Court Opinion

ID: 9796942
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 04:08:54.819652+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:51:49.591327
License: Public Domain

Justice MARTINEZ,
dissenting:
In the ease at hand, the trial court imposed sex offender treatment on the defendant after concluding as a matter of law that section 16-11.7-105, C.R.S. (2007), mandates the imposition of treatment as a condition of probation when a sex offender commits a subse*757quent offense of any kind. The court of appeals affirmed this ruling, holding that the statute requires trial courts to order treatment as part of every probationary sentence for sex offenders and that the statute does not grant the trial court discretion to determine whether treatment is appropriate. People v. Hernandez, 160 P.3d 263, 265 (Colo.App.2007). The role of this court is therefore to determine whether the statute does indeed mandate the imposition of sex offender treatment. In my view, the trial court does retain discretion to determine whether to impose treatment. I agree that the trial court’s discretion is narrow because any determination must be made based on the assessments and recommendations of the sex offender management board’s standardized evaluation. Furthermore, the trial court’s discretion must be exercised in light of the General Assembly’s intent that these statutes be implemented to curtail reeidivistic behavior and enhance victim safety, with the recognition that sex offenders are extremely habituated. See §§ 16-11.7-101, - 103(4)(a), C.R.S. (2007). Nonetheless, we should remand this ease for the trial court to decide whether treatment is appropriate. In contrast, the majority appears to hold that the trial court has discretion in some cases, but is mandated to impose treatment in other eases. The majority further finds that under the facts of this case, the trial court was mandated to impose treatment. In addition to disagreeing with the majority’s analysis, I would note that it is both inappropriate and unnecessary for this court to address whether the trial court should have imposed treatment under the facts of this case. Rather, the appropriate principle of review requires this court to remand the matter to allow the court to exercise its discretion. Furthermore, instead of addressing what constitutes abuse of discretion, I would merely explain that based on my interpretation of the statute, the trial court’s discretion regarding the imposition of treatment is bound by narrow parameters. Consequently, I respectfully dissent.
On review of the record, it is clear that the trial court specifically and purposely based its order to impose sex offender treatment on its legal conclusion that the statute mandated treatment. At sentencing, following lengthy arguments by both defense counsel and the prosecution on whether treatment was mandated by the statute, the court stated, “I’m making a specific finding that it’s not as a matter of my discretion in this case, instead, I feel [the imposition of sex offender treatment is] mandatory.” The court emphasized its intent to leave the resolution of whether treatment was statutorily mandated to the appellate process, stating:
[T]hat will be my sentence and we’ll see what happens. I think it will be nice to have some sort of guidance. This is one of those classic cases where [the sex offense] happened so long ago, successfully completed probation back there in 1983, as far as I know there hasn’t been any re-offense in that time, but I feel that the Legislature has told me I must do so. Let’s find out.
(Emphasis added). Thus, the trial court concluded as a matter of law that the statute mandated the imposition of treatment.
On review, the court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s imposition of treatment and explicitly stated its understanding of the ruling that it affirmed:
The [trial] court ruled that the statute mandated treatment. It noted that defendant’s sex offense twenty-two years earlier, the attitude defendant conveyed to the probation officer about that offense, and defendant’s continued substance abuse would support the propriety of ordering treatment. However, it stated that, if requiring treatment were a matter within its discretion, it had not determined whether it would order treatment as an exercise of its discretion.
Hernandez, 160 P.3d at 264 (emphasis added). The court of appeals then stated that “§ 16-11.7-105(1) requires trial courts to order treatment as part of every probationary sentence imposed on sex offenders” and that the statute “does not grant the trial court discretion to determine whether to order treatment or whether treatment is appropriate.” Id. at 265. Thus, the judgment of the court of appeals was that the trial court correctly held that sex offender treatment was a mandatory condition of probation in this case.
*758Based on the rulings of the lower courts in this matter, which were premised on the legal conclusion that treatment was statutorily mandated, the role of this court is merely to determine whether treatment is indeed mandated by statute. Nevertheless, the majority appears to interpret the statute as allowing trial court discretion, but applies it in this case as mandating treatment.1 Specifically, the majority states that when the sex offender evaluation does not support the need for treatment, the trial court retains discretion to not order treatment; on the other hand, when the sex offender evaluation supports the need for treatment, sex offender treatment is mandatory. Maj. op. at 748. The majority further interprets (and simultaneously applies) the statute, stating that under the facts of this case, the trial court had no authority to not impose treatment. Id. In effect, the majority appears to have confused a review for abuse of discretion with a determination of whether the statute allows discretion. Thus, the majority essentially concludes that it would have been an abuse of discretion to not order treatment for this defendant and therefore that the trial court was mandated to impose treatment in this particular case. In this manner, the majority ignores elementary principles of judicial review and exercises the sentencing authority of the trial court.
Having determined that the trial court does retain discretion regarding the imposition of treatment, the appropriate outcome is to remand the matter for resentencing to permit the trial court to make a discretionary decision. See Adair v. People, 651 P.2d 389, 391-92 (Colo.1982) (holding that where the trial court imposed a sentence based on its mistaken belief that a condition was statutorily mandated, when in fact the decision was discretionary, the cause must be remanded for reconsideration of the sentencing issue).
Thus, I would remand the matter to allow the trial court to exercise its discretion, while also explaining that the trial court’s discretion is tightly guided by the text of section 16-11.7-105(1) and by a review of the comprehensive statutory scheme to create a “Standardized Treatment Program for Sex Offenders.” §§ 16-11.7-101 to -108, C.R.S. (2007). Based on the sex offender evaluation developed and implemented by these statutes, the sentencing court must determine whether and to what extent treatment is appropriate. § 16-11.7-105(1). Because the evaluation is intended to assist the trial court in determining the offender’s likelihood to re-offend, the court must assess as a matter of its discretion whether the various histories and risk assessments support the need for treatment in light of the legislative finding that sex offenders are “extremely habituated.” § 16-11.7-103(4)(a), (c.5). Ultimately, the trial court’s discretion must be exercised in furtherance of the General Assembly’s intent to curtail recidivism and protect potential future victims. § 16-11.7-101. Although treatment must be tailored to the needs of a particular offender, treatment should not be avoided if a failure to engage in treatment would reduce the safety of victims and potential victims. § 16-11.7-101. If the trial court does decide to order treatment, the specific recommendations of the evaluation provide sufficient guidance on the extent of treatment that is appropriate. In sum, the statutory scheme to create a standardized treatment program for sex offenders guides the trial court’s exercise of discretion and favors the imposition of sex offender treatment as a condition of probation.
Because I disagree with the majority’s analysis and its decision to address whether the trial court should have exercised its discretion to order treatment based on the facts of this case, I respectfully dissent. I would remand the matter for resentencing consistent with the trial court’s statutorily narrow discretion to determine whether treatment is appropriate for a particular offender.
I am authorized to state that Justice BENDER joins in the dissent.

. Further, the question of whether treatment should be imposed based on the specific facts of this case was not raised or argued by the parties in the briefs; the parties understood that the issue was merely whether the court had discretion to determine if treatment was necessary, not whether treatment should have been imposed.