Court Opinion

ID: 9793251
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:45:00.575218+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:04:09.383557
License: Public Domain

Justice KIRSHBAUM
dissents.
The majority, as did the court of appeals, holds that under the circumstances of this case the trial court erred in not finding that the petitioner abandoned his Crim.P. 35(b) motion as a matter of law. Maj. op. at 1137. The trial court concluded that under the circumstances of this case its delay in ruling on the petitioner’s Crim.P. 35(b) motion was reasonable. Because I find the trial court's ruling to be well within its discretion, and because the record precludes any conclusion, as a matter of fact or of law that the petitioner abandoned his Crim.P. 35(b) motion, I respectfully dissent.
It is undisputed that, well within the applicable time limits of Crim.P. 35(b), the petitioner filed a motion requesting the trial court to reduce his sentence and also requesting that court to delay its ruling on the motion until further documentary evidence in support thereof could be filed. Both requests were directed to the sound *1139discretion of the trial court; the court could have promptly denied both requests without a hearing.
The majority does not hold that by filing a request for a delay in the determination of his Crim.P. 35(b) motion the petitioner abandoned the motion. The majority does, however, suggest that such conduct contravenes the rule articulated in People v. Fu-qua, 764 P.2d 56, 61 (Colo.1988), that a defendant who does not make a reasonable effort to obtain an expeditious ruling on a timely filed Crim.P. 35(b) motion will be deemed to have abandoned that motion. Here, however, the petitioner not only filed a motion for reduction of sentence, but in addition, requested a delay in the determination of such motion in order to obtain evidence relevant to that determination. We expressly noted in Fuqua that a reasonable delay to permit an informed judicial decision was appropriate, stating as follows:
The basic purpose of Crim.P. 35(b) would be significantly frustrated if, in the case of a timely filed motion for reduction, the finality of the sentence were not further suspended for such reasonable time as necessary for the court to make an informed judicial decision on the motion. The suspension of the finality of sentence for such additional time as necessary for proper resolution of the motion assures reliability in the sentencing process without, however, abridging the principle that the executive department rather than the judiciary, has the sole authority to modify a legally imposed sentence after the sentence becomes final.
Fuqua, 764 P.2d at 60.
The petitioner desired to obtain relevant information to assist the trial court in making an informed decision. At the time he requested a delay of the determination of his Crim.P. 35(b) motion, the petitioner did not know whether the desired information would be acquired within or without the 120-day time period provided by the rule. Because the petitioner properly requested a reasonable delay to obtain relevant evidence, the initial inquiry is whether the lengthy time between the filing of his requests and the filing of his notice to set the hearing was unreasonable. The majority states that the delay was unreasonable because the basis for the request for such delay was “insufficient under Fuqua ” as a matter of law. Maj. op. at 1138.
In Fuqua, we held that a trial court retains jurisdiction to rule on a timely filed Crim.P. 35(b) motion for “a reasonable period of time after its filing,” even if such time exceeded the 120-day provision of the rule. Fuqua, 764 P.2d at 61. I do not agree that Fuqua commands the result reached by the majority here.
Crim.P. 35(b) permits courts to reconsider in the interests of justice a previously imposed sentence, taking into account factors which may or may not have been initially considered. People v. Smith, 189 Colo. 50, 52, 536 P.2d 820, 822 (1975) (construing the then applicable version of Crim.P. 35(a), which rule was substantially similar to Crim.P. 35(b)); see also People v. Lyons, 44 Colo.App. 126, 128, 618 P.2d 673, 675 (1980). Under Crim.P. 35(b), a court “has an affirmative obligation to exercise judicial discretion in deciding whether to modify the sentence previously imposed and to base the decision on relevant evidence, not personal whim.” Spann v. People, 193 Colo. 53, 55, 561 P.2d 1268, 1269 (1977).
In ruling upon a defendant’s Crim.P. 35(b) motion, a trial court must consider “all relevant and material factors which may affect the decision on whether to reduce the original sentence.” Mikkleson v. People, 199 Colo. 319, 321, 618 P.2d 1101, 1102 (1980). In People v. Morrow, 197 Colo. 244, 246-47, 591 P.2d 1026, 1028 (1979), we noted that in sentence reconsideration proceedings relevant factors include the offensive nature of the crime involved, the prior criminal history of the defendant, and the consequences of a jail sentence on the defendant and the defendant’s dependents. In People v. Bridges, 662 P.2d 161, 165-66 (Colo.1983), we also noted that a trial court may consider the desirability of giving the defendant an incentive to continue rehabilitative progress *1140while in prison, the defendant’s conduct in prison, and the educational achievements by the defendant while in prison in exercising its discretion to reduce a sentence in a Crim.P. 35(b) proceeding. The ability to measure accurately a defendant’s educational achievements while in prison takes time. Furthermore, as illustrated by the facts here, rehabilitation classes and educational programs often are not immediately available to an incarcerated defendant.
In this case the petitioner, while incarcerated, attempted to enroll in high school equivalency classes, an electronics course, a psychological drug and alcohol education group program, and a marriage and family psychology program. He also participated in a literacy tutor training program. The petitioner was placed on a waiting list to enter some of these classes, particularly the drug and alcohol program. The petitioner’s progress or lack thereof in such programs constituted relevant evidence for the trial court’s determination of the Crim.P. 35(b) motion. So long as rehabilitation remains a legislatively directed goal of sentencing, see § 18-l-102.5(l)(d), 8B C.R.S. (1986), it would seem appropriate to reward rather than punish incarcerated defendants who attempt to participate in rehabilitative programs offered by the Department of Corrections.
Contrary to the majority, I find the reason for the petitioner’s request for a reasonable delay in determining his Crim.P. 35(b) motion to be quite sufficient. Immediately upon completing the drug and alcohol program, the petitioner set the motion for hearing. Had the petitioner completed such program and requested determination of his motion within 100 days of the filing of his request for delay, surely his reason for requesting the delay would not be deemed “insufficient.”
The majority recognizes that in exercising judicial discretion to modify a previously imposed sentence a trial court does not usurp such executive powers as parole and commutation. Maj. op. at 1137. However, the majority then suggests that in view of the lengthy delay here this court cannot be assured that the trial court did not misuse its judicial authority as a substitute for such executive authority, and that a trial court that holds a timely filed Crim.P. 35(b) motion in abeyance “for months or years while the defendant builds a record of conduct within the department of corrections” misuses its judicial power. Id. While failure to act promptly on a motion to delay determination of a Crim.P. 35(b) motion might in some circumstances constitute an abuse of judicial discretion, I fail to see how a lapse in time can ever transform the trial court’s exercise of authority into executive or quasi-executive action.
Finally, I cannot agree that the record in this case supports the conclusion that the petitioner abandoned his Crim.P. 35(b) motion. Abandonment requires the presence of an intent to abandon coupled with an act. Hoff v. Girdler Corp., 104 Colo. 56, 59, 88 P.2d 100, 102 (1939). Whether the actor had the requisite intent is generally a question of fact. Id. at 59, 88 P.2d at 102.1 In this case, the petitioner expressly indicated he had no intention of abandoning his motion by requesting at the outset that the court suspend any determination of the Crim.P. 35(b) motion until relevant evidence was accumulated. The undisputed facts of this case do not permit the conclusion that the petitioner abandoned his motion as a matter of law.
A further factor in resolving the central issue as framed by the majority — whether the petitioner abandoned his Crim.P. 35(b) motion — is the conduct of the trial court. The petitioner properly sought a judicial ruling that his determination of the motion be delayed to obtain relevant evidence. The prosecution did not file any objection to that request, and the trial court elected not to rule thereon. However, the trial court in effect granted the motion by ulti*1141mately conducting the hearing. The trial court apparently considered the delay beneficial as well as reasonable; it expressly granted the petitioner’s request for reduction of sentence. These circumstances do not permit a conclusion that the petitioner abandoned his Crim.P. 35(b) motion as a matter of law.
As previously noted, incarcerated defendants should be encouraged to participate in rehabilitative programs. The majority suggests that the petitioner’s efforts to do so were simply calculated to create a favorable impression with the trial court. However, the trial court did not make any such finding; to the contrary, it evidently found that the defendant’s conduct while incarcerated constituted evidence favorable to the defendant's position.
I conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that its delay in determining the petitioner’s Crim.P. 35(b) motion was reasonable under all of the circumstances of this case. I also conclude that the evidence conclusively demonstrates that the petitioner intended at all times to pursue rather than to abandon his motion. Because I would reverse the decision of the court of appeals and affirm the judgment of the trial court, I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion.

. The term abandonment is most frequently associated with civil litigation. In criminal cases, a defendant’s relinquishment of a right is generally described in terms of waiver. See People v. Arguello, 111 P.2d 87, 93 (Colo.1989); King v. People, 728 P.2d 1264, 1268 (Colo.1986) (quoting Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1023, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938), to the effect that a waiver is "an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege").