State v. Wilkins

• Decision Date: 09 June 2006
• Docket Number: No. 65, September Term, 2005.,65, September Term, 2005.
• Citation: 900 A.2d 765,393 Md. 269
• Parties: STATE of Maryland v. Ralph Edward WILKINS.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

900 A.2d 765

393 Md. 269

STATE of Maryland v. Ralph Edward WILKINS.

No. 65, September Term, 2005.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

June 9, 2006.

Mary Ann Ince, Asst. Atty. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen., on brief), for petitioner.

Renee M. Hutchins (Michael Millemann, University of Maryland School of law, Baltimore, on brief), for respondent.

Argued before BELL, C.J., RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL, BATTAGLIA and GREENE, JJ.

GREENE, J.

Ralph Edward Wilkins was tried before a jury in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County on December 6 through 8, 1971, and convicted of murder in the first degree. On January 24, 1972, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. On direct appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, that court affirmed the judgment and sentence. Wilkins v. State, 16 Md.App. 587, 300 A.2d 411 (1973), aff'd, 270 Md. 62, 310 A.2d 39 (1973), cert. denied, Wilkins v. Maryland, 415 U.S. 992, 94 S.Ct. 1592, 39 L.Ed.2d 889 (1974).

On June 16, 2003, more than thirty years after his direct appeal of the judgment and sentence entered against him, Wilkins filed a petition for post conviction relief in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County. He contended that the sentencing judge abused his discretion by failing to recognize his authority to suspend any part of the life sentence imposed. On January 6, 2004, the court determined that there was no merit to Wilkins's claim that the sentencing judge abused his discretion. Nonetheless, the court granted partial post conviction relief by allowing Wilkins to file a belated motion for modification of sentence within 90 days.¹

On February 9, 2004, Wilkins filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Special Appeals based on the Circuit Court's ruling which denied in part his petition for post conviction relief. The intermediate appellate court dismissed the appeal as untimely. Its mandate issued on June 8, 2004. Subsequently, on June 9, 2004, Wilkins filed a second notice of appeal to the Court of Special Appeals. Wilkins based this appeal on the Circuit Court's ruling dated May 19, 2004, which denied his motion to correct an illegal sentence. Again, the intermediate appellate court dismissed Wilkins's appeal as untimely.² Although Wilkins's appeal was dismissed as untimely, the court reconsidered pursuant to Md. Rule 8-502³ and reinstated the appeal.

The intermediate appellate court held that the sentencing court's "failure to recognize its right to consider suspending a portion of . . . [a life] sentence renders the sentence illegal." Wilkins v. State, 162 Md.App. 512, 525, 875 A.2d 231, 239 (2005). We granted certiorari to review the decision of the Court of Special Appeals in vacating Wilkins's sentence, as an illegal sentence, and remanding the case to the trial court for re-sentencing. State v. Wilkins, 389 Md. 124, 883 A.2d 914 (2005). In our review of the judgment of the intermediate appellate court, we focus primarily on the May 19, 2004, ruling of the Circuit Court denying Wilkins's motion to correct an illegal sentence and the intermediate appellate court's reversal of that ruling. We need not reach the merits of Wilkins's claim that the sentencing judge failed to exercise discretion. We hold that a sentencing judge's failure to recognize his or her right to exercise discretion in the imposition of a sentence does not render the sentence illegal within the meaning of Md. Rule 4-345(a).⁴

Discussion

The court may correct an illegal sentence at any time. Rule 4-345(a). The denial of a motion to correct an illegal sentence is appealable. State v. Kanaras, 357 Md. 170, 177, 742 A.2d 508, 512 (1999). An illegal sentence is a sentence "not permitted by law." Walczak v. State, 302 Md 422, 427, 488 A.2d 949, 951 (1985). In Holmes v. State, 362 Md. 190, 195-96, 763 A.2d 737, 740 (2000) this Court stated that "[a] sentence that is not permitted by statute is an illegal sentence." (Citations omitted.) Judge Moylan expounded on the concept of an illegal sentence in Corcoran v. State, 67 Md.App. 252, 507 A.2d 200 cert. denied, 307 Md. 83, 512 A.2d 377, cert. denied, 479 U.S. 932, 107 S.Ct. 404, 93 L.Ed.2d 357 (1986). He said:

The notion of an "illegal sentence" within the contemplation of the Walczak decision deals with substantive law, not procedural law. It has obvious reference to a sentence which is beyond the statutorily granted power of the judge to impose. It does not remotely suggest that a sentence, proper on its face, becomes an "illegal sentence" because of some arguable procedural flaw in the sentencing procedure.

Corcoran, 67 Md.App. at 255, 507 A.2d at 202. See also Burch v. State, 346 Md. 253, 289, 696 A.2d 443, cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1001, 118 S.Ct. 571, 139 L.Ed.2d 410 (1997) ("Not every procedural irregularity, even in a capital sentencing proceeding, results in `a sentence not permitted by law.'"). In other words, a motion to correct an illegal sentence is not an alternative method of obtaining belated appellate review of the proceedings that led to the imposition of judgment and sentence in a criminal case.

Recently in Evans v. State, 382 Md. 248, 855 A.2d 291 (2004), this Court noted that a motion to correct an illegal sentence can be granted only where there is some illegality in the sentence itself or where no sentence should have been imposed. We summarized the relevant case law:

The State correctly argues that, as a general rule, a Rule 4-345(a) motion to correct an illegal sentence is not appropriate where the alleged illegality "did not inhere in [the defendant's] sentence." State v. Kanaras, supra, 357 Md. at 185, 742 A.2d at 517. A motion to correct an illegal sentence ordinarily can be granted only where there is some illegality in the sentence itself or where no sentence should have been imposed. See, e.g., Ridgeway v. State, 369 Md. 165, 171, 797 A.2d 1287, 1290 (2002); Holmes v. State, 362 Md. 190, 763 A.2d 737 (2000); Moosavi v. State, 355 Md. 651, 662-663, 736 A.2d 285, 291 (1999). On the other hand, a trial court error during the sentencing proceeding is not ordinarily cognizable under Rule 4-435(a) where the resulting sentence or sanction is itself lawful. Randall Book Corp. v. State, 316 Md. 315, 323, 558 A.2d 715, 719 (1989) ("[W]hile improper motivation may justify vacation of the sentence, it does not render the sentence illegal within the meaning of Rule 4-435(a). Appellant did not raise this contention on direct appeal and may not do so here"). See also Hill v. United States, 368 U.S. 424, 430, 82 S.Ct. 468, 472, 7 L.Ed.2d 417, 422 (1962).

Evans, 382 Md. at 278-79, 855 A.2d at 309; see Baker v. State, 389 Md. 127, 133-137, 883 A.2d 916, 919-922 (2005) (recognizing in a capital sentencing that an error premised on a novel constitutional question decided after imposition of a capital sentence may be raised in a motion to correct an illegal sentence); Oken v. State, 378 Md. 179, 184-85, 835 A.2d 1105, 1108(2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 1017, 124 S.Ct. 2084, 158 L.Ed.2d 632 (2004) (alleging a constitutional error in the capital sentencing proceeding contributed to the death sentence was a proper ground to raise in a motion to correct an illegal sentence); Jones v. State, 384 Md. 669, 686, 866 A.2d 151, 161 (2005) (holding that a sentence is illegal if based upon a verdict of guilty in a jury trial that was not orally announced in court).

An error committed by the trial court during the sentencing proceeding is not ordinarily cognizable under Rule 4-345(a) where the resulting sentence or sanction is itself lawful. Randall Book Corp. v. State, 316 Md. 315, 323, 558 A.2d 715, 719 (1989). In Hill v. U.S., 368 U.S. 424, 430, 82 S.Ct. 468, supra, the trial judge did not permit the defendant to make a statement in his own behalf in violation of the federal rules of criminal procedure (Rule 35). In explaining that the sentence imposed was not illegal by definition, the Supreme Court pointed out that the sentencing judge's error, committed during sentencing, was not of the type that would permit a collateral attack. Id. Thus, the sentence was not illegal. "The punishment meted out was not in excess of that prescribed for the same offense, nor were the terms of the sentence itself legally or constitutionally invalid in any respect." Id. (footnote omitted).

In the present case, Wilkins contends that because the sentencing judge did not recognize his authority to suspend a life sentence, the court effectively converted Wilkins's sentence into an illegal "mandatory" life sentence. Conversely, the State asserts that the life sentence imposed was within statutory limits and did not violate any statutory or constitutional requirement. Moreover, the State asserts that the sentence imposed does not fall into any of the categories ordinarily recognized as grounds for appellate review of sentences. The State points to our decision in Gary v. State, 341 Md. 513, 516, 671 A.2d 495, 496 (1996),⁵ where we explained that

only three grounds for appellate review of sentences are recognized in this state: (1) whether the sentences constitutes cruel and unusual punishment or violates other constitutional requirements; (2) whether the sentencing judge was motivated by ill-will, prejudice or other impermissible considerations; and (3) whether the sentence was within statutory limits.

Therefore, according to the State, "in light of the controlling authority of this Court," the intermediate appellate court's determination "that Wilkins's sentence was rendered illegal by the sentencing court's failure, after expressly being referred to [Art. 27,] Section 641 A⁶, to explicitly refer to its discretion to suspend all or a portion of the sentence imposed on Wilkins is erroneous" and warrants reversal.

We note at the outset that the allegation of error, in the present case, does not inhere in the sentence itself. The imposition of a life sentence for first-degree murder is a sentence permitted by law. At the time of Wilkins's sentencing...