State v. Solano


IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket No. 47287 STATE OF IDAHO, ) ) Filed: May 12, 2020 Plaintiff-Respondent, ) ) Karel A. Lehrman, Clerk v. ) ) MIGUEL SOLANO, ) ) Defendant-Appellant. ) ) Appeal from the District Court of the Third Judicial District, State of Idaho, Canyon County. Hon. George A. Southworth, District Judge. Order denying I.C.R. 35 motion for correction of an illegal sentence and for reduction of sentence, affirmed. Parmenter Rivera, LLP; Nathan D. Rivera, Blackfoot, for appellant. Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Justin R. Porter, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. ________________________________________________ LORELLO, Judge Miguel Solano appeals from the district court’s order denying his I.C.R. 35 motion to correct an illegal sentence and for a reduction of his sentence. We affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Solano and his girlfriend brought their four-month-old child to the emergency room at a local hospital and reported that the child had been fussy all day and was not using his right hand. Medical tests revealed that the child had two fractured ribs and a fractured skull, along with evidence of older fractures to the child’s ribs and legs. Doctors suspected the injuries were caused by shaking, slamming, throwing, crushing, or blunt force trauma. The age of the fractures suggested the child had suffered injuries at different times. When confronted with the 1 injuries, Solano claimed that the recent rib and skull fractures occurred when he had dropped the child in the shower and that the older leg injuries occurred when he became frustrated and “jerked” the child’s legs during a diaper change. The State charged Solano with injury to a child and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury. Ultimately, Solano entered an Alford 1 plea to injury to a child. I.C. § 18-1501(1). In exchange for Solano’s plea, the State dismissed the sentencing enhancement. The district court sentenced Solano to a unified term of five years, with a minimum period of confinement of two years. The district court then suspended Solano’s sentence and placed him on probation for four years. As a condition of probation, Solano was ordered to serve 180 days in the county jail along with 90 days of discretionary jail time. Subsequently, Solano filed a motion pursuant to I.C.R. 35, claiming the district court imposed an illegal sentence and seeking a reduction of his sentence. The district court denied Solano’s motion. Solano appeals. II. STANDARD OF REVIEW Pursuant to I.C.R. 35, the district court may correct an illegal sentence at any time. In an appeal from the denial of a motion under I.C.R. 35 to correct an illegal sentence, the question of whether the sentence imposed is illegal is a question of law freely reviewable by the appellate court. State v. Josephson, 124 Idaho 286, 287, 858 P.2d 825, 826 (Ct. App. 1993). A motion for reduction of sentence under I.C.R. 35 is essentially a plea for leniency, addressed to the sound discretion of the court. State v. ...

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