Summary 2009 WY 136

Summary of Decision issued November 6, 2009

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court

Case Name: Legarda-Cornelio v. State

Citation: 2009 WY 136

Docket Number: S-09-0083

Appeal from the District Court of Natrona County, Honorable David B. Part, Judge

Representing Appellant (Defendant): Esteban Cornelio LeGarda, Pro se.

Representing Appellee (Plaintiff): Bruce A. Salzburg, Wyoming Attorney General; Terry L. Armitage, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Justin A. Daraie, Prosecution Assistance Program, Student Director and Intern.

Facts: The appellant was convicted and sentenced in state court and then in federal court for unrelated offenses. He subsequently filed a W.R.Cr.P. 35(b) motion with the state district court asking it to order that his state sentences run concurrently with his federal sentences, which motion the district court denied. The appellant appeals that denial.
Issues: Whether the district court abused its discretion in denying the appellant’s W.R.Cr.P. 35(b) motion.

Holdings: Although it appears that the district court was amenable to the appellant’s request that his state sentences run concurrently with his impending federal sentences, the district court never explicitly ordered that, nor could it. If a defendant is subject to prosecution in more than one court, the decision regarding how the sentences will run with respect to one another should be made by the last judge to impose a sentence. The underlying rationale for this theory is that a judge cannot require a sentence to be served consecutively to a sentence that has not yet been imposed. Moreover, a state district court cannot bind a federal court with such sentencing restrictions. Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to order the sentences to run concurrently.

With regard to the appellant’s claim that his good behavior justified a sentence reduction, it is clear from the record that the district court considered not only the appellant’s W.R.Cr.P. 35(b) motion, which included the certificates and documentation of the self-improvement courses, but it also considered additional material, such as the appellant’s Presentence Investigation Report. After considering everything as a whole, the district court denied the appellant’s motion. While it is commendable that the appellant has chosen to turn his life around and take a proactive role in completing self-improvement courses while he has been incarcerated, those facts alone do not require the district court to grant the appellant’s W.R.Cr.P. 35(b) motion. Nor do those facts alone provide grounds to find that the district court abused its discretion in denying the appellant’s motion. After reviewing the entire record and giving the required deference to the district court’s determination, it cannot be said that it abused its discretion.

The state district court did not have authority to determine whether the appellant’s state sentences were to run concurrently with or consecutive to the appellant’s impending federal sentences. The district court was not the last court to impose a sentence on the appellant. Moreover, the district court properly denied the appellant’s W.R.Cr.P. 35(b) motion because it was still without authority to issue an order that it could not have entered in the first instance. Also, the district court was not required to grant the appellant’s W.R.Cr.P. 35(b) motion simply because the appellant demonstrated commendable behavior and achievement while he had been incarcerated.

Affirmed.

C.J. Voigt delivered the opinion for the court.

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