52, 394 P.3d 1139.2 Rule 35(b) authorizes the court......
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McCullough v. State, No. 1081, Sept. Term, 2016.
...cert. denied ––– U.S. ––––, 137 S.Ct. 568, 196 L.Ed.2d 448 (2016) ; Lucero v. People , 394 P.3d 1128 (Co. 2017) ; People v. Rainer , 394 P.3d 1141 (Co. 2017) ; Willbanks v. Dep't of Corrections , 522 S.W.3d 238, 2017 WL 2952445 (Mo. 2017), pet. for cert. filed , No. 17–165 (Jul. 28, 2017). ......
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McCullough v. State, No. 1081
...781 S.E.2d 920 (Va. 2016), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 137 S.Ct. 568 (2016); Lucero v. People, 394 P.3d 1128 (Co. 2017); People v. Rainer, 394 P.3d 1141 (Co. 2017); Willbanks v. Dep't of Corrections, ___ S.W.3d ___, 2017 WL 2952445 (Mo. 2017), pet. forPage 17 cert. filed, No. 17-165 (Jul. 28......
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People ex rel. T.B., Court of Appeals No. 16CA1289
...Graham , which "established a new rule of substantive law which should be applied retroactively"), rev'd on other grounds , 2017 CO 50, 394 P.3d 1141.B. Abuse of Process and the Law of the Case Doctrine ¶12 The Attorney General characterizes T.B.’s appeal "as an abuse of process" because he......
-
Lucero v. People, Supreme Court Case No. 13SC624
...but not in its analysis of the issue presented.--------Notes:1 Today we also decide the companion cases of People v. Rainer , 2017 CO 50, 394 P.3d 1141, Armstrong v. People , 2017 CO 51, 395 P.3d 748, and Estrada-Huerta v. People , 2017 CO 52, 394 P.3d 1139.2 Rule 35(b) authorizes the court......