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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO

Docket No. 40768

STATE OF IDAHO,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

RAFAEL CISNEROS,

Defendant-Appellant.

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2013 Unpublished Opinion No. 802

Filed: December 23, 2013

Stephen W. Kenyon, Clerk

THIS IS AN UNPUBLISHED 

OPINION AND SHALL NOT 

BE CITED AS AUTHORITY

Appeal from the District Court of the Third Judicial District, State of Idaho, 

Canyon County. Hon. Juneal C. Kerrick, District Judge. 

Judgment of conviction and unified sentence of ten years, with a minimum period 

of confinement of five years, for felony driving under the influence, affirmed; 

order denying I.C.R. 35 motion for reduction of sentence, affirmed.

Sara B. Thomas, State Appellate Public Defender; Sally J. Cooley, Deputy 

Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. 

Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Lori A. Fleming, Deputy Attorney 

General, Boise, for respondent. 

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Before LANSING, Judge; GRATTON, Judge;

and MELANSON, Judge

PER CURIAM

Rafael Cisneros pled guilty to felony driving under the influence. I.C. §§ 18-8004 and 

18-8005. In exchange for his guilty plea, additional charges and an allegation that Cisneros was 

a persistent violator were dismissed. The district court sentenced Cisneros to a unified term of 

ten years, with a minimum period of confinement of five years, to run concurrent with an 

unrelated sentence. Cisneros filed an I.C.R 35 motion, which the district court denied. Cisneros

appeals.

Sentencing is a matter for the trial court’s discretion. Both our standard of review and the 

factors to be considered in evaluating the reasonableness of the sentence are well established. 
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See State v. Hernandez, 121 Idaho 114, 117-18, 822 P.2d 1011, 1014-15 (Ct. App. 1991); State 

v. Lopez, 106 Idaho 447, 449-51, 680 P.2d 869, 871-73 (Ct. App. 1984); State v. Toohill, 103 

Idaho 565, 568, 650 P.2d 707, 710 (Ct. App. 1982). When reviewing the length of a sentence, 

we consider the defendant’s entire sentence. State v. Oliver, 144 Idaho 722, 726, 170 P.3d 387, 

391 (2007). Applying these standards, and having reviewed the record in this case, we cannot 

say that the district court abused its discretion.

Next, we review whether the district court erred in denying Cisneros’s Rule 35 motion. 

A motion for reduction of sentence under I.C.R. 35 is essentially a plea for leniency, addressed to 

the sound discretion of the court. State v. Knighton, 143 Idaho 318, 319, 144 P.3d 23, 24 (2006); 

State v. Allbee, 115 Idaho 845, 846, 771 P.2d 66, 67 (Ct. App. 1989). In presenting a Rule 35 

motion, the defendant must show that the sentence is excessive in light of new or additional 

information subsequently provided to the district court in support of the motion. State v. 

Huffman, 144 Idaho 201, 203, 159 P.3d 838, 840 (2007). In conducting our review of the grant 

or denial of a Rule 35 motion, we consider the entire record and apply the same criteria used for 

determining the reasonableness of the original sentence. State v. Forde, 113 Idaho 21, 22, 740 

P.2d 63, 64 (Ct. App. 1987); Lopez, 106 Idaho at 449-51, 680 P.2d at 871-73. Upon review of 

the record, we conclude no abuse of discretion has been shown.

Therefore, Cisneros’s judgment of conviction and sentence, and the district court’s order 

denying Cisneros’s Rule 35 motion, are affirmed.