Title: Wheeles v. State
Citation: 566 P.2d 1013
Docket Number: 3046
State: Alaska
Issuer: Alaska Supreme Court
Date: July 22, 1977

566 P.2d 1013 (1977) James WHEELES, Appellant, v. STATE of Alaska, Appellee. No. 3046. Supreme Court of Alaska. July 22, 1977. Allen L. Jewell, Hahn, Jewell &amp; Stanfill, Anchorage, for appellant. Glen C. Anderson, Asst. Dist. Atty., Joseph D. Balfe, Dist. Atty., Anchorage, and Avrum M. Gross, Atty. Gen., Juneau, for appellee. Before BOOCHEVER, Chief Justice, and RABINOWITZ and CONNOR, Justices. RABINOWITZ, Justice. In March of 1974 an indictment was returned against James Wheeles in which he was charged with two counts of shooting with intent to kill, wound or maim and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon.[1]*1014 On April 8, 1975, Wheeles was sentenced to serve concurrent 8-year terms of imprisonment upon his pleas of guilty to one count of shooting with intent to kill, wound or maim and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. Thereafter, on April 11, 1975, a formal written judgment and commitment was entered by the superior court. On June 11, 1975, Wheeles filed a motion to reduce or modify sentence. Criminal Rule 35(a) provides: After considering arguments of counsel, the superior court issued a memorandum and order on October 14, 1975, which stated, in part: The superior court's order resulted from a previous colloquy between the court and counsel regarding the Rule 35(a) motion. Where relevant the record reflects the following exchange: No appeal was taken on Wheeles' behalf from the superior court's order of October 14, 1975, denying the Criminal Rule 35(a) motion to reduce or modify sentence. No further proceedings were had in the matter until January 1976, at which time newly appointed counsel[3] for Wheeles filed a notice of appeal from the judgment and commitment which had been entered on April 11, 1975. On March 16, 1976, on motion of the state to dismiss the appeal, this court entered an order which read, in part: Instead of pursuing the procedure indicated in our order, counsel for Wheeles filed a motion for reconsideration of the superior court's order of October 14, 1975, denying Wheeles' motion for reduction or modification of his sentence. The motion for reconsideration was subsequently denied by the superior court and this appeal followed. In our recent opinion in Thomas v. State, Opinion No. 1445, 566 P.2d 630 (Alaska 1977), we had occasion to comment upon the interplay between Criminal Rule 35(a) and Criminal Rule 53.[4] There the state argued that Criminal Rule 53 was not available to waive or relax the 60-day time limitation of Criminal Rule 35(a). In rejecting this contention, we said: We think it appropriate to note that at the time the superior court denied the motion to modify or reduce Wheeles' sentence, this court had not yet spoken concerning the relationship between Criminal Rule 35(a) and Criminal Rule 53. Approximately two months after the superior court entered its denial of the motion to modify or reduce, our opinion in Davenport v. State, 543 P.2d 1204 (Alaska 1975), was published. There we held: Davenport was subsequently distinguished in Jones v. State, 548 P.2d 958, 959 (Alaska 1976). We concluded in Jones and reiterated in Thomas that Criminal Rule 53 is applicable to Rule 35(a) motions. We are thus brought to the question of what is a just solution to this procedural morass which has evolved at both the trial and appellate levels. We think Jones and Thomas require remand of this matter to the superior court for determination of the merits of appellant's Criminal Rule 35(a) motion for reduction or modification of sentence. Here the record shows that Wheeles' counsel entertained a bona fide belief that the Rule 35(a) motion had been timely filed. Additionally, we consider it significant that Wheeles himself requested that the Rule 35(a) motion be filed and subsequently tried to learn whether it had been filed within the 60-day period. Looking to the asserted grounds for the motion to reduce or modify, we note that appellant alleged: Given the foregoing factors, we think it would work an injustice if the 60-day time limitations of Criminal Rule 35(a) were not relaxed pursuant to the provisions of Criminal Rule 53. The matter is remanded to the superior court with directions to determine the merits of appellant's Criminal Rule 35(a) motion to reduce or modify. [1] AS 11.15.150 provides: A person who maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts, or shoots at another person with intent to kill, wound or maim him is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than 20 years nor less than one year. AS 11.15.220 provides: A person armed with a dangerous weapon, who assaults another with the weapon, is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than 10 years nor less than six months, or by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year nor less than one month, or by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less that $100. [2] Concerning this last observation, the record shows that the following dialogue ensued: MR. BRYSON: Then you are saying the defendant's rights would depend upon a court's ability to calendar the motion speedily? THE COURT: That's exactly what I'm saying, I guess. MR. BRYSON: That seems somehow to offend my natural inclinations of due process and... . THE COURT: It goes against my instincts, too, Mr. Bryson, but jurisdiction is... . MR. MERRINER: Jurisdiction is jurisdiction. [3] Since appellant's right to perfect an untimely appeal hinged, in part, on whether he was given effective assistance of counsel by the Public Defender Agency, the superior court appointed private counsel. [4] Criminal Rule 53 reads: These rules are designed to facilitate business and advance justice. They may be relaxed or dispensed with by the court in any case where it shall be manifest to the court that a strict adherence to them will work injustice. [5] Thomas v. State, Opinion No. 1445, 566 P.2d 630 at 639 (Alaska 1977). In Jones v. State, 548 P.2d 958, 959 (Alaska 1976), we said: AS 12.55.080 only provides a 60-day limit for suspending the imposition, execution or balance of a sentence, or for placing the defendant on probation. See Rule 35(a). This does not mean, however, that in a clear case of injustice we would be unable to act. Rule 35(a) would be subject to Alaska R.Crim.P. 53, which allows relaxation of the rules if injustice will result. [6] 543 P.2d at 1211.