Mateen v. Saar

¶1dissenting.

¶2The dissenting opinion written by Judge Wilner sets out a full basis for rejecting the holding and analysis of the majority. I join his opinion in full. I write separately to add a few observations about the majority analysis and also to emphasize that the rule of lenity is inapplicable to what I believe is a mandatory sentence.

¶3Without answering the certiorari questions,1 the majority holds that the State may not challenge this illegal sentence on appeal and that the Circuit Court’s commitment order and DOC sentence change is of no legal force or effect. See maj. op. at 23. I believe this holding is both wrong and unfair. It is unfair because without a hearing and without giving the *413State the opportunity to argue the issue or to even respond, the Court, sua sponte, determines that the State does not have a right to appeal this admittedly illegal sentence. The majority is wrong because the sentence of life is a mandatory sentence; if a trial court imposes anything but a life sentence under the circumstances presented herein, the sentence is unlawful and the State has a right to appeal.

¶4A mandatory sentence is one where, regardless of any other circumstance, a judge is required to impose a particular sentence. In Maryland, the Legislature has mandated that the required sentence for first degree murder shall be life imprisonment. See Maryland Code (1957,1971 Repl.Vol.) Art. 27, § 413 (re-codified at Maryland Code (2002) § 2-201 (b) of the Criminal Law Article). The trial judge is forced to impose that sentence. As Judge Wilner points out, “[t]he fact that execution of the only permissible sentence, or part of that sentence, may be suspended does not make the sentence itself any less mandated.” Diss. op. at 6-7. The fact that this Court has said that a trial judge may suspend a portion of that sentence does not transform the sentence into one that is discretionary. See State v. Chaney, 375 Md. 168, 825 A.2d 452 (2003) (pointing out that “one must pass a sentence before one can suspend it”).

¶5The mandatory sentence in this case may be contrasted with a mandatory-minimum sentence. See e.g., Maryland Code (2002) § 4-205 of the Criminal Law Article, captioned “Other limitations on sentencing.” A sentence that is a mandatory minimum sentence is one in which the judge has no authority to make a downward departure from a statutory minimum. Therefore, the trial judge may not suspend a portion of such a sentence if doing so would reduce it below the mandatory minimum. It is true, therefore, that a trial judge has more latitude with regard to the execution of a mandatory sentence than the execution of a mandatory minimum sentence. Although execution may be subject to the trial court’s deference, the sentence itself is nonetheless mandatory.

¶6*414Moreover, to the extent that the majority relies on the rule of lenity to justify its result, the majority is wrong because the rule of lenity has no application whatsoever to the issue before the Court. See maj. op. at 397 (stating that “[i]f there is doubt as to the penalty, then the law directs that his punishment must be construed to favor a milder penalty over a harsher one”). The rule of lenity is inapplicable to a mandatory sentence.

¶7Accordingly, I dissent.