State v. Bayles
| Decision Date | 18 June 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 23766,23766 |
| Citation | 962 P.2d 395,131 Idaho 624 |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Johnnie Lee BAYLES, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Johnnie Lee Bayles, pro se appellant.
Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Myrna A.I. Stahman, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent.
This is an appeal from the denial of the appellant's motion for modification of his sentence following a conviction for forgery.
In June 1996, Johnnie Lee Bayles forged a check and passed it in a market in Gooding County. The check was from a checkbook that had been stolen in the burglary of a business office. Bayles made the check payable to himself in the amount of $460, and placed a false signature on it. For this offense, Bayles was charged with forgery, I.C. § 18-3601, in Gooding County.
Earlier the same day, in Twin Falls County, Bayles and another man had broken into a video arcade and stolen a change machine holding approximately $2,600 in game tokens and a money box containing approximately $150 in cash. This offense resulted in a prosecution for burglary, I.C. § 18-1401, in Twin Falls County.
Bayles ultimately pleaded guilty in both cases. He was sentenced first in the burglary case, and the court imposed a unified ten-year sentence with a five-year minimum term of imprisonment. That sentence is not at issue here. At the subsequent sentencing hearing in the Gooding County forgery case, the prosecutor recommended the same sentence that Bayles had received in the burglary case, a ten-year term with five years fixed. Bayles's attorney expressed agreement with the prosecutor's sentencing recommendation. However, neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorney addressed whether the recommended sentence should run concurrently with or consecutively to the sentence that had been imposed for the burglary. The district court then imposed the sentence recommended by the parties, but ordered that it be served consecutively to the burglary sentence, thus requiring that Bayles serve a minimum of ten years' imprisonment on the two sentences before eligibility for parole.
Defense counsel filed a timely motion for reduction of the sentence pursuant to Idaho Criminal Rule 35. The motion requested "the right to present evidence and oral argument on this motion." One week after the motion was filed, and without a hearing, the district court entered an order denying the requested relief. On appeal, Bayles contends that the district court erred when it ruled on the motion without honoring the request, expressed in the motion, to allow Bayles to present evidence. He also argues that the court abused its discretion by refusing to modify the sentence by making it concurrent with the burglary sentence.
We consider first Bayles's assertion that the court erroneously deprived him of an opportunity to present evidence on the Rule 35 motion. Rule 35 expressly gives the trial court discretion to act on a motion for reduction of a sentence "without the admission of additional testimony and without oral argument." This discretion is abused only if the court unreasonably refuses to consider relevant evidence or otherwise unduly limits the information considered. State v. Ramirez, 122 Idaho 830, 836, 839 P.2d 1244, 1250 (Ct.App.1992); State v. Findeisen, 119 Idaho 903, 905, 811 P.2d 513, 515 (Ct.App.1991); State v. Puga, 114 Idaho 117, 118, 753 P.2d 1263, 1264 (Ct.App.1987); State v. Torres, 107 Idaho 895, 898, 693 P.2d 1097, 1100 (Ct.App.1984).
The district court here did not refuse to consider any evidence offered by Bayles nor unfairly limit or preclude his presentation of evidence. As we stated in State v. Fortin, 124 Idaho 323, 328, 859 P.2d 359, 364 (Ct.App.1993), "A Rule 35 movant wishing to submit additional evidence should make an 'offer of proof' in the motion itself or by an accompanying affidavit to enable the district judge to make a reasoned decision on whether to hold an evidentiary hearing and to create a record upon which appellate review may be based." (Emphasis added.) Thus, when a Rule 35 motion is filed, it is incumbent upon the movant to present supporting evidence by way of affidavits or other documents. If anticipated evidence is not yet available or if the defendant believes that an evidentiary hearing is essential because relevant evidence cannot be adequately presented in writing, such circumstances should be explained to the court in the motion or an accompanying affidavit. Bayles's counsel did not submit any evidence in support of the Rule 35 motion, did not advise the court of any then-unavailable evidence which would be forthcoming, the nature thereof, or an approximate date by which such evidence would be filed, or give any reason why he believed a hearing would be necessary. The vague request in Bayles's motion for "the right to present evidence" was at once both unnecessary and inadequate. It was unnecessary as to any evidence that was then available because such evidence could have been presented with the motion and without prior leave of the court. It was inadequate as a request for additional time to assemble and present evidence because it neither expressly requested an allowance of time for presentation of evidence nor presented any basis or justification for such a request.
On appeal Bayles, acting pro se, asserts that at the time his motion was filed, his ability to communicate with his attorney and to gather evidence was impaired by his transfer to an out-of-state correctional facility. The district court, however, was never advised of this circumstance or of any other reason to delay in acting upon Bayles's motion for modification of his sentence. Therefore, Bayles has not shown that the district court abused its discretion by ruling on the Rule 35 motion without waiting further for Bayles to present support for the motion.
Bayles also requests that we review the denial of his Rule 35 motion on the merits. He asserts that even in the absence of any new evidence supporting the motion, on the sentencing record alone it is apparent that his sentence is excessive. He requests that this Court modify his forgery sentence to make it run concurrently with his burglary sentence.
A motion under I.C.R. 35 is essentially a request for leniency which is addressed to the sound discretion of the sentencing court. State v. Lopez, 106 Idaho 447, 450, 680 P.2d 869, 872 (Ct.App.1984). On appeal, our criteria for review of rulings on Rule 35 motions are the same as those applied in determining whether the original sentence was reasonable. Id. at 450, 680 P.2d at 872. Our focus on review is upon the nature of the offense and the character of the offender. State v. Reinke, 103 Idaho 771, 772, 653 P.2d 1183, 1184 ...
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Cook v. State
...153 P.3d 1193, 1194 (Ct.App.2006); State v. Medrain, 143 Idaho 329, 334, 144 P.3d 34, 39 (Ct.App.2006); State v. Bayles, 131 Idaho 624, 627-28, 962 P.2d 395, 398-99 (Ct.App.1998). But, as we just pointed out in State v. Whittle, 145 Idaho 49, 175 P.3d 211 (2007), the second of these paramet......
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State v. Gibson
...writing, such circumstances should be explained to the court in the motion or an accompanying affidavit. State v. Bayles, 131 Idaho 624, 626-27, 962 P.2d 395, 397-98 (Ct. App. 1998). As we stated in State v. Fortin, 124 Idaho 323, 328, 859 P.2d 359, 364 (Ct. App. 1993), "A Rule 35 movant wi......
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State v. Arthur, Docket No. 31470 (ID 5/12/2006)
...shows that special circumstances require consideration of more than the fixed period of confinement. State v. Bayles, 131 Idaho 624, 628, 962 P.2d 395, 399 (Ct. App. 1998); State v. Herrera, 130 Idaho 839, 840, 949 P.2d 226, 227 (Ct. App. Arthur argues that, because the determinate portion ......
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State v. Whittle, 33263.
...153 P.3d 1193, 1194 (Ct. App.2006); State v. Medrain, 143 Idaho 329, 334, 144 P.3d 34, 39 (Ct.App.2006); State v. Bayles, 131 Idaho 624, 627-28, 962 P.2d 395, 398-99 (Ct.App.1998). The second of these parameters was recently overturned by the Idaho Supreme Court, however, in State v. Oliver......