Opinion ID: 2588249
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did this Court deny the Defendant due process by denying his motion to augment the record with a transcript of the hearing on his motion for a reduction of his sentence?

Text: After the appeal was filed in this case, Defendant moved to augment the record with a transcript, prepared at public expense, of the August 28, 2000, hearing on the Defendant's motion to reduce his sentence. This Court denied that motion. Defendant later renewed his motion to augment the record with the free transcript, which motion this Court also denied. Defendant argues on appeal that he has been denied the right to due process of law guaranteed by both the state and federal constitutions by this Court's refusal to order that he be provided with a free transcript of the hearing. In support of his argument, Defendant relies upon Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956); Eskridge v. Washington State Bd. of Prison Terms and Paroles, 357 U.S. 214, 78 S.Ct. 1061, 2 L.Ed.2d 1269 (1958); Lane v. Brown, 372 U.S. 477, 83 S.Ct. 768, 9 L.Ed.2d 892 (1963); and Draper v. Washington, 372 U.S. 487, 83 S.Ct. 774, 9 L.Ed.2d 899 (1963). Both equal protection and due process emphasize the central aim of our entire judicial systemall people charged with crime must, so far as the law is concerned, `stand on an equality before the bar of justice in every American court.' Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 17, 76 S.Ct. 585, 590, 100 L.Ed. 891, 898 (1956) (citation omitted). The State is not required, however, to purchase a stenographer's transcript in every case in which a defendant cannot buy one, Id., nor is the State required to provide a transcript of all proceedings held below. Draper v. Washington, 372 U.S. 487, 83 S.Ct. 774, 9 L.Ed.2d 899 (1963). [T]he fact that an appellant with funds may choose to waste his money by unnecessarily including in the record all of the transcripts does not mean that the State must waste its funds by providing what is unnecessary for adequate appellate review. Id. at 496, 83 S.Ct. at 779, 9 L.Ed.2d at 905. The State is only required to provide an indigent defendant a record on appeal that is sufficient for adequate appellate review of the errors alleged regarding the proceedings below. Draper v. Washington, 372 U.S. 487, 83 S.Ct. 774, 9 L.Ed.2d 899 (1963); Lane v. Brown, 372 U.S. 477, 83 S.Ct. 768, 9 L.Ed.2d 892 (1963); Eskridge v. Washington State Bd. of Prison Terms and Paroles, 357 U.S. 214, 78 S.Ct. 1061, 2 L.Ed.2d 1269 (1958); and Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956). In this case, neither the Defendant nor the State offered any testimony during the hearing held on August 28, 2000. The Defendant did offer two documents into evidence, which were both admitted and made part of the record on appeal. Those documents did not provide any information regarding the Defendant. They were simply cover pages of addenda to the presentence investigation reports of two other defendants who were sentenced by two other judges. The documents simply showed that those defendants, whose names, offenses, and case numbers were excised from the documents, had each been sentenced to a retained jurisdiction. A transcript of the hearing would have shown only the arguments, if any, Defendant's counsel made during the hearing in an attempt to convince the district court to grant the Defendant leniency. A transcript of the hearing is not necessary for the Defendant to argue on appeal why it was an abuse of discretion for the district court not to grant the leniency requested. In fact, a defendant does not even have the right to a hearing on a motion for reduction of sentence, State v. Hoffman, 112 Idaho 114, 730 P.2d 1034 (Ct.App.1986); IDAHO R. CRIM. P. 35, nor is the district court required to enter findings to support its denial of the motion, State v. Ojeda, 119 Idaho 862, 810 P.2d 1148 (Ct.App.1991). When a motion to reduce sentence is supported solely by documentary evidence and no hearing is held, the denial of that motion can be adequately reviewed on appeal based upon the evidence in the record. See State v. Ojeda, 119 Idaho 862, 810 P.2d 1148 (Ct.App.1991); and State v. Hoffman, 112 Idaho 114, 730 P.2d 1034 (Ct.App.1986). Likewise, when a hearing is held but only documentary evidence is offered, the denial of the motion to reduce sentence can be adequately reviewed on appeal without a stenographic transcript of the hearing. Because no new information was offered concerning the Defendant, this Court's review of the denial of the Rule 35 motion would be identical to this Court's review of the sentence originally imposed. If it was an abuse of discretion to impose the original sentence, it was an abuse of discretion to deny the Rule 35 motion. Conversely, if it was not an abuse of discretion to impose the original sentence, it was not an abuse of discretion to deny the Rule 35 motion. The record on appeal includes the documentary evidence presented, along with the information presented to the court in connection with the initial sentencing. Therefore, the Defendant was not denied due process of law by this Court's refusal to order that a transcript of the hearing be made at public expense.