TITLE FOUR — SENTENCING
Rule 28. Judgment
Judgment.
Verdict or Finding. If the defendant has been determined to be guilty, a verdict or finding of guilty shall be rendered, or if he has been determined to be not guilty, a verdict or finding of not guilty shall be rendered, in open court, and shall be entered on the court’s docket.
Each Count. The verdict or finding shall be rendered and entered as to each count of the indictment or criminal information and as to each defendant.
Contents of the Judgment. The judgment shall state the case number assigned by the electronic filing system; the username of the defendant; each count and the offence charged; the plea; the verdict, finding, or acceptance of plea upon each count; the adjudication of guilt or the acquittal upon each count; the sentence imposed upon each count and whether terms run concurrently or consecutively; any credit awarded under Rule 28.1(f); any period imposed under Rule 28.1(g) before expungement may be sought; the terms and conditions of any probation or community control imposed under Rule 28.2; and the date and time of entry.
Signature; Recording. The judgment shall be signed by the judge and recorded by the Clerk of the Superior Court, who shall certify it in the manner prescribed by these rules. 3 R. Stat. § 131.102.
Imposition of Sentence.
Right to Prompt Sentence. After a verdict, finding, or plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere, or an admission to sufficient facts, the defendant shall have the right to be sentenced without unreasonable delay.
Time. Sentence shall be imposed at the conclusion of the trial or of the plea proceeding unless the court continues the sentencing, and in no event later than seventy-two (72) hours after the verdict, finding, or acceptance of the plea, unless the court states good cause upon the record. A continuance of sentencing shall state upon the record the date and time to which sentencing is continued.
Custody Pending Sentence. Pending sentence the court may commit the defendant to the custody of the Department of Corrections as provided by 6 R. Stat. §§ 131.201 through 131.203, or may release the defendant upon personal recognizance subject to such conditions as Rule 7.1 permits. No bond or bail shall be set, no bond or bail hearing shall be held, and no citation or collection shall be levied against the defendant to obtain pre-detention release. 6 R. Stat. § 131.205.
Allocution. Before imposing sentence the court shall afford the defendant or his counsel an opportunity to speak on behalf of the defendant and to present any information in the mitigation of punishment. The court shall address the defendant personally and shall inquire whether the defendant wishes to make a statement, and the record shall show that the inquiry was made. Where the defendant has been removed under Rule 45, the defendant shall be returned for the purpose of allocution.
Presence. Sentence shall not be imposed in the absence of the defendant except as Rule 18(j) permits. Where sentence is imposed upon an absent defendant, the court shall recite upon the record the authority under which it proceeds and the notice given, and the clerk shall transmit notice of the sentence as Rule 18.4(h) requires. Rule 18(a)(1); Rule 18(j); 6 R. Stat. § 131.501.
Notification of Right to Appeal.
Advice. After a judgment of guilty is entered, the court shall advise the defendant of his right to appeal. Direct appeals of criminal proceedings are a matter of right. 6 R. Stat. § 131.801.
Contents of the Advice. The court shall further advise the defendant of the time within which an appeal must be taken, which is the time provided by the Ridgeway Rules of the Supreme Court, 6 R. Stat. § 131.806; of the right to the assignment of counsel upon appeal where the defendant is indigent or indigent but able to contribute; of the right to move under Rule 29 for the revision or revocation of the sentence within seven days; and of the right to seek relief under Rule 30.
Pleas. Where the adjudication rests upon a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere entered without an express reservation of the right to appeal a legally dispositive issue, the court shall advise the defendant that there is no right of direct appeal. 6 R. Stat. §§ 131.803(b), 131.804. Rule 12(b)(6) governs a plea reserving appellate review.
Entry. The Clerk shall enter upon the docket that the advice required by this subdivision was given.
Presentence Investigation.
Criminal Record. The probation officer shall inquire into the nature of every criminal case brought before the court and report to the court information concerning all prior criminal prosecutions or juvenile complaints, if any, and the disposition of each such prosecution, except where the defendant was found not guilty.
Report. The report of the presentence investigation shall contain any prior criminal prosecution record of the defendant, but shall not contain any information relating to criminal prosecutions in which the defendant was found not guilty. In addition, the report shall include such other available information as may be helpful to the court in the disposition of the case. A report may be waived by the court on the motion of either party or sua sponte.
Availability to Parties. Prior to the disposition the presentence report shall be made available to the prosecutor and counsel for the defendant for inspection. In extraordinary cases, the judge may exempt from disclosure parts of the report which are not relevant to a proper sentence, diagnostic opinion which might seriously disrupt a program of rehabilitation, sources of information obtained upon a promise of confidentiality, or any other information which, if disclosed, might result in harm, physical or otherwise, to the defendant or other persons. If the report is not made fully available, the portions thereof which are not disclosed shall not be relied upon in determining sentence.
Transmission. The report shall be transmitted to the court and to counsel in the proceeding communications not later than twenty-four (24) hours before the sentencing hearing, or within such other time as the court orders. Where the court has determined under Rule 28(d)(3) that a part of the report is not to be disclosed, the officer shall omit that part from the report as transmitted, and shall transmit that part to the court alone. The electronic filing system provides no redaction of a document and no sealing of a document within a case that is not of a confidential type; matter withheld under Rule 28(d)(3) shall not be included in any document filed in the case.
Objections. A party may object to the accuracy or completeness of the report. An objection shall be stated upon the record before the imposition of sentence. The court shall rule upon each objection upon the record and shall state whether the disputed matter was considered in determining the sentence.
Use. The court shall not rely in determining sentence upon matter contained in the report that has not been made available to the parties, except as Rule 28(d)(3) permits. Rule 12(e) governs the availability of the criminal record and the presentence report before a plea is accepted or rejected.
Filing.
Filing Without Sentence. The court may file a case after a guilty verdict or finding without imposing a sentence if the defendant and the State both consent. With the consent of both parties, the judge may specify a time limit beyond which the case may not be removed from the file, and may specify any events that may cause the case to be removed from the file. The defendant shall file a written consent with the court as to both the filing of the case and any time limit or events regarding removal from the file.
Advisement Before Consent. Prior to accepting the defendant’s consent, the court shall inform the defendant on the record in open court:
that the defendant has a right to request sentencing on any or all filed case(s) at any time;
that subject to any time limit imposed by the court, the prosecutor may request that the case be removed from the file and sentence imposed if a related conviction or sentence is reversed or vacated or upon the prosecutor’s establishing by a preponderance of the evidence either that the defendant committed a new criminal offence or that an event occurred on which the continued filing of the case was expressly made contingent by the court; and
that if the case is removed from the file the defendant may be sentenced on the case.
Removal from the File; Sentence. A request to remove a case from the file shall be made by written motion filed under Rule 32 and shall state the ground relied upon. The court shall afford the opposing party notice and an opportunity to be heard, and shall determine the motion upon the record. In sentencing the defendant after the removal of a case from the file, the court shall consider the over-all scheme of punishment employed by the original sentencing judge.
Expiration. Where the court has specified a time limit beyond which the case may not be removed from the file, the case shall not be removed after that time, and the court shall enter that fact upon the docket upon the motion of either party.
Record. The Clerk shall enter upon the docket the filing of the case, the written consent of the defendant, any time limit or contingency specified by the court, and any removal from the file.
Entry and Recording of the Judgment.
Entry. The judgment is entered when the court records it upon the docket of the case. The date and time of entry are the date and time recorded by the electronic filing system, stated in Coordinated Universal Time.
Recording. The Clerk shall record the judgment and shall certify it in the manner prescribed by these rules. 3 R. Stat. § 131.102. Judgments and orders are entered through the judicial channels of the electronic filing system and not through the general filing channel.
Immutability. A document once received by the electronic filing system cannot be amended or withdrawn. An error in a judgment as entered shall be corrected by a corrected judgment, which bears its own date of entry and which states that it supersedes the earlier judgment. Rule 42 governs the correction of clerical mistakes.
Availability. The judgment is part of the public docket of the case except where the case is of a type that the electronic filing system designates confidential.
Commitment; Transmission of the Judgment.
Commitment. Where the sentence includes imprisonment, the defendant shall be delivered into the custody of the Department of Corrections, which shall have the custody and control of the defendant for the term imposed. 6 R. Stat. § 131.201; 6 R. Stat. § 132.002.
Execution in Game. Where the defendant is then present in game, the judgment shall be executed by the delivery of the defendant into the custody of the Department of Corrections and the application of the sentencing timer for the term imposed.
Defendant Not in Custody. Where the defendant is not then in custody, the court may direct the issuance of a warrant for the defendant’s arrest and delivery. The warrant shall issue through the warrants workflow of the electronic filing system and shall be placed within the in-game warrants system in the manner provided by Rule 6(a)(3).
Transmission. The Clerk shall transmit a copy of the judgment to the Department of Corrections and to the sheriff’s office, and, where the judgment includes probation or community control, shall give the notice required by Rule 28.2(b).
Judgment of Acquittal; Discharge. Upon a verdict or finding of not guilty upon every count, or upon the entry of a finding of not guilty under Rule 25 as to every count, the court shall enter a judgment of acquittal and shall order the defendant discharged unless the defendant is held upon other process. The Clerk shall enter the acquittal and the discharge upon the docket. Where the defendant has been held in pre-trial detention, the defendant is entitled to an expungement of the pre-trial detention record. 6 R. Stat. § 131.202(a). Rules 36, 37, and 38 govern the petition and its disposition.