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

Heading: Viability of DJS Under Section 18-1.3-1004

Text: 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.