Opinion ID: 3202068
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Direct and Discretionary Appeals of Sentences

Text: [¶8] On direct appeal, we will vacate a sentence only when it “is illegal and . . . the illegality appears on the face of the record.” Winslow, 2007 ME 124, ¶ 27, 930 A.2d 1080. We do not review the propriety of a sentence on direct appeal. State v. Grindle, 2008 ME 38, ¶ 13, 942 A.2d 673. Rather, to obtain review of the propriety of a sentence, it is necessary to apply for sentence review, with an appeal following only if the Sentence Review Panel authorizes the appeal in its discretion. See 15 M.R.S. § 2151; M.R. App. P. 20. [¶9] Thus, although a direct appeal may be proper if a constitutional or statutory violation is apparent from the record, see, e.g., Grindle, 2008 ME 38, ¶ 14, 942 A.2d 673; State v. Bennett, 2015 ME 46, ¶ 13, 114 A.3d 994; State v. Ward, 2011 ME 74, ¶¶ 14, 28, 21 A.3d 1033, a direct appeal that does not argue any illegality, but instead challenges only the court’s findings or discretionary determinations, will be dismissed, see, e.g., State v. Schmidt, 2010 ME 8, ¶¶ 4, 7-8,