Wilson v. People
Decision Date | 14 December 1987 |
Docket Number | No. 86SC29,86SC29 |
Citation | 747 P.2d 638 |
Parties | Vincent WILSON, Petitioner, v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Respondent. |
Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
David F. Vela, Public Defender, Douglas D. Barnes, Deputy Public Defender, Denver, for petitioner.
Duane Woodard, Atty. Gen., Charles B. Howe, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard H. Forman, Sol. Gen., Cynthia Jones, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for respondent.
We granted certiorari in this case to determine whether a defendant is entitled to be heard, to present evidence, and to confront the witnesses against him prior to the revocation of his placement in a community corrections facility for violation of a condition of that placement. The defendant contends that the language of sections 17-27-103(3), 8A C.R.S. (1986), and 17-27-114, 8A C.R.S. (1986), as well as the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment require that an offender be afforded such a hearing. The trial court determined that neither statutory law nor procedural due process necessitates such a hearing. On appeal, the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed. Wilson v. People, 717 P.2d 982 (Colo.App.1985). We hold that section 17-27-114, 8A C.R.S. (1986), does contemplate that an informal hearing will be conducted on the issues of whether the defendant violated a condition of his placement and whether that placement should be revoked, and that the defendant has the right to participate in that hearing. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals.
The defendant, Vincent A. Wilson, was charged in Denver District Court with one count of second degree burglary of a dwelling, § 18-4-203(1), (2), 8B C.R.S. (1986), and one count of theft, § 18-4-401(1)(c), (2)(c), 8B C.R.S. (1986). Pursuant to a plea agreement, the information was amended to include a third count, second degree burglary of a building, § 18-4-203(1), 8B C.R.S. (1986). The defendant entered a plea of guilty to this third count, and the remaining charges were dismissed. Wilson was granted leave to apply for probation.
At the probation hearing on May 16, 1984, Wilson was sentenced to community corrections for a period of two years plus one year of parole. 1 The defendant signed a statement acknowledging that he understood the conditions of his placement, including the fact that if he left the community corrections facility in an unauthorized manner, felony escape charges would be filed.
The Denver Probation Department filed a request for an arrest warrant on August 27, 1984, alleging that Wilson had failed to return to the community corrections facility on August 24, 1984, a violation of a condition of his placement. The trial court issued the warrant on August 28, 1984. The defendant was subsequently apprehended and confined in the Denver County Jail. Thereafter, Wilson appeared in Denver District Court for consideration of his unauthorized departure from community corrections.
Wilson argued that he was entitled to be heard on the issue of revocation of his placement in community corrections as a matter of due process of law, and that without his participation in the hearing, there was a risk that he would be erroneously resentenced on the basis of an unverified report. The prosecution responded that section 17-27-103(3) vests authority in the community corrections board to reject any offender after acceptance, and therefore a court does not have the authority to inquire further than to determine that the community corrections board is no longer willing that the offender be continued in community corrections.
In lieu of testimony by the probation officer, a report signed by that officer had been filed with the court. The report stated that the defendant had failed to return to the community corrections facility on August 24, 1984, and had made no effort to contact the probation officer until the defendant was apprehended on September 6th. The probation officer reported that he was filing felony escape charges against Wilson and recommended that the defendant's community corrections placement be changed to a sentence to the department of corrections.
The court did not allow the defendant to be heard or to present evidence regarding the allegations against him, and he was afforded no opportunity to cross-examine adverse witnesses. Instead, the court relied on the probation officer's report to find that the defendant had violated a condition of his placement and was no longer suitable for continued placement in community corrections. Pursuant to section 17-27-103(3), the court resentenced Wilson to the department of corrections for two years plus one year of parole, the same term imposed in his original sentence, with credit awarded for the 112 days served in community corrections. Additionally, the court noted that there was "not any due process violation involved pursuant to the statute."
Wilson appealed from the trial court's judgment. The court of appeals affirmed the revocation order, stating that the trial court had properly followed the procedures outlined in sections 17-27-103 and 17-27-114 before revoking the defendant's sentence to community corrections. Wilson v. People, 717 P.2d 982, 983 (Colo.App.1985). The court of appeals also noted that the defendant had received a full hearing when his sentence was first imposed. The defendant then petitioned for certiorari review, and we granted that petition.
Community corrections programs provide "the sentencing judge with a broader range of alternatives and with a sentencing medium that is more severe than probation, but not as harsh as incarceration." People ex rel. VanMeveren v. District Court, 195 Colo. 34, 36, 575 P.2d 4, 6 (1978). Article 27 of Title 17, 8A C.R.S. (1986), sets forth the statutory framework established to regulate community correctional facilities and programs. A community correctional facility or program is defined in section 17-27-102(1), 8A C.R.S. (1986), as a community-based or community-oriented facility or program: Which is operated either by a unit of local government, the department [of corrections], a private nonprofit agency or organization, or any corporation, association, or labor organization; which may provide residential accommodations for offenders; and which provides programs and services to aid offenders in obtaining and holding regular employment, in enrolling in and maintaining academic courses, in participating in vocational training programs, in utilizing the resources of the community in meeting their personal and family needs and providing treatment, and in participating in whatever specialized programs exist within the community.
Community corrections programs utilize a variety of means, including halfway houses and work release programs, to enable offenders to reside in the community. The basic objective of such programs is "to limit confinement to the extent necessary to assure reasonable supervision while permitting a gradual reintegration of the offender into the society to which the offender would eventually return." American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice, Sentencing Alternatives and Procedures, Standard 18-2.4, Commentary at 102 (1986 Supp.).
Each program is governed by a corrections board, § 17-27-102(2), 8A C.R.S. (1986), which may establish standards of operation, develops procedures for screening eligible offenders, and "has the authority to accept, reject, or reject after acceptance the placement of any offender," § 17-27-103(3). Placements in community corrections programs are not final until the corrections board accepts the offender. 2 An offender may be sentenced to a community corrections program directly pursuant to section 17-27-105(1)(a), 8A C.R.S. (1986), as Wilson was in this case. Alternatively, an offender may be placed in a community corrections program as a condition of probation, § 16-11-204(2)(c), 8A C.R.S. (1986), or may be transferred to the program by the department of corrections pursuant to contractual authorization, § 17-27-106(4)(a), 8A C.R.S. (1986).
Not all persons convicted of a crime are eligible for community corrections placement. Section 17-27-102(4), 8A C.R.S. (1986), excludes from placement in community corrections those who have committed a crime of violence or a class one misdemeanor in which a deadly weapon was used. Some offenders who are statutorily ineligible for probation, however, may still be sent to a community corrections facility in lieu of prison. People ex rel. VanMeveren v. District Court, 195 Colo. at 36-37, 575 P.2d at 6.
We shall first address the question of whether the statutory provisions require a hearing before revocation of a community corrections placement for violation of a condition of that placement. Wilson argues that the language of sections 17-27-103(3) and 17-27-114 contemplates a hearing to resolve whether an offender is to be removed from community corrections for violating a rule or condition of his placement. The People contend that the statutory language, when given its plain meaning, does not provide for a hearing prior to removal from a community corrections facility, and that this court should not attempt to read such a requirement into the statutory scheme. Resolution of this issue requires careful consideration of the two statutes and their interrelationship.
Section 17-27-103(3) states, in pertinent part:
The corrections board has the authority to accept, reject, or reject after acceptance the placement of any offender in its community correctional facility or program pursuant to any contract or agreement with the department [of corrections] or a judicial district. If an offender is rejected by the corrections board after initial acceptance, the offender shall remain in the facility or program for a reasonable period of time pending receipt of appropriate orders from the sentencing court or the department for the transfer of such...
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