Title: Cothren v. Wyoming

State: wyoming

Issuer: Wyoming Supreme Court

Document:

JERELE CRAIG COTHREN, JR. v. THE STATE OF WYOMING2012 WY 102Case Number: S-11-0240Decided: 07/30/2012This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in Pacific Reporter Third.  Readers are requested to notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Building, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002, of any typographical or other formal errors so that correction may be made before final publication in the permanent volume.  
APRIL 
TERM, A.D. 2012
 
JERELE 
CRAIG COTHREN, JR.,Appellant(Defendant),v.THE STATE 
OF WYOMING,Appellee(Plaintiff).
 
Appeal 
from the District Court of Natrona County
The 
Honorable David B. Park, Judge
 
Representing 
Appellant:
Diane 
M. Lozano, State Public Defender; Tina N. Olson, Appellate Counsel; Eric M. 
Alden, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel. 
 
Representing 
Appellee:
Gregory 
A. Phillips, Wyoming Attorney General; David L. Delicath, Deputy Attorney 
General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Susan G. 
O’Brien, Senior Assistant Attorney General.
 
Before 
KITE, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL, VOIGT, and BURKE, JJ.
 
VOIGT, Justice.
 
[¶1]      The appellant, 
Jerele Craig Cothren, Jr., currently faces four separate sentences from three 
courts for unrelated crimes.  The 
most recent sentence, and the one upon which the appellant’s appeal is based, 
required that the appellant serve his term of incarceration concurrent with a 
sentence for which the appellant is presently incarcerated, as well as 
consecutive to a probationary period that has yet to begin.  Because it is impossible to meet both 
these requirements, and because the sentence as pronounced would require the 
period of incarceration to be interrupted by a period of probation, the sentence 
is illegal.  We remand to the 
district court for resentencing.
 
ISSUE
 
[¶2]      Is the 
sentence at issue an illegal sentence?
 
FACTS
 
[¶3]      Between 2007 
and 2010, three district courts sentenced the appellant on four separate 
occasions for various unrelated crimes.  
On August 21, 2007, in Natrona County, the appellant pled guilty to 
larceny by a bailee and received a sentence of two-to-four-years imprisonment at 
the Wyoming State Penitentiary, suspended in favor of three-years 
probation.  On May 3, 2009, in 
Sheridan County, the appellant pled guilty to six counts of forgery and one 
count of identity theft and was sentenced to five-to-eight-years imprisonment on 
each charge, to run concurrently.1  On November 18, 2009, in Platte County, 
the appellant pled guilty to livestock rustling and was sentenced to 
two-to-five-years imprisonment, suspended in favor of five-years probation.  On May 30, 2010, the appellant’s Natrona 
County probation was revoked and he was ordered to serve two-to-four-years 
imprisonment.  Finally, regarding 
the sentence at issue on appeal, the appellant pled guilty to forgery, and on 
August 6, 2010, was sentenced by the Natrona County district court to 
eight-to-ten years “to be served concurrent with [the] Sheridan County 
[sentence], and consecutive to [the] Natrona County [sentence] and [the] Platte 
County [sentence].”
 
[¶4]      The appellant 
started his incarceration on May 3, 2009, as a result of his Sheridan County 
sentence of five-to-eight years.  He 
is also currently serving a two-to-four-year term as a result of the revocation 
of his Natrona County probation.  If 
the appellant serves the maximum time on his sentences, he will be released in 
May 2017.  At that time, the 
appellant would begin serving his Platte County five-year probation, which the 
district court ordered to be served consecutive to the Sheridan County 
sentence.  The sentence that is 
being appealed, the appellant’s second Natrona County sentence, was ordered to 
be served consecutive to the first Natrona County sentence, consecutive to the 
Platte County probation, and concurrent with the Sheridan County 
sentence.
 
[¶5]      The appellant 
filed a Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence on June 20, 2011.  He argued that the second Natrona County 
sentence is illegal because it would be impossible to serve his imprisonment 
concurrent with a sentence that is already running (the Sheridan County 
sentence) and also consecutive to a term that is yet to begin (the Platte County 
probation).  The district court 
denied the appellant’s motion, finding that the sentence was not illegal and was 
in keeping with the terms of the plea agreement.  The appellant now appeals that 
decision.
 
STANDARD 
OF REVIEW
 
[¶6]      The legality of a 
sentence is a matter of law that we review de novo.  Moronese v. State, 2012 WY 34, ¶ 5, 271 P.3d 1011, 1013 (Wyo. 2012).
 
DISCUSSION
 
[¶7]      The appellant is 
currently serving a five-to-eight-year sentence out of Sheridan County, which 
began on May 3, 2009.  Following 
completion of this sentence in 2017, at the latest, the appellant is supposed to 
begin a five-year period of probation as a result of a sentence out of Platte 
County.  Prior to these sentences, 
the appellant was sentenced by Natrona County district court to three-years 
probation.  That probation was 
revoked on May 30, 2010, and the appellant was ordered to serve a term of 
two-to-four-years imprisonment.  
Although the record does not include the order revoking this probation, 
and the briefs, the Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence, and the transcript of 
the hearing on that motion differ as to the timing of this sentence, the 
appellant was incarcerated when his probation was revoked and is therefore 
presently serving this sentence concurrent with the Sheridan County 
sentence.
 
[¶8]      The legality of 
the appellant’s second Natrona County sentence is the issue addressed in this 
appeal.  The Natrona County district 
court ordered that the five-to-eight-year sentence be served consecutive to the 
earlier Natrona County sentence, which, as mentioned above, is being served 
currently, concurrent with the Sheridan County sentence, and consecutive to the 
appellant’s five-year Platte County probation, which will begin following the 
completion of the Sheridan County sentence.
 
[¶9]      It is impossible 
for all of these sentences to be served as ordered by the Natrona County 
district court.  Assuming the 
appellant serves the maximum terms, the first Natrona County sentence will end 
in May 2014 and the Sheridan County sentence will end in May 2017.  The sentence on appeal, the second 
Natrona County sentence, was ordered to be served consecutive to the first 
Natrona County sentence and concurrent with the Sheridan County sentence.  In order to meet those requirements, the 
sentence will begin, under the above scenario, in May 2014, following the 
completion of the earlier Natrona County sentence, and will run concurrently 
with the balance of the Sheridan County sentence.  The sentence on appeal, however, is also 
supposed to be served consecutive to the Platte County probation, which is 
supposed to follow completion of the Sheridan County sentence.  The appellant is correct that it is 
impossible for the second Natrona County sentence to be served concurrent with a 
sentence that is already being served as well as consecutive to a sentence that 
has yet to begin.
 
[¶10]   Moreover, as both parties agree, it 
would be improper to split the appellant’s second Natrona County incarceration 
so that it would be interrupted by a period of probation.  “The discretion of the trial court is 
also limited by the fact that a sentencing court may only impose those sentences 
that have been authorized by the legislature.”  Daugherty v. State, 2002 WY 52, ¶ 13, 44 P.3d 28, 33 (Wyo. 2002) (citing Williams v. State, 949 P.2d 878, 880 
(Wyo. 1997)).  Courts are to 
“determine and fix the punishment” “[w]ithin the limits prescribed by law.”  Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-10-104 (LexisNexis 
2011).  The Wyoming legislature has 
not authorized a sentencing structure permitting a period of incarceration to be 
split by probation from another sentence.
 
[¶11]   When a prisoner was discharged 
mistakenly from a five-year sentence, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said 
that “[a] sentence of five years means a continuous sentence, unless interrupted 
by escape, violation of parole, or some fault of the prisoner, and he cannot be 
required to serve it in installments.”  
White v. Pearlman, 42 F.2d 788, 789 (10th Cir. 1930).  While a 
defendant was serving a 32-year sentence on a prior conviction, the court 
sentenced him to an 11-year sentence for a separate crime and directed that half 
the term be served concurrent with the 32-year sentence and the other half 
consecutive to the 32-year sentence, which would necessarily require an 
interruption between the first and second halves of the 11-year sentence.  In response, the Colorado Court of 
Appeals ruled that “[a] prisoner who commences the service of a sentence is 
entitled to serve that sentence in an uninterrupted manner.”  People v. Ball, 821 P.2d 905, 910 (Colo. 
App. 1991).  In Massey v. State, the appellant was 
sentenced to 90 days in jail “to be served on weekends from Fridays at 6:00 p.m. 
through Sundays at 6:00 p.m.”  389 So. 2d 712, 713 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1980).  
The Florida Court of Appeals reversed the sentence, holding that “a 
prisoner is entitled to pay his debt to society in one stretch rather than in 
bits and pieces.”  Id.  The Florida Court of Appeals has also 
said, on a number of occasions, that consecutive sentences of incarceration 
cannot be interrupted by probation.  
See Turner v. State, 551 So. 2d 1247, 1248 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1989); Gill v. State, 550 So. 2d 72, 74 (Fla. 
Dist. Ct. App. 1989); Calhoun v. 
State, 522 So. 2d 509, 510 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1988).
 
[¶12]   One of the primary goals of 
probation is rehabilitation of the probationer.  State v. McAuliffe, 2005 WY 165, ¶ 21, 
125 P.3d 276, 281 (Wyo. 2005).  
Rehabilitation envisions that the probationer is bettering himself by, 
perhaps, furthering his education, developing career prospects, seeking 
treatment for drug or alcohol addictions, or contributing to the welfare of his 
family and community.  Requiring the 
appellant to return to prison upon the completion of his probationary period 
would certainly impair his ability to rehabilitate his life and would derail any 
progress that he may have made.
 
[¶13]   The appellant contends that he 
should begin serving his second Natrona County sentence upon the completion of 
his earlier Natrona County sentence, and concurrent with the Sheridan County 
sentence he is presently serving.  
He next suggests that the second Natrona County sentence ought to 
terminate at the completion of his Sheridan County sentence and the beginning of 
his Platte County probation, and that he should only return to the penitentiary 
if he violates that probation.  
Under this scenario, he would only serve a maximum of three years on his 
eight-to-ten-year sentence.  We 
decline to accept the appellant’s proposals, as we are not a sentencing court, 
and remand instead for resentencing.2
 
CONCLUSION
 
[¶14]   The sentence under appeal is 
illegal because it is impossible to fulfill, and because it results in a period 
of incarceration interrupted by a period of probation.  We reverse and remand to the district 
court for imposition of a legal sentence.
FOOTNOTES
1The 
Court relies upon the Post-Sentence Investigation Report to ascertain this date 
and notes that the Presentence Investigation Report indicates a different date 
for the appellant’s Sheridan County sentence.  Neither the Sheridan County Judgment and 
Sentence nor the first Natrona County Judgment and Sentence were included in the 
record.  Any discrepancies are not 
material to this decision’s holding.
 
2We 
note that, although in a somewhat different context, we have recognized the 
general rule that, absent specific legislation, probation cannot be imposed 
concurrently with incarceration.  Endris v. State, 2010 WY 73, ¶ 16, 233 P.3d 578, 582 (Wyo. 2010).