State v. Yazzie

• Decision Date: 17 February 2009
• Docket Number: No. 20060525.,20060525.
• Citation: 203 P.3d 984,2009 UT 14
• Parties: STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Brandon Dominic YAZZIE, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

203 P.3d 984

2009 UT 14

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Brandon Dominic YAZZIE, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 20060525.

Supreme Court of Utah.

February 17, 2009.

Mark L. Shurtleff, Att'y Gen., J. Frederic Voros, Jr., Asst. Att'y Gen., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Joan C. Watt, Patrick W. Corum, Salt Lake City, for defendant.

On Certification from the Utah Court of Appeals

NEHRING, Justice:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 This case comes before us in conjunction with State v. Anderson, 2009 UT 13, 203 P.3d 990, which we also decide today. In both cases, we are asked to decide the appropriate occasion for determining concurrent or consecutive sentencing. Additionally, in this case, we are asked to determine whether double jeopardy provisions are violated if a district court judge corrects an illegal sentence or an illegally imposed sentence. We hold that in this case Judge Sheila McCleve was the appropriate judge to determine consecutive sentencing for the defendant. We recognize, however, that Judge McCleve's original sentence was illegal because it did not follow the statutory provisions requiring concurrent or consecutive sentencing determinations to be made at the time of final judgment. Judge McCleve's later correction of the sentence was an appropriate remedy and did not violate double jeopardy provisions.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On March 24, 2003, Defendant Brandon Dominic Yazzie pled guilty to two counts of forcible sexual abuse, both second degree felonies. Judge Dennis Fuchs imposed a sentence of two consecutive terms of one to fifteen years. The prison terms were then suspended, and Mr. Yazzie was placed on probation for thirty-six months.

¶ 3 Two years later, Mr. Yazzie was convicted of two third degree felonies, one for criminal mischief and one for burglary. Judge McCleve sentenced Mr. Yazzie to two consecutive indeterminate prison terms not to exceed five years each. The prison terms imposed by Judge McCleve were then suspended and Mr. Yazzie was ordered to serve 365 days in jail and be on probation for thirty-six months. Judge McCleve made no mention in the sentencing order of whether the prison terms were to run concurrent with or consecutive to the sentence imposed by Judge Fuchs.¹ Information about Mr. Yazzie's previous conviction was available to Judge McCleve in the presentence report produced by Adult Probation and Parole. In fact, Adult Probation and Parole recommended that Judge McCleve should order probation to run concurrently with the probation ordered by Judge Fuchs but that the prison terms should run consecutively. The same day that Judge McCleve placed Mr. Yazzie on probation, Judge Fuchs held a disposition hearing in which he revoked and restarted Mr. Yazzie's probation.

¶ 4 After Mr. Yazzie was released from jail, he failed to report to Adult Probation and Parole and, two months later, was arrested after an altercation with a police officer. Judge Fuchs again revoked Mr. Yazzie's probation and executed the previously imposed prison sentence of two consecutive terms of one to fifteen years. A week later, Judge McCleve revoked Mr. Yazzie's probation with her court and executed the two indeterminate terms of not to exceed five years each. This time, however, Judge McCleve ordered the sentence executed by her to run consecutive to the sentence executed by Judge Fuchs. Mr. Yazzie objected to this change in sentencing, but because Judge McCleve believed that there was a presumption of consecutive sentencing, she overruled the objection. She also based her decision to overrule Mr. Yazzie's objection on the foundation that she did not know of Mr. Yazzie's prior conviction or violation.

¶ 5 Mr. Yazzie argues on appeal that Judge McCleve overstepped the authority given her in Utah Code sections 76-3-401(1) and 77-18-1(12)(e)(iii) when, at the probation revocation hearing, she included a requirement that the original sentence executed by her run consecutively to the sentence previously executed by Judge Fuchs. The court of appeals certified this case to us pursuant to rule 43 of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Utah Code section 78A-3-102(3)(b) (2008).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6 Sentencing decisions are generally reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. State v. Perez, 2002 UT App 211, ¶ 25, 52 P.3d 451. The underlying issue here, however, is one of statutory interpretation, which we review for correctness, affording no deference to a lower court's legal conclusions. Sill v. Hart, 2007 UT 45, ¶ 5, 162 P.3d 1099.

ANALYSIS

¶ 7 The issue before us is whether a district court can, following revocation of probation, resentence a defendant to require that previously imposed sentences be served consecutively. Mr. Yazzie first argues that when a district court revokes probation, it may execute only the previously suspended sentences. Mr. Yazzie then argues that by making the consecutive sentencing determination at the probation revocation hearing, Judge McCleve violated constitutional and statutory protections against double jeopardy.

¶ 8 In State v. Anderson, 2009 UT 13, 203 P.3d 990, an opinion that is released today and is a companion to this case, we held that determinations of concurrent or consecutive sentencing are to be made at the time of final judgment.² In Anderson, however, we did not reach the issue of double jeopardy that is presented here. We disagree with Mr. Yazzie that double jeopardy is implicated when a judge in the same position as Judge McCleve makes a concurrent or consecutive sentencing determination after revoking probation. Rather, when the determination is not made at final judgment, the original sentence is illegal. Because a judge always retains the jurisdiction to correct an illegal sentence, the determination of concurrent or consecutive sentencing at a later time is not a violation of double jeopardy provisions. In this case, Judge McCleve simply corrected a previously illegal sentence and therefore double jeopardy does not apply.

I. CONCURRENT OR CONSECUTIVE SENTENCING DETERMINATIONS ARE TO BE MADE AT THE TIME OF FINAL JUDGMENT

¶ 9 Judge McCleve should have made the determination to run Mr. Yazzie's sentence consecutive to the sentence imposed by Judge Fuchs at the time she entered final judgment. In State v. Anderson, we held that under Utah Code section 76-3-401(1) determinations of concurrent or consecutive sentencing are to be made at the time of final judgment for both simultaneously imposed sentences and sentences currently being served. 2009 UT 13, ¶ 27, 203 P.3d 990. We also held that "probation is a sentence" and is applicable when determining whether a sentence should run concurrently with or consecutively to "`any other sentences the defendant is already serving.'" Id. ¶ 21 (quoting Utah Code Ann. § 76-3-401(1)(b) (2008)).³

¶ 10 In light of these holdings, it is appropriate that Judge Fuchs did not make any concurrent or consecutive sentencing determinations, as he could not look to later crimes when he executed the previously suspended prison sentences. It was also appropriate that Judge McCleve made the determination to run consecutively the sentence she imposed with the sentence imposed by Judge Fuchs. A problem arose, however, when Judge McCleve made that determination at the probation revocation hearing rather than at the time of final judgment.

¶ 11 Final judgment is the appropriate time to determine concurrent or consecutive sentencing because, at that time, judges have before them all the information they need about the defendant. Section 76-3-401(2) states that "[i]n determining whether state offenses are to run concurrently or consecutively, the court shall consider the gravity and circumstances of the offenses, the number of victims, and the history, character, and rehabilitative needs of the defendant." Utah Code Ann. § 76-3-401(2). To help the judge make this determination, a presentence report, which contains the required information, may be ordered.

¶ 12 In this case, Judge McCleve had a presentence report prepared by Adult Probation and Parole. The report discussed Mr. Yazzie's previous crimes and even recommended that Judge McCleve should order probation to run concurrently with the probation ordered by Judge Fuchs but that the prison sentences should run consecutively. When issuing her final judgment, however, Judge McCleve made no mention of the sentence imposed by Judge Fuchs or whether the sentences should be concurrent or consecutive. As a result, the sentence originally imposed by Judge McCleve was illegal because it did not comply with the statutory requirement to determine concurrent or consecutive sentencing at the time of final judgment.

II. BECAUSE AN ILLEGAL SENTENCE CAN BE CORRECTED AT ANY TIME WITHOUT VIOLATING DOUBLE JEOPARDY, JUDGE MCCLEVE'S LATER DETERMINATION OF CONSECUTIVE SENTENCING CORRECTED HER EARLIER ILLEGAL SENTENCE

¶ 13 A district court does not violate a defendant's right to double jeopardy when it corrects an illegally imposed sentence. A "court may correct an illegal sentence, or a sentence imposed in an illegal manner, at any time." Utah R.Crim. P. 22(e). We have never explicitly defined an illegal sentence, though we have given examples.⁴ The Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, however, has promulgated a definition that we find appropriate.

[An illegal sentence is] one which is ambiguous with respect to the time and manner in which it is to be served, is internally contradictory, omits a term required to be imposed by statute, is uncertain as to the substance of the sentence, or is a sentence which the judgment of conviction did not authorize.

United States v. Dougherty, 106 F.3d 1514, 1515 (10th Cir.1997) (internal quotation marks omitted).

¶ 14 In adopting this definition, we pause to reiterate a caution we previously stated in State v. Samora, 2004 UT 79, 99 P.3d 858. In Samora, we affirmed the court of appeals' vacation of a harsher sentence...