Opinion ID: 2741195
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sentence Presently Being Served by Mr. Mares

Text: [¶17] Through his Rule 35 motion, Mr. Mares contends that his life imprisonment sentence is the equivalent of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and that his sentence was therefore entered in violation of Miller. The State contends that while Mr. Mares may have originally been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, the 7 2013 amendments operated to convert his sentence to one of life with the possibility of parole in twenty-five years. The State argues that as a result of this automatic conversion of Mr. Mares’ sentence, he is no longer entitled to the sentencing hearing prescribed by Miller, and the certified questions should therefore be dismissed as moot. While we agree that Mr. Mares’ sentence has been converted by operation of the amended parole statutes, we do not agree that dismissal of the certified questions is proper under these circumstances. We address first the conversion of Mr. Mares’ sentence. [¶18] In 1995, the district court sentenced Mr. Mares to “a term continuously through the Defendant’s natural life for the charge of felony murder.” The first degree homicide statute under which Mr. Mares was convicted and sentenced provided: (a) Whoever purposely and with premeditated malice, or in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, any sexual assault, arson, robbery, burglary, escape, resisting arrest, kidnapping or abuse of a child under the age of sixteen (16) years, kills any human being is guilty of murder in the first degree. (b) A person convicted of murder in the first degree shall be punished by death or life imprisonment according to law, except that no person shall be subject to the penalty of death for any murder committed before the defendant attained the age of sixteen (16) years. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-101 (Michie 1995). [¶19] Under the parole statutes in effect when Mr. Mares was convicted and sentenced, the Board of Parole had authority to “grant a parole to any person imprisoned in any institution under sentence, except a life sentence.” Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-402(a) (Michie 1995). This means that as originally sentenced, Mr. Mares was eligible for parole only upon commutation of his sentence by the governor. Mr. Mares’ original sentence was therefore, by operation of law, the functional equivalent of life without the possibility of parole. See Bear Cloud II, ¶ 33, 294 P.3d at 45 (life sentence providing opportunity for parole only on commutation of sentence by governor had practical effect of mandating life in prison without possibility of parole). [¶20] On February 8, 2013, this Court issued a ruling in which we held that Wyoming’s first degree homicide sentencing and parole scheme violated the Eighth Amendment when applied to a defendant who committed the homicide as a juvenile because of the scheme’s practical effect of mandating life in prison without the possibility of parole. Bear Cloud II, ¶ 34, 294 P.3d at 45. On February 14, 2013, the Governor approved a 8 legislative enactment amending the sentencing and parole statutes, which act provided an effective date of July 1, 2013 and described its purpose as: AN ACT relating to crimes and offenses; modifying provisions relating to life sentences for juvenile offenders generally; eliminating life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders; and providing for an effective date. 2013 Wyo. Sess. Laws, ch. 18 at 75-76. [¶21] The amended statutes relevant to determining the present sentence Mr. Mares is serving are Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-10-301,which defines the terms under which parole may be granted to an offender serving a life sentence, and Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-402(a), which speaks to the Board of Parole’s authority. These two amended statutes provide: Any sentence other than a sentence specifically designated as a sentence of life imprisonment without parole is subject to commutation by the governor. A person sentenced to life imprisonment for an offense committed after the person reached the age of eighteen (18) years is not eligible for parole unless the governor has commuted the person’s sentence to a term of years. A person sentenced to life imprisonment for an offense committed before the person reached the age of eighteen (18) years shall be eligible for parole after commutation of his sentence to a term of years or after having served twenty-five (25) years of incarceration, except that if the person committed any of the acts specified in W.S. 7-13-402(b) after having reached the age of eighteen (18) years the person shall not be eligible for parole. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-10-301(c) (LexisNexis 2013). The board may grant a parole to any person imprisoned in any institution under sentence, except a sentence of life imprisonment without parole or a life sentence, ordered by any district court of this state, provided the person has served the minimum term pronounced by the trial court less good time, if any, granted under rules promulgated pursuant to W.S. 7-13-420. The board may also grant parole to a person serving a sentence for an offense committed before the person reached the age of eighteen (18) years of age as provided in W.S. 6-10-301(c). 9 Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-402(a) (LexisNexis 2013). [¶22] The question we must answer to determine the sentence Mr. Mares is presently serving is whether these amended statutes changed Mr. Mares’ sentence. The State has taken the position, both on appeal and in a formal Attorney General’s opinion, that the amended statutes operate to convert Mr. Mares’ sentence from life without the possibility of parole to a sentence of life with the possibility of parole in twenty-five years. See Wyo. Op. Att’y Gen. 2013-001 (2013 WL 6069447). Mr. Mares agrees that this is the effect of the amended statutes, but he questions the sincerity of the State’s adherence to this interpretation. Although the parties are in agreement as to the effect of the amended statutes, we address this issue to confirm that indeed the amended statutes do apply to the preexisting class of juvenile defendants currently serving life sentences. [¶23] As a starting point in our consideration of the amended statutes and their effect on the sentences of juvenile defendants currently serving life sentences, we acknowledge that statutory amendments generally apply prospectively unless they are made retroactive by their express terms. Greene v. State, 2009 WY 99, ¶¶ 12-13, 214 P.3d 222, 225-26 (Wyo. 2009) (citing Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 8-1-107). The amended parole and life imprisonment statutes do not expressly provide that they are to apply retroactively, and we therefore assume a prospective application only. That leaves the Court to determine how the prospective operation of the amended statutes affects the existing sentences of juvenile defendants serving a life sentence. This is a question of statutory interpretation, which is a task we approach using the following rules of interpretation: In interpreting statutes, our primary consideration is to determine the legislature’s intent. All statutes must be construed in pari materia and, in ascertaining the meaning of a given law, all statutes relating to the same subject or having the same general purpose must be considered and construed in harmony. Statutory construction is a question of law, so our standard of review is de novo. We endeavor to interpret statutes in accordance with the legislature’s intent. We begin by making an inquiry respecting the ordinary and obvious meaning of the words employed according to their arrangement and connection. We construe the statute as a whole, giving effect to every word, clause, and sentence, and we construe all parts of the statute in pari materia. When a statute is sufficiently clear and unambiguous, we give effect to the plain and ordinary meaning of the words and do not resort to the rules of statutory construction. Moreover, we must not give a statute a meaning that will nullify its operation if it is susceptible of another interpretation. 10 Moreover, we will not enlarge, stretch, expand, or extend a statute to matters that do not fall within its express provisions. Rock v. Lankford, 2013 WY 61, ¶ 19, 301 P.3d 1075, 1080 (Wyo. 2013) (quoting Redco Const. v. Profile Props., LLC, 2012 WY 24, ¶ 26, 271 P.3d 408, 415-16 (Wyo. 2012)). [¶24] In a 2013 formal opinion addressing the amended parole and life imprisonment statutes, the Attorney General applied these rules of interpretation and concluded as follows concerning the amended statutes: Nothing in the plain language of Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 7- 13-402(a) and 6-10-301(c) addresses the laws in effect at the time the juvenile offender commit[t]ed the crime or suggests that either statute would apply retroactively. Instead, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-402 generally sets forth the powers and duties of the Board of Parole (Board). Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7- 13-402. Subsection (a) specifically gives the Board authority to grant parole to a qualified class of people. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-402(a). The class of people to whom the Board may grant parole is broadly defined as “any person imprisoned in any institution under sentence.” Id. However, the remainder of the first sentence of subsection (a) is devoted to exceptions and qualifications to that broad rule. Id. The second sentence of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-402(a) then specifically grants the Board the authority to parole a different class of inmates—juvenile offenders—according to the terms of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-10-301(c). Id. .... In keeping with the presumption that statutory amendments apply prospectively, Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 7-13402(a) and 6-10-301(c) must be understood as addressing the Board’s current authority to grant parole and the current eligibility of the qualified class of people they define. Further, there is no mention in either section of any sort of parole eligibility limitation based on the date the crime was committed or the laws in effect at the time. Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 7-13-402(a), 6-10-301(c). Therefore, to limit the Board’s authority to grant parole or eligibility for parole based on the laws in effect at the time of the commission of the crime would read something into the statute not contained in its 11 express terms. As a result, the 2013 amendments to Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 6-10-301(c) and 7-13-402(a) allow the Board to grant parole to qualifying juvenile offenders, regardless of the laws in effect at the time of their offense. Wyo. Op. Att’y Gen. 2013-001 at 2-3 (2013 WL 6069447 at ) (emphasis in original). [¶25] We find no fault in this analysis and agree that the amended statutes govern parole eligibility for juveniles already serving life sentences when the amendments became effective. We comment further only to emphasize that the language of amended Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-10-301(c) is mandatory. It provides that a qualifying juvenile serving a life sentence shall be eligible for parole after having served twenty-five years of incarceration. Thus, not only does the Board of Parole have the authority to consider a qualifying juvenile for parole, it must give a qualifying juvenile the opportunity to be considered for parole after that juvenile has served twenty-five years of incarceration. [¶26] Based on the foregoing, we conclude that, by operation of the amended parole statutes, the current sentence Mr. Mares is serving for his first degree homicide conviction is life with the possibility of parole after twenty-five years of incarceration. Mr. Mares was originally sentenced to life imprisonment, and it was by operation of law that Mr. Mares’ sentence functioned as life without the possibility of parole. It is now by operation of law that Mr. Mares’ life sentence has been converted to one that makes him eligible for parole on that sentence after twenty-five years of incarceration. Because Mr. Mares’ sentence has been changed by the operation of the amended statutes, an order by the district court is not required to implement that revised sentence. The same is true of any other juvenile offender similarly situated. Any juvenile offender sentenced to life imprisonment under the former law is now, by operation of the amended parole statutes, serving a sentence of life imprisonment with eligibility for parole in twenty-five years, and a juvenile offender serving such a sentence is not required to file a Rule 35 motion to implement that revised sentence.