Peo v. Miranda ( 2022 )


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  • 19CA0108 Peo v Miranda 01-27-2022
    COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS
    Court of Appeals No. 19CA0108
    City and County of Denver District Court No. 17CR2725
    Honorable, John W. Madden IV, Judge
    The People of the State of Colorado,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.
    Daniel Estrada Miranda,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    JUDGMENT AFFIRMED AND CASE
    REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS
    Division V
    Opinion by JUDGE WELLING
    Dunn and Yun, JJ., concur
    NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e)
    Announced January 27, 2022
    Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Jennifer L. Carty, Assistant Attorney
    General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee
    Megan A. Ring, Colorado State Public Defender, Nathaniel E. Deakins, Deputy
    State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant
    1
    ¶ 1
    Defendant, Daniel Estrada Miranda, appeals his judgment of
    conviction for sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust,
    sexual assault on a child as part of a pattern of abuse, and sexual
    assault on a child. We affirm the judgment but remand for
    correction of the mittimus.
    I. Background
    ¶ 2
    The victim lived with her father, her primary parent, but
    spent weekends with her maternal grandmother and Miranda, her
    grandmother’s boyfriend. In 2017, the victim told her father that
    Miranda had touched her inappropriately when she was between
    the ages of eight and eleven. The victim testified about three
    separate incidents where Miranda had touched her inappropriately
    — the couch incident, the bedroom incident, and the living room
    incident.
    ¶ 3
    Following a jury trial, Miranda was found guilty on seven
    separate counts:
    Count 1: Sexual assault on a child - pattern of abuse
    (couch incident) (class 3 felony);
    Count 2: Sexual assault on a child - position of trust (couch
    incident) (class 3 felony);
    2
    Count 3: Sexual assault on a child - position of trust
    (bedroom incident) (class 3 felony);
    Count 4: Sexual assault on a child - position of trust (living
    room incident) (class 3 felony);
    Count 5: Sexual assault on a child (bedroom incident) (class
    4 felony);
    Count 6: Sexual assault on a child (living room incident)
    (class 4 felony); and
    Count 7: Sexual assault on a child (couch incident) (class 4
    felony).
    II. Discussion
    ¶ 4
    On appeal, Miranda contends that the trial court erred when it
    excluded, under the rape shield statute, relevant defense
    evidence offered to show the victim’s bias and motive to
    fabricate sexual abuse allegations;
    quashed Miranda’s subpoena duces tecum to inspect the
    victim’s school records;
    refused all defense attempts to obtain and use evidence to
    impeach the victim regarding a “sexting” incident; and
    3
    entered judgments for the class 3 felony versions of sexual
    assault on a child by one in a position of trust when the
    jury verdicts reflected convictions only for the class 4 felony
    versions of that offense.
    ¶ 5
    Miranda also contends that this court should remand for
    correction of the mittimus to vacate count 7 because it’s the same
    crime as count 1, and to correct the mittimus to specify the length
    of parole term for each sentence.
    ¶ 6
    We affirm the judgment but remand for correction of the
    mittimus to (1) vacate count 7, because it is the same crime as
    count 1, (2) to reflect a controlling mandatory parole period of
    twenty years to life, and (3) to remove the use of the word “merge”
    and clarify which sentences run concurrently to one another.
    A. Rape Shield — Witness Testimony
    ¶ 7
    Miranda first contends that the trial court erred when it
    excluded witness testimony under the rape shield statute, section
    18-3-407, C.R.S. 2021.
    1. Additional Facts
    ¶ 8
    Miranda sought to introduce the victim’s mother’s testimony
    regarding a discussion she had with the victim when the victim was
    4
    ten years old (before the outcry). The discussion was about
    inappropriate touching, and during the conversation the mother
    revealed to the victim that she too was molested when she was eight
    or nine years old. The trial court denied Miranda’s request to admit
    evidence of the mother’s sexual abuse, finding as follows: the victim
    was thirteen when she outcried, and therefore the evidence wasn’t
    probative for demonstrating an alternate source of the victim’s
    sexual knowledge; the evidence wasn’t probative of motive; and the
    victim’s description of her abuse wasn’t particularly similar to the
    mother’s description of her abuse. For these reasons, the trial
    court found that the evidence wasn’t sufficiently relevant to pierce
    the rape shield.
    ¶ 9
    The trial court allowed the mother to testify at trial that she
    had discussed with the victim “stranger danger” and inappropriate
    touching, but the mother was precluded from testifying about her
    own victimization and subsequent sharing of that story with the
    victim.
    2. Standard of Review
    ¶ 10
    We review a trial court’s determination of the admissibility of
    evidence under the rape shield statute for an abuse of discretion.
    5
    People v. Marx, 2019 COA 138, ¶ 40. “A trial court abuses its
    discretion when its ruling is (1) manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable,
    or unfair or (2) based on an erroneous understanding or application
    of the law.” People v. Casias, 2012 COA 117, ¶ 17.
    3. Analysis
    ¶ 11
    Miranda contends that the trial court erred by excluding the
    mother’s testimony regarding her own victimization because the
    victim’s story of her own abuse and the mother’s story of her abuse
    have similarities, indicating that the victim used the mother’s story
    as a basis for fabricating the abuse by Miranda. We disagree.
    ¶ 12
    Evidence of the mother’s prior sexual abuse falls squarely
    within the purview of the rape shield statute because it concerns a
    witness’s prior sexual conduct. One purpose of the rape shield
    statute is to protect sexual assault victims and witnesses from
    humiliating public “fishing expeditions” into their sexual histories.
    People v. MacLeod, 176 P.3d 75, 79 (Colo. 2008) (citation omitted).
    The presumption of irrelevance of sexual conduct evidence applies
    regardless of the purpose for which the proponent seeks its
    admission. See id. at 76 (the rape shield applies to evidence of a
    victim’s or witness’s prior or subsequent sexual conduct no matter
    6
    the purpose for which the proponent intends to introduce the
    evidence at trial). The trial court’s finding that Miranda didn’t
    overcome the presumption of irrelevance and inadmissibility is
    supported by the record because there is no nonspeculative
    connection to the victim’s allegation and the mother’s prior sexual
    conduct. People v. Salazar, 2012 CO 20, ¶ 17 (a trial court may
    exclude evidence which only has minimal probative value and
    which requires the jury to engage in undue speculation as to the
    probative value). We can find no compelling reason — and Miranda
    provides none — showing why or how the mother’s story motivated
    the victim to fabricate a sexual assault. As the trial court observed,
    because there was a gap of at least three years since the mother
    shared her story with the victim, any connection between the two
    accounts was remote at best, and therefore the mother’s testimony
    regarding her prior sexual abuse was properly excluded. See
    Fletcher v. People, 179 P.3d 969, 974 (Colo. 2007) (evidence which is
    too remote either in time or logical relation to a matter in dispute
    should not be admitted). Additionally, the victim’s mother wasn’t
    precluded from testifying altogether — she was still permitted to
    7
    testify regarding having a conversation with the victim about
    inappropriate touching and “stranger danger.”
    ¶ 13
    For the above reasons, the trial court didn’t abuse its
    discretion by precluding the victim’s mother’s description of her
    own abuse and subsequent sharing of her victimization with the
    victim.
    B. The Victim’s School Records
    ¶ 14
    Miranda next contends that the trial court erred in quashing
    Miranda’s subpoena duces tecum to inspect the victim’s school
    records.
    1. Additional Facts
    ¶ 15
    Before trial, Miranda served a Crim. P. 17(c) subpoena on the
    custodian of records at the victim’s school compelling production of
    all school records pertaining to the victim, including: attendance
    records, disciplinary records, and performance records. The
    prosecution moved to quash the subpoena and the trial court
    granted the prosecution’s request. In its order, the trial court
    stated:
    The subpoena was issued in early November
    2017 — shortly after [Miranda] pled not guilty,
    six months before the first trial date in this
    8
    case, and even before the trial date had been
    set. The scope of the request, the timing of the
    subpoena, and other circumstances show that
    it was issued as means of conducting discovery
    (to look through all of the victim’s school
    records to see what might be there) rather
    than to secure production of specific
    documents for use at trial.
    2. Legal Principles and Analysis
    ¶ 16
    Miranda contends that the trial court abused its discretion
    when it failed to conduct an in camera review of the records before
    quashing the subpoena. We disagree.
    ¶ 17
    We review a trial court’s refusal to disclose or inspect a
    victim’s education records for an abuse of discretion. People v.
    Bachofer, 192 P.3d 454, 461 (Colo. App. 2008).
    ¶ 18
    Crim. P. 17(c) gives counsel in criminal cases the right to
    compel attendance of witnesses, as well as to compel a witness to
    produce documents by way of subpoena. Crim. P. 17(c) permits
    pretrial inspection of documentary evidence under the supervision
    of the court to “facilitate and expedite trials involving voluminous
    documents, not to grant additional discovery.” People v. Spykstra,
    234 P.3d 662, 668 (Colo. 2010).
    9
    ¶ 19
    The trial court has the responsibility of balancing the
    defendant’s need for the information with the privacy interests of
    the student and her parents. Bachofer, 192 P.3d at 461; People v.
    Wittrein, 221 P.3d 1076, 1085 (Colo. 2009). Among the factors the
    court should consider are: “(1) the nature of the information sought,
    (2) the relationship between this information and the issue in
    dispute, and (3) the harm that may result from disclosure.”
    Bachofer, 192 P.3d at 461 (citing Zaal v. State, 602 A.2d 1247,
    1261-62 (Md. 1992)).
    ¶ 20
    If the trial court determines that the defendant’s need
    outweighs any privacy interests, then it should review the records
    in camera. Wittrein, 221 P.3d at 1085. The trial court, however,
    isn’t required to conduct an in camera review of the victim’s school
    records; to warrant an invasion of a student’s privacy, even by an in
    camera review, there must be a showing that the need for the
    information outweighs the victim’s right to privacy. Id. at 1079.
    ¶ 21
    Here, Miranda made no proffer of need directly related to the
    victim’s school records. Instead, Miranda argues that the trial court
    should have looked through the entirety of the victim’s school
    records to determine the existence of any material required to be
    10
    produced under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), without
    articulating, “in good faith, a specific need for the information
    contained in the records.” Wittrein, 221 P.3d at 1085.
    ¶ 22
    The trial court determined that the scope and timing of the
    subpoena demonstrated that it was being used as a discovery tool
    rather than a method for securing specific documents for trial. The
    trial court didn’t abuse its discretion in reaching this conclusion.
    The trial court found that Miranda didn’t provide any specific need
    for the victim’s school records, and, based on the timing and scope
    of the subpoena, it was being used as a fishing expedition rather
    than a way to secure specific documents.
    ¶ 23
    Accordingly, the trial court acted within the bounds of its
    discretion in declining to conduct an in camera review of these
    records.
    C. Sexting Incident
    ¶ 24
    Miranda next contends that the trial court erred in refusing all
    defense attempts to obtain and use evidence to impeach the victim
    regarding a “sexting” incident.
    11
    1. Additional Facts
    ¶ 25
    In October 2016, before the victim’s February 2017 outcry, the
    victim was involved in a sexting incident where she was texting
    sexually explicit pictures — “butt pictures,” “boob pictures,” and
    “down below” pictures — to five different children. All six of the
    children admitted their involvement. The victim wasn’t criminally
    charged, but as a result of her involvement, she was required to
    complete a diversion program, which she finished in October 2017.
    ¶ 26
    Before and during trial, the parties litigated the admissibility
    of the evidence of the victim’s involvement in the sexting incident
    and with law enforcement. First, prior to trial, the prosecution
    disclosed to the court documents regarding the sexting incident.
    Following an in camera review, the trial court declined to release
    the documents to the defense.
    ¶ 27
    Second, Miranda sought permission to cross-examine the
    victim’s father about the extent to which the victim got in trouble
    with him and law enforcement based on the sexting incident.
    Miranda argued that the evidence was relevant because “claiming to
    have been sexually abused is uniquely effective at diverting any
    negative attention” from the sexting incident. Miranda also
    12
    requested to introduce evidence that the victim was in trouble with
    the police at the time of her outcry, without introducing the reason
    for the trouble. The trial court excluded the evidence under the
    rape shield statute and CRE 403.
    ¶ 28
    Finally, during trial Miranda moved to obtain evidence relating
    to benefits or inducements sought by or provided to the victim by
    the prosecution. Specifically, the defense sought to inspect an
    email exchange between one of the prosecuting attorneys and the
    prosecutor overseeing the victim’s compliance under the
    requirements of the diversion program.
    2. Analysis
    ¶ 29
    We will first address the use of the sexting incident to show
    motive to fabricate, then we will address the use of the victim’s
    involvement with law enforcement to show motive to fabricate, and,
    last, we will address the use of evidence of the prosecutor’s email
    exchange as evidence of bias.
    a. Evidence of Sexting Offense to Show Motive
    ¶ 30
    The trial court declined to release documents to Miranda’s
    defense counsel that pertained to the victim’s involvement in the
    sexting incident and subsequent diversion program. The trial court
    13
    found that disclosure of the records wasn’t necessary for the
    “resolution of an issue pending in the case.”
    ¶ 31
    Because this was an evidentiary ruling by the trial court, we
    will review for an abuse of discretion. See Marx,, ¶ 40. The trial
    court excluded the evidence because admission would violate the
    protections afforded by the rape shield statute. Miranda argues
    that evidence that the victim was facing discipline for the sexting
    incident when she outcried established her motive to fabricate and
    deflect negative attention. Miranda argues that he was denied his
    constitutional right to a meaningful opportunity to present a
    complete defense, resulting in constitutional error by the trial court.
    ¶ 32
    Because the record supports the trial court’s conclusion that
    Miranda’s argument for admitting evidence of the sexting incident
    didn’t overcome the protections of the rape shield statute, we
    conclude that the trial court didn’t abuse its discretion. The rape
    shield protections apply no matter the purpose for which the
    defendant intended to introduce evidence at trial. MacLeod, 176
    P.3d at 78. The evidence of the sexting incident, Miranda argues,
    goes to his theory of defense — that the victim was lying and the
    sexting incident bears on her credibility. The evidence is
    14
    presumptively irrelevant, however, because it falls squarely under
    the rape shield:
    Evidence of specific instances of the victim’s or
    a witness’s prior or subsequent sexual
    conduct, opinion evidence of the victim’s or a
    witness’s sexual conduct, and reputation
    evidence of the victim’s or a witness’s sexual
    conduct may be admissible only at trial and
    shall not be admitted in any other proceeding
    except at a proceeding pursuant to paragraph
    (c) of subsection (2) of this section. At trial,
    such evidence shall be presumed to be
    irrelevant . . . .
    § 18-3-407(1).
    ¶ 33
    The trial court determined that the time gap between the
    sexting incident (October 2016) and the outcry (February 2017)
    made any causal link speculative at best. Additionally, the trial
    court determined that Miranda failed to provide any reason why the
    victim would wait five months to “divert any negative attention that
    may be on her for engaging in her own sexual misconduct.” Thus,
    the trial court found that the sexting incident wasn’t probative of
    the victim’s motive to make allegations against Miranda. These
    reasons and findings are supported by the record. Accordingly, the
    trial court’s decision to preclude the introduction of evidence of the
    sexting incident wasn’t an abuse of discretion.
    15
    b. Evidence of Being in Trouble with Law Enforcement to Show
    Motive
    ¶ 34
    Second, the trial court precluded Miranda’s counsel from
    cross-examining the victim’s father regarding the extent to which
    the victim was in trouble with him and with law enforcement
    regarding the sexting incident. The trial court also declined to
    permit the introduction of a sanitized version of the sexting incident
    — one that didn’t reveal the nature of the offense and would,
    instead, just tell the jury generally that the victim had been in
    trouble with law enforcement and her father.
    ¶ 35
    In a pre-trial hearing, the victim’s father testified that the
    victim was never punished for using her cellphone or social media
    inappropriately. Finding the victim’s father’s testimony credible,
    the trial court concluded that cross-examining the father about his
    daughter being in trouble for the sexting incident would be of
    minimal probative value and that the father’s indication that the
    victim wasn’t in trouble at the time of the outcry mitigated any
    probative value.
    ¶ 36
    Additionally, the trial court found that telling the jury that the
    victim had been in trouble for some unknown reason would
    16
    potentially confuse the issues and would possibly require that the
    reason for the trouble be revealed, which would ultimately
    circumvent the ruling that the rape shield statute barred evidence
    of the sexting incident.
    ¶ 37
    Because this was an evidentiary ruling by the trial court, we
    will again review for an abuse of discretion. See Marx, ¶ 40. We
    conclude that the trial court didn’t abuse its discretion in
    precluding Miranda from asking the victim’s father about whether
    she was in trouble with him or law enforcement at the time of the
    outcry. Its findings — that (1) disclosing the victim had been in
    trouble even without including the nature of the offense could lead
    to the rape shield being circumvented; (2) the temporal delay
    between being in trouble and the victim’s outcry (five months)
    makes any link between the two speculative; and (3) Miranda failed
    to show why the victim would fabricate an allegation five months
    after being in trouble, and why, five months later, the victim would
    feel the need to divert attention from herself — are all supported by
    the record and provide a sound basis for excluding the evidence
    under the rape shield statute and CRE 403. Accordingly, the trial
    court didn’t abuse its discretion.
    17
    c. Evidence of Email Exchange Regarding Diversion Program to
    Show Bias
    ¶ 38
    Miranda next contends that an email between a prosecutor in
    this case and the prosecutor supervising the victim’s diversion
    program should have been disclosed to the defense because it may
    have related to providing the victim with a benefit in exchange for
    her testimony, which, in turn, could have been used to show bias.
    ¶ 39
    The email at issue was filed with this court under seal, and we
    have reviewed it in camera in order to exercise our independent
    judgment. See People in Interest of A.D.T., 232 P.3d 313, 319-20
    (Colo. App. 2010) (“[I]n a case like this, in which the juvenile court
    has performed an in camera review and made disclosure
    determinations that are properly being challenged on appeal, the
    right to meaningful appellate review necessitates our performing an
    independent in camera review.”). In the email, the prosecutor in
    this case doesn’t ask the prosecutor in the diversion case to relieve
    the victim of any requirement of the diversion program, just that
    she not be subject to or provided with duplicate or conflicting
    services.
    18
    ¶ 40
    Based on our independent in camera review, we conclude that
    the email exchange wasn’t probative of bias and, even if provided to
    the defense, nothing about it would’ve been relevant or otherwise
    admissible. The prosecution in this case wasn’t asking that the
    victim be relieved of any requirement under the diversion program.
    ¶ 41
    Simply put, even if the email exchange had been provided to
    the defense, nothing about it would’ve been admissible for
    impeachment purposes or otherwise. Accordingly, there’s no basis
    for reversal.
    D. Jury Instructions
    ¶ 42
    Next, Miranda contends that the trial court erred when it
    entered convictions for the class 3 felony versions of sexual assault
    on a child by one in a position of trust when the jury verdicts
    reflected convictions only for the class 4 felony versions of that
    offense. We aren’t persuaded.
    1. Additional Facts
    ¶ 43
    The jury was provided with the following elemental instruction
    for the three sexual assault on a child charges:
    The elements of the crime of Sexual Assault on
    a Child are:
    1. That the Defendant,
    19
    2. in the State of Colorado, between and
    including January 1, 2011 and February 23,
    2017,
    3. knowingly,
    4. subjected [the victim] who was not his
    spouse to any sexual contact, and
    5. [the victim] was less than fifteen years of
    age, and
    6. The Defendant was at least four years older
    than [the victim].
    (Emphasis added.)
    ¶ 44
    The jury was provided with the following elemental instruction
    for the three sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust
    charges:
    The elements of the crime of Sexual Assault on
    a Child by One in a Position of Trust are:
    1. That the Defendant,
    2. in the State of Colorado, between and
    including approximately January 1, 2011, and
    February 23, 2017,
    3. knowingly,
    4. subjected [the victim], under eighteen years
    of age, who was not his spouse to any sexual
    contact, and
    5. the Defendant was in a position of trust
    with respect to [the victim].
    (Emphasis added.)
    ¶ 45
    Miranda didn’t object to the jury instructions, and the jury
    returned guilty verdicts on all three of the sexual assault on a child
    20
    charges and all three of the sexual assault on a child by one in a
    position of trust charges.
    2. Analysis
    ¶ 46
    Sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust is a
    class 4 felony, but it becomes a class 3 felony if the prosecution
    proves, and the jury finds, that the victim was less than fifteen
    years old. § 18-3-405.3(1)-(3), C.R.S. 2021.
    ¶ 47
    Miranda contends that because the jury instructions for the
    sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust charges didn’t
    require the jury to find that the victim was less than fifteen, he can
    only suffer convictions for the class 4 felony version of the offense,
    rather than the class 3 felony convictions that were entered.
    ¶ 48
    Miranda relies on Medina v. People, 163 P.3d 1136, 1140
    (Colo. 2007), to support his argument on appeal. We aren’t
    persuaded that Medina controls the outcome here.
    ¶ 49
    In Medina, the defendant was charged with accessory for
    unlawfully assisting the escape of one who had committed first or
    second degree murder, a class 4 felony. Medina, 163 P.3d at 1136.
    One of the elements of the class 4 felony version of that offense is
    knowingly rendering assistance to someone who had committed first
    21
    or second degree murder. Id. at 1139. The jury instructions at
    trial, however, only required that the jury find that the defendant
    knowingly rendered assistance to someone who was suspected of
    first degree or second degree murder. Id. Although the jury
    returned a verdict for the class 5 felony version of the offense, the
    trial court entered a conviction for the class 4 felony version of the
    offense. Id. Our supreme court reversed, concluding it was
    structural error to enter the class 4 felony conviction when the jury
    verdicts only supported the class 5 felony conviction. Id. at 1140.
    ¶ 50
    There is a critical distinction between this case and Medina.
    Here, unlike in Medina, we do have a jury finding on the supposedly
    missing element. Specifically, the elemental instructions for the
    sexual assault on a child charges (couch incident, bedroom
    incident, and living room incident) contained the element that the
    child was under the age of fifteen.
    ¶ 51
    Put another way, there were three incidents — couch,
    bedroom, and living room. For each incident, there were two
    charges — sexual assault on a child and sexual assault on a child
    by one in a position of trust. For each incident, the jury found
    beyond a reasonable doubt that Miranda had committed sexual
    22
    assault on a child and that the child was less than fifteen at the
    time of each event. So, there is a corresponding jury finding that
    the victim was under fifteen at the time of each of the three
    incidents, and therefore no structural error because Miranda
    (unlike the defendant in Medina) wasn’t deprived of a jury finding
    on the supposedly missing element.
    ¶ 52
    Unlike Medina, where the jury rendered no finding of an
    element required for a more serious conviction, here, the under
    fifteen element was proved to and found by the jury beyond a
    reasonable doubt, albeit in its verdict on another charge. See
    People v. Hoggard, 2017 COA 88, ¶ 52 (looking to other portions of
    the jury’s verdicts that were untainted by the identified error to
    conclude that the instructional error did not contribute to the
    conviction), aff’d on other grounds, 2020 CO 54. Therefore, the
    error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
    E. Correction of the Mittimus
    ¶ 53
    Lastly, we address the correction of the mittimus. Miranda
    argues that this court should remand for correction of the mittimus
    for two reasons. First, to vacate count 7, because it’s the same
    crime as count 1, and, second, to reflect a controlling mandatory
    23
    parole period of twenty years to life because the mittimus currently
    doesn’t specify the length of the parole term for each prison
    sentence, merely stating that the “parole period is discretionary.”
    The Attorney General concedes, and we agree, that remand for
    correction of the mittimus is required.
    ¶ 54
    Miranda was charged with seven counts based on three
    incidents, but the jury was only provided with six verdict forms.
    The jury returned six guilty verdicts. Count 1 on the mittimus is
    the same as count 7, except that count 1 reflects the sentence
    enhancer found by the jury. Therefore, the mittimus must be
    modified to reflect this.
    ¶ 55
    We also agree that the mandatory parole period statutorily
    required as part of the sentence should be reflected on the
    mittimus. See Crim. P. 36; Craig v. People, 986 P.2d 951, 966
    (Colo. 1999) (trial court’s failure to specify the term of defendant’s
    mandatory parole in mittimus was error, capable of and requiring
    correction by the sentencing court). The mittimus must be
    corrected to reflect the statutory parole period of twenty years to
    life.
    24
    ¶ 56
    In addition to Miranda’s contentions, the Attorney General
    argues that the mittimus must also be amended to correct the trial
    court’s improper merger of certain counts (and that the mittimus as
    prepared by the court didn’t accurately reflect the concurrent
    sentences that it intended to impose). The Attorney General bases
    this argument on the court’s use of the word “merge” on the
    mittimus. Specifically, the mittimus says:
    “C[OUN]T 2 MERGES INTO C[OUN]T 1 FOR
    SENTENCING”;
    “C[OUN]T 5 MERGES INTO C[OUN]T 3 FOR
    SENTENCING”;
    “C[OUN]T 6 MERGES INTO C[OUN]T 4 FOR
    SENTENCING”; and
    “C[OUN]T 7 MERGES INTO C[OUN]T 1 FOR
    SENTENCING.”
    Miranda argues that the use of the word “merge” simply indicates
    which sentences run concurrently, not which convictions merged
    together, so no correction is required.
    ¶ 57
    We, however, don’t know what the trial court meant when it
    used the word “merge” on the mittimus. If it’s as Miranda
    25
    contends, then the mittimus should be corrected to say as much.
    In any event, the mittimus must be corrected to accurately reflect
    the convictions it entered and sentences it imposed, including
    clarifying which sentences run concurrently to one another.
    ¶ 58
    For the reasons stated above, we remand only for correction of
    the mittimus to (1) vacate count 7, because it is the same crime as
    count 1, (2) reflect a controlling mandatory parole period of twenty
    years to life, and (3) remove the use of the word “merge” and clarify
    which sentences run concurrently to one another.
    III. Conclusion
    ¶ 59
    We affirm the judgment of conviction and remand only for the
    correction of the mittimus.
    JUDGE DUNN and JUDGE YUN concur.

Document Info

Docket Number: 19CA0108

Filed Date: 1/27/2022

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 7/29/2024