Williams v. State

910 N.W.2d 736

Tramayne Colfred WILLIAMS, Appellant,

v.STATE of Minnesota, Respondent.

A16-1526

A16-1527

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Filed: April 25, 2018

Cathryn Middlebrook, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Sean Michael McGuire, Assistant Public Defender, Saint Paul, Minnesota, for appellant.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, Saint Paul, Minnesota; Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, Kelly O'Neil Moller, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and David Hauser, Otter Tail County Attorney, Kurt Mortenson, Assistant County Attorney, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, for respondent.

OPINION

GILDEA, Chief Justice.

In this case we are asked to decide which party has the burden to prove the accuracy of the defendant's criminal-history score when a defendant brings a motion to correct his or her sentence under Minn. R. Crim. P. 27.03, subd. 9, after the time to file a direct appeal has expired. Appellant Tramayne Colfred Williams brought motions under the rule, arguing that two Minnesota district courts miscalculated his criminal-history score because those courts treated his two Illinois drug-related convictions as felonies. The district courts denied the motions. The court of appeals affirmed. Because we hold that a defendant who files a motion under Minn. R. Crim. P. 27.03, subd. 9, to correct a sentence after the time for direct appeal has passed bears the burden to prove the sentence was based on an incorrect criminal-history score, we affirm.

FACTS

Williams challenges the sentences he received in two criminal cases, one in Otter Tail County and one in Hennepin County. In Otter Tail County, Williams was charged with first-degree aggravated robbery, Minn. Stat. § 609.245, subd. (2016). He agreed to plead guilty to that charge on the condition that, assuming his criminal-history score was five, he would be sentenced to 84 months in prison. The district court deferred acceptance of Williams's guilty plea and ordered a presentence investigation.

In Hennepin County, Williams was charged with, among other crimes, promoting prostitution, Minn. Stat. § 609.322, subd. 1(a)(2) (2016). The parties agreed that in exchange for his guilty plea to promoting prostitution, they would jointly recommend that Williams be sentenced to 96 months in prison, served concurrently with whatever sentence was imposed in the Otter Tail County case. The plea petition Williams filed stated that a 96-month sentence was a downward durational departure from a 180-month presumptive guideline sentence. The State also agreed to dismiss other charges.

Williams pleaded guilty to and was sentenced on one count of promotion of prostitution in the Hennepin County case in November 2012. A summary report of his prior convictions prepared before sentencing stated in part that Williams had three Illinois felony convictions. The report assigned one-half point for an Illinois receiving-stolen-property conviction and two points for two Illinois drug-related convictions. In total, the report determined that Williams's criminal-history score was six. Williams did not object to the calculation of his criminal-history score. The Hennepin County District Court sentenced Williams to 96 months in prison.

In January 2013, Williams was sentenced in the Otter Tail County case. The intervening Hennepin County conviction increased his criminal-history score. In addition to the Hennepin County conviction, the presentence investigation report stated that Williams had five out-of-state felony convictions, including three Indiana drug-related convictions and two Illinois drug-related convictions. The Indiana conviction at issue was assigned one and one-half points and the Illinois convictions were assigned two and one-half points. The report stated that Williams had received "[b]oot[-c]amp" sentences for the Illinois drug-related convictions.¹ The State did not introduce any additional evidence about the out-of-state convictions, and Williams did not contest the calculation of his criminal-history score. The district court determined that, based on the updated sentencing worksheet showing that Williams's criminal-history score was now eight, the bottom of the presumptive sentencing range was 92 months, and not the 84 months contemplated in the plea agreement. The court therefore imposed a 92-month sentence, to be served concurrently with Williams's sentence in the Hennepin County case.

Williams did not directly appeal his sentence in either case. But, in August 2014, Williams filed pro se motions under Minn. R. Crim. P. 27.03, subdivision 9, to correct his sentence in each case. The district court in each case denied his motion. Williams later secured counsel and, in 2016, he moved again under Rule 27.03, subdivision 9, to correct his sentence in each case.

In the Otter Tail County case, Williams argued that the district court erred in assigning one and one-half criminal-history points to his Indiana felony drug-related conviction because the court should have assigned only one-half point to that conviction. He also argued that his Illinois drug-related convictions should not have been treated as felonies and assigned two points because the boot-camp sentences were not felony-level sentences. The State did not file a response to Williams's motion.

The Otter Tail County District Court determined that a Minnesota offense comparable to the Indiana drug-related conviction would be assigned only one-half point, and so the court removed one point from Williams's criminal history. For the Illinois drug-related convictions, the court concluded that the boot-camp sentences were properly characterized as felony sentences, and therefore the offenses were properly counted as felony offenses. The court determined that Williams's correct criminal-history score was seven rather than eight but concluded that, in spite of the error, Williams's sentence was legal because it was within the presumptive range for someone with six or more criminal-history points.² As a result, the district court denied Williams's motion.

In the Hennepin County case, Williams argued that the district court erred by assigning one-half point to his Illinois receiving-stolen-property conviction instead of classifying that offense as a misdemeanor. He also argued that the Illinois boot-camp sentences were not felony-level sentences and that the court erred by assigning two points to them. The State responded, in part, by producing information about the Illinois boot-camp program.

The Hennepin County District Court concluded that the receiving-stolen-property conviction was properly classified as a misdemeanor rather than a felony and removed one-half point from Williams's criminal-history score. The court also determined that the Illinois boot-camp sentences were felony sentences and concluded that Williams's correct criminal-history score was five, not six. The court denied the motion, however, because Williams's 96-month sentence was still a downward durational departure for someone with a criminal-history score of five.³ Alternatively, the court concluded sua sponte that Williams's motion implicated his plea deal, was subject to the postconviction statute, and was time barred. See Minn. Stat. § 590.01, subd. 4(a)(1) (2016) ("No petition for postconviction relief may be filed more than two years after ... the entry of judgment of conviction or sentence if no direct appeal is filed....").

Williams appealed the denial of both motions, and the court of appeals consolidated his appeals. The court of appeals affirmed in part, concluding that Williams had the burden to prove that the Illinois convictions were improperly included in his criminal-history score and that he failed to meet this burden. Williams v. State , 899 N.W.2d 504, 511–13 (Minn. App. 2017). The court of appeals also concluded that the district courts did not abuse their discretion in counting Williams's Illinois drug-related convictions as felonies in calculating Williams's criminal history score. Id. at 513. But the court reversed in part and remanded the Hennepin County case, concluding that the Hennepin County District Court erred by sua sponte treating Williams's motion as a postconviction petition and dismissing it as time barred without giving Williams notice and an opportunity to be heard on the issue.⁴ Id. at 514.

We granted Williams's petition for review on the question of which party bears the burden of proof in a motion to correct a sentence brought under Minn. R. Crim. P. 27.03, subd. 9.

ANALYSIS

The parties dispute who bears the burden to prove the accuracy of the defendant's criminal history score. The State bears the burden of proof at sentencing to show that a prior conviction qualifies for inclusion within the criminal-history score. State v. Marquetti , 322 N.W.2d 316, 319 (Minn. 1982).⁵ But we have not decided which party bears the burden of proof in a post-appeal Rule 27.03 motion. Determining which party has the burden of proof is a question of law that we review de novo. Savig v. First Nat'l Bank of Omaha , 781 N.W.2d 335, 338 (Minn. 2010). Interpretation of a rule of procedure is also a question of law, subject to de novo review. State v. Guzman , 892 N.W.2d 801, 809 (Minn. 2017) (citing State v. Lee , 706 N.W.2d 491, 493 (Minn. 2005) ).

I.

We turn first to the language of the relevant rule, Minn. R. Crim. P. 27.03, subd. 9, which states that "[t]he court may at any time correct a sentence not authorized by law." Williams argues that the sentences he received in the Otter Tail County and Hennepin County cases were illegal because the district courts incorrectly calculated his criminal-history score. We have recognized that a sentence based on an incorrect criminal-history score falls within the scope of the rule because such a sentence is one that is not authorized by law. State v. Maurstad , 733 N.W.2d 141, 147 (Minn. 2007). Williams's specific argument here is that the district courts erred because the courts counted his Illinois...