Opinion ID: 1420091
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts and prior disposition

Text: The defendant, Kimberly Smith, was the stepmother of Shamika Smith. On February 4, 1991, Shamika Smith, then six years old, was admitted to Memorial Hospital with a severe closed-head injury. She remained in a coma until March 12, 1991 when she died as a result of her injury. Kimberly Smith was the only person present when her stepdaughter was injured. On March 25, 1991, Smith was charged by information with child abuse resulting in death, in violation of section 18-6-401(7)(a)(I), 8B C.R.S. (1986). On November 7, 1991 a jury returned a guilty verdict, and the trial court sentenced Smith to sixteen years in the custody of the Department of Corrections. In November 1994, Smith filed a Motion for Sentence Reconsideration pursuant to Crim. P. 35(b). The trial court denied her motion, explaining that it did not have legal authority to reduce her sentence below the mandatory minimum of sixteen years. The court of appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment. See People v. Smith, 932 P.2d 830 (Colo.App.1996), cert. denied, No. 96SC558 (Colo. Mar. 17, 1997). While Smith's appeal from denial of her Crim. P. 35(b) motion was pending, the Department of Corrections assigned her to the regimented inmate training program (RITP) or boot camp. See §§ 17-27.7-101 to -104, 6 C.R.S. (1998). She successfully completed the program and filed a timely motion for reduction of her sentence pursuant to section 17-27.7-104. At the resentencing hearing, Smith presented testimony from, among others, Lieut. Patrick Drawbridge, her senior case manager for the RITP. Lieut. Drawbridge praised Smith's conduct and recommended her for sentence reduction or placement in a community corrections program. In other testimony, Smith's RITP conduct was described as being an example to her peers. Despite this testimony, the trial court denied her motion, again finding that it did not have authority to reduce her sentence below the statutory minimum. On appeal, the court of appeals reversed the trial court's decision. See Smith, 946 P.2d at 573. The court of appeals relied on a distinction between suspending a sentence and modifying a sentence. The court found that although section 18-1-105(9)(d)(II) prohibited the trial court from suspending any part of Smith's sentence, it did not bar the trial court from modifying her sentence pursuant to section 17-27.7-104. See id. at 572-73. We granted certiorari, and we now reverse the court of appeals' judgment.