Court Opinion

ID: 9630327
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:08:30.601921+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:07:36.870689
License: Public Domain

KELLY, Chief Judge,
specially concurring.
I would dismiss the appeal on jurisdictional grounds, and therefore, I specially concur.
It is my view that the People may not bring an appeal of a sentence imposed by the trial court unless the sentence is illegal. See People v. Hinchman, 196 Colo. 526, 589 P.2d 917 (1978); People v. Henderson, 196 Colo. 441, 586 P.2d 229 (1978). Although § 16-12-102(1), C.R.S. (1986 Repl. Vol. 8A) and C.A.R. 4(b)(2) authorize an appeal by the People “upon any question of *819law,” no prejudice to the People arises from the imposition of a sentence which complies with the statutorily-prescribed limits.
Moreover, until the enactment of § 18-1-409, C.R.S. (1986 Repl.Vol. 8B) effective in 1972, no appeal of a sentence was available to a defendant in a criminal case other than on Eighth Amendment constitutional grounds. Absent this statute, appellate review of a sentence would be unavailable even to a defendant, with the exception noted.
Under these circumstances, I would rule that the People may not appeal a sentence in a criminal case based on a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, even if that challenge asserts the insufficiency of the evidence as a matter of law. A sentence that complies with the statutory mandate rests within the discretion of the trial court and may not be reviewed at the behest of the People. Since the People’s only interest in a sentence is limited to assuring that the sentence is legal, and since this sentence is not illegal, I would dismiss the appeal.