State v. Greenough
State v. Greenough
Opinion of the Court
Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Donald F. Ryan, Crow Wing County Attorney, Rockwell J. Wells, Assistant County Attorney, Brainerd, Minnesota (for respondent)
Cathryn Middlebrook, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Richard Schmitz, Assistant Public Defender, St. Paul, Minnesota (for appellant)
Considered and decided by Smith, Tracy M., Presiding Judge; Cleary, Chief Judge; and Rodenberg, Judge.
CLEARY, Chief Judge *917Appellant Joel Evan Greenough challenges his executed 36-month sentence, arguing that the district court's vacation of his stay of adjudication, imposition of sentence, and execution of his presumptively stayed sentence, based on violations of the terms of his probation, was an unauthorized departure from the sentencing guidelines. We reverse and remand.
FACTS
On October 26, 2012, appellant was charged with one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in violation of
Appellant violated the terms of his probation multiple times. He failed to find suitable housing; failed to comply with the requirements at the approved facilities; failed to comply with random drug testing; used intoxicants; and eventually absconded from the approved facility. At a hearing on August 23, 2013, the district court addressed the violations. The state requested that the stay of adjudication be vacated and that the presumptively stayed 36-month sentence be imposed and executed. The district court treated the hearing as a probation-revocation hearing and made findings in accordance with State v. Austin ,
ISSUE
When a stay of adjudication is vacated, is execution of a presumptively stayed sentence an unauthorized sentencing departure from the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines?
ANALYSIS
Appellant argues that the execution of his presumptively stayed sentence was an unauthorized sentencing departure and that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to correct his *918sentence.
Appellant received a stay of adjudication and was placed on probation. Based on appellant's criminal-history score of zero and the offense-severity level of D, his presumptive sentence under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines was a stayed 36-month sentence. See Minn. Sent. Guidelines IV (2010). After appellant violated the terms of his probation, the district court adjudicated him guilty, imposed the 36-month sentence, and executed that sentence. Appellant argues that the execution of his sentence was an unauthorized upward dispositional departure in violation of his Sixth Amendment rights. We agree.
Sentencing may only occur "upon conviction."
The district court determined that Blakely did not apply to the execution of appellant's sentence because he was "sentenced" when he received a stay of adjudication. A stay of adjudication is a "unique judicial tool" that permits the district court to impose conditions of probation, including jail time, without a formal adjudication of guilt or the imposition of a sentence. State v. Lee ,
*919Lunzer v. State ,
The district court treated the August 23 hearing as a probation revocation, rather than as an initial sentencing hearing, and made findings under State v. Austin ,
While district courts can consider "offender-related factor[s]" as a basis for a dispositional departure, and a defendant's "particular unamenability to probation may be used to justify an upward dispositional departure," a judicial determination-without an appropriate waiver-of any fact that provides the basis for an upward dispositional departure violates the Blakely requirement and the defendant's right to have a jury make that determination. Allen , 706 N.W.2d at 46. In executing appellant's presumptively stayed 36-month sentence, the district court found that appellant admitted to violating his probation, his violations were inexcusable, and the need for confinement outweighed the policies favoring probation, and that appellant was no longer amenable to probation after the violations of the terms of his release. The judicial determination that appellant was unamenable to probation served as the basis for the execution of his sentence, in violation of the Blakely requirement and appellant's Sixth Amendment rights. Consequently, the execution of his sentence was an unauthorized departure.
*920The state argues that requiring compliance with Blakely in this context will discourage the use of stays of adjudication because it forces district courts to place a defendant who has violated the terms of probation and is facing a presumptively stayed sentence back on probation. The proper sanction for the violation of the terms of a stay of adjudication is the adjudication of guilt and the imposition of the presumptive sentence. If that presumptive sentence is stayed, the defendant is entitled to the benefit of that stay unless a departure from the guidelines is justified and supported by the additional findings required by Blakely or the defendant has waived his right to have a jury determine whether there are aggravating factors that would support an aggravated-sentencing departure.
DECISION
Appellant was not sentenced when he received a stay of adjudication. A district court may not vacate a stay of adjudication, impose a presumptively stayed sentence, and execute that sentence without additional findings satisfying Blakely . We reverse appellant's sentence and remand for the imposition of the presumptive guidelines sentence.
Reversed and remanded.
Appellant also argues that the district court imposed an impermissible procedural bar in denying his motion to correct his sentence. Because we hold that appellant's sentence is unauthorized by law, we need not address this claim.
Since 2015, the guidelines have provided that "[w]hen a felony stay of adjudication is vacated and conviction is entered, the Guidelines must be applied. To the extent that the sentence pronounced immediately following a revocation of a stay of adjudication is contrary to the Guidelines presumptive sentence, that sentence is a departure." Minn. Sent. Guidelines 2.D.1.e. (Supp. 2017). The guidelines in effect on the date of appellant's offense did not include this language.
A defendant may waive his right to have a jury determine whether there are aggravating factors that would support an aggravated-sentencing departure. State v. Thompson ,
After a district court adjudicates a defendant guilty, imposes a presumptively stayed sentence, and places that defendant on probation, the district court need not make additional findings to satisfy Blakely in order to execute that presumptively stayed sentence at a later date, in response to a violation of the terms of the defendant's probation. See Bradley ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Minnesota v. Joel Evan GREENOUGH
- Status
- Published