Opinion ID: 167110
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mr. Kristl's Controlled Substance Conviction

Text: 15 The PSR found that the Colorado state court imposed a two-year sentence in the custody of the Colorado Department of Corrections for Mr. Kristl's controlled substance conviction. The district court adopted that finding and added three points to Mr. Kristl's criminal history under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1(a), which instructs a court to [a]dd 3 points for each prior sentence of imprisonment exceeding one year and one month. Mr. Kristl points out, however, that after he served a year of his Colorado sentence, the state court reconsidered the sentence under Colo. R.Crim. P. 35(b) (hereinafter Rule 35(b)) and reduced his sentence to three years' probation, which typically warrants one criminal history point under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1(c). 2 Mr. Kristl argues that the federal district court erred in finding that the sentence imposed for Guidelines purposes was the initial two-year sentence instead of his reduced sentence of probation and that therefore he should have received only one criminal history point for this conviction. Thus, the issue we must decide is whether a reconsidered sentence that was based on Rule 35(b) has any legal effect for purposes of determining a defendant's criminal history calculus under the Guidelines. Because this is a legal question regarding the interpretation of the Guidelines, our review is de novo and we conclude that the district court erred. 16 Criminal history points assigned pursuant to § 4A1.1 are based on the sentence pronounced, not the length of time actually served. United States v. Holbert, 285 F.3d 1257, 1263 (10th Cir. 2002) (citing U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2, cmt. n. 2). In the instant case, the Colorado state court pronounced two sentences for Mr. Kristl's controlled substance conviction, namely the original sentence and the reconsidered sentence. However, under Colorado law, Mr. Kristl's original sentence was not a final sentence and did not survive reconsideration. Mr. Kristl's original sentence was reconsidered under Colorado Rule 35(b) which states: 17 Reduction of Sentence. The court may reduce the sentence provided that a motion for reduction of sentence is filed (1) within 120 days after the sentence is imposed, or (2) within 120 days after receipt by the court of a remittitur issued upon affirmance of the judgment or sentence or dismissal of the appeal, or (3) within 120 days after entry of any order or judgment of the appellate court denying review or having the effect of upholding a judgment of conviction or sentence. The court may, after considering the motion and supporting documents, if any, deny the motion without a hearing. The court may reduce a sentence on its own initiative within any of the above periods of time. 18 Nothing in the plain language of the statute incorporating this rule indicates that the Colorado legislature in enacting the statute intended for an original sentence to survive reconsideration. The plain words of the statute show that in Colorado a criminal sentence is not final until the court has had an opportunity to review the sentence or defendant fails to move for reduction of sentence within 120 days after the original sentence was imposed. See Ghrist v. The People of the State of Colorado, 897 P.2d 809, 814 (Colo. 1995) (The timely filing of a 35(b) motion suspends finality of sentence while the court reconsiders the original sentence); cf. People v. Smith, 189 Colo. 50, 51, 536 P.2d 820, 822 (1975) (explaining that Crim. P. 35(a), the precursor to Crim. P.35(b), suspends the finality of the conviction for a period of 120 days from the time sentence is imposed). Therefore, once a Colorado state court has reviewed its sentence, the only outstanding sentence — the sentence imposed by the court — is the reconsidered sentence. 3 19 The language of the Colorado court order resentencing Mr. Kristl establishes that the Colorado court intended for the reconsidered sentence to replace the originally imposed sentence. In resentencing Mr. Kristl, the Colorado court stated that Mr. Kristl was resentenced and makes no reference to any time served by Mr. Kristl in prison. Indeed, the Order does not even assert the correctness of the earlier sentence. Therefore, the court in resentencing Mr. Kristl effectively set aside the originally imposed sentence. 4 20 Because the reconsidered sentence is the final sentence imposed under Colorado law, we would ordinarily take that sentence to be the sentence pronounced for Guidelines purposes. However, we are not bound by a state's nomenclature in sentencing. Although the Colorado Supreme Court has stated that Rule 35(b) provides trial courts the opportunity to review a sentence to ensure it is properly imposed before it is final, Mamula v. People, 847 P.2d 1135 (Colo. 1993), it has also held that Rule 35(b) permits reduction of sentence based on a defendant's post incarceration conduct. See Ghrist v. People, 897 P.2d 809, 813 (Colo.1995). This court has noted that receiving credit for good behavior in prison or for time spent awaiting trial, for example, does not affect the criminal history calculation under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1. United States v. Cruz-Alcala, 338 F.3d 1194, 1199-1200 (10th Cir.2003). Therefore, we hold that where the record shows that the reconsidered sentence is a reduction for good behavior, rather than a reduction because of reconsideration of the law and of the facts as they stood (although perhaps not on the record) at the time of the original sentence, the original sentence must be used for criminal history purposes. 21 The record in this case indicates that the prosecutor originally stipulated to a sentence of probation for Mr. Kristl. Mr. Kristl, however, failed to appear at his sentencing hearing. The court subsequently imposed a two-year term of imprisonment. After Mr. Kristl filed a Colorado Rule 35(b) motion, the court reconsidered his sentence and imposed probation. Even though this may suggest that the Colorado state court later decided that the sentence of probation originally stipulated to by the prosecutor was appropriate for the conviction, the record is insufficient for us to determine the basis for the state court's reconsideration. 22 Considering that Mr. Kristl's original sentence was not a final sentence under Colorado law, and considering that the district court did not find that Mr. Kristl's sentence was reconsidered by the Colorado state court merely for good behavior, we conclude that the district court erred in adding three criminal history points under § 4A1.1(a) for Mr. Kristl's controlled substance conviction. Since the Government is seeking additional criminal history points based on this sentence, it has the burden of demonstrating that Mr. Kristl's sentence was reconsidered merely for good behavior. See United States v. Bass, 411 F.3d 1198, 1209 (10th Cir.2005) (The Government maintains the burden of proving facts that may increase the sentence). See also United States v. Gatewood, 370 F.3d 1055, 1059 (10th Cir.2004) (The burden of proof is generally allocated to the Government for sentence increases). 23