State v. Coltherst

Syllabus

The defendant, who had been convicted of capital felony, murder, felony murder, kidnapping in the first degree, robbery in the first degree, rob- bery in the second degree, larceny in the first degree, conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree, and larceny in the fourth degree, appealed to this court challenging the sentence imposed by the trial court following the court's granting of his motion to correct an illegal sentence. The defendant initially had been sentenced to life imprison- ment without the possibility of release followed by seventy-one years of imprisonment. Subsequently, our legislature enacted No. 15-84 of the 2015 Public Acts, which ensures that all juveniles who are sentenced to more than ten years of imprisonment are eligible for parole. The trial court thereafter granted the defendant's motion to correct an illegal sentence and, following a resentencing hearing, sentenced the defendant to a total effective sentence of eighty years of incarceration, noting that he would be eligible for parole after a meaningful period of time. On appeal to this court, the defendant claimed that the trial court improperly failed, pursuant to statute (§ 54-91g), to account adequately for his youth at the time he committed the underlying crimes and improperly afforded him an opportunity to provide additional remarks to the court in violation of his rights to counsel, due process and allocution. Held: 1. The trial court properly resentenced the defendant: § 54-91g does not create a presumption against the imposition of a sentence of life impris- onment on a juvenile defendant, and the trial court was not required to make a finding that the defendant was incorrigible, irreparably cor- rupt, or irretrievably depraved before it properly could sentence him to life imprisonment or its equivalent, as the defendant was granted the eligibility of parole in his resentencing; moreover, the trial court's sen- tence was supported by the record from the resentencing hear