Opinion ID: 2630189
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Issues on Cross-Petition

Text: On cross-petition, Loveall mounts two collateral attacks regarding the validity of his original guilty plea and resulting DJS. Because the issues raised in the People's petition presuppose that the guilty plea and DJS were valid, we consider the issues raised on cross-petition first.
Loveall argues that his plea of guilty to the enticement charge is void for lack of jurisdiction because a court may order a DJS only if the defendant is represented by legal counsel. § 18-1.3-102, C.R.S. (2009). To succeed, Loveall must circumvent the three-year statute of limitations for collateral attacks, § 16-5-402(1), C.R.S. (2009), by treading an alternate path, § 16-5-402(2)(a) (describing the subject matter jurisdiction exception). We deny him passage. We have held that a district court has jurisdiction if the case is one of the type of cases that the court has been empowered to entertain by the sovereign from which the court derives its authority. Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis, Inc. v. Adams, 718 P.2d 508, 513 (Colo.1986). The Colorado Constitution provides that district courts, as the trial courts of general jurisdiction, possess original, state-wide jurisdiction in all criminal cases. Colo. Const. art. VI, § 9(1). Of course, the courts' otherwise unrestricted and sweeping jurisdictional powers remain subject to legislative restraints and enactments. In re A.W., 637 P.2d 366, 373 (Colo. 1981). Accordingly, we have held that a district court exceeds its jurisdiction when it acts without general jurisdiction but also when it acts with general jurisdiction but contrary to statute. People v. Carbajal, 198 P.3d 102, 105 (Colo.2008); People v. Simonds, 113 P.3d 762, 763 (Colo.2005) (holding district court did not exceed its jurisdiction by revoking DJS where application seeking revocation was filed within time permitted by statute). In this respect, our longstanding practice has been to avoid interpreting statutory language as a limit on a court's power unless the limitation is explicit. In re Estate of Ongaro, 998 P.2d 1097, 1103 (Colo. 2000) (quoting In re A.W., 637 P.2d at 374). Where the statute contains explicit limiting language, we consider whether or to what extent the legislature could divest the district courts of jurisdiction. In re Estate of Ongaro, 998 P.2d at 1103. We apply this analytic framework to section 18-1.3-102. Subsection (1) reads, In any case in which the defendant has entered a plea of guilty, the court accepting the plea has the power, with the written consent of the defendant and his or her attorney of record and the district attorney, to continue the case for a period not to exceed four years of the date of entry of a plea to a felony.... (Emphasis added). Subsection (2) uses similar language, Prior to entry of a plea of guilty to be followed by a[DJS], the district attorney... is authorized to enter into a written stipulation, to be signed by the defendant, the defendant's attorney of record, and the district attorney, under which the defendant is obligated to adhere to such stipulation. (Emphasis added). We conclude that neither subsection expressly limits the district court's power to entertain a category of cases. See Adams, 718 P.2d at 513; In re Estate of Ongaro, 998 P.2d at 1103. Rather, they merely underscore the fact that a DJS, in the first instance, requires the written consent of the parties and their counsel of record. § 18-1.3-102(2). While it is true that the district court cannot enter a DJS without a duly-signed stipulation, its inability to act is not due to a lack of jurisdiction but to the fact that, without a signed stipulation, there is literally nothing upon which the court may act. [7] Because the written authorization requirement set forth in section 18-1.3-102 is not jurisdictional in nature, we hold that Loveall's collateral attack is untimely. See § 16-5-402.
Loveall also argues that the DJS is void for lack of jurisdiction because a DJS is not available for sex offenses under the Lifetime Supervision of Sex Offenders Act. § 18-1.3-1001, et seq., C.R.S. (2009). We hold that this attack also runs afoul of section 16-5-402. The Act requires district courts to sentence a sex offender to the custody of the [department of corrections] for an indeterminate term of at least the minimum of the presumptive range ... and a maximum of the sex offender's natural life. § 18-1.3-1004(1)(a); see also § 18-1.3-1003(5)(a)(VII) (applying the Act to the crime of enticement). We conclude that the statutory language expressly limits the district court's jurisdiction only in those cases where the district court actually enters a sentence. § 18-1.3-1004(1)(a); In re Estate of Ongaro, 998 P.2d at 1103. However, [a] deferred judgment is technically not a sentence; it is a continuance with probation-like supervision conditions. Carbajal, 198 P.3d at 106 (citing § 18-1.3-102). In fact, the enticement statute allows for the possibility of a DJS. When a person is convicted, pleads nolo contendere, or receives a deferred sentence for a violation of the provisions of this section and the court knows the person is a current or former employee of a school district ... the court shall report such fact .... § 18-3-305(3) (emphasis added). Moreover, we have upheld the use of a DJS in other sex offense cases subject to the Act. See, e.g., Carbajal, 198 P.3d at 104 (upholding DJS for sexual assault); Simonds, 113 P.3d at 763 (Colo. 2005) (upholding DJS for sexual assault on a child). Given the clear instruction provided both by the statutory scheme and the prior decisions of this court, we hold that the district court did not exceed its jurisdiction by entering a DJS in this case. Accordingly, Loveall's collateral attack is barred under the three-year statute of limitations set forth in section 16-5-402.