Me. R. App. P. 20
The court in which sentence was imposed shall take no further action pending disposition by the Law Court of the application for review of sentence and, if the application is granted, shall take no further action pending ruling on the sentence appeal except as provided in Rule 3(b), but with the further limitation, as reflected in 15 M.R.S. §2157, that the court may not stay execution of sentence or set bail.
If the court reporter anticipates that the transcript cannot be prepared within the 42-day limit, the court reporter shall file an application for an extension as provided in Rule 6(c)(2).
Me. R. App. P. 20
Advisory Notes - October 15, 2001
The discretionary sentence review process governs appeal of sentences of one-year or more where the defendant claims that the sentence is excessive or inappropriate. State v. Ricker, 2001 ME 76, 18, 770 A.2d 1021, 1026-27. A sentence of any length may be appealed as a matter of right where the defendant claims that the sentence is illegal, imposed in an illegal manner or beyond the jurisdiction of the court, where the illegality appears plainly in the record. Id., State v. White, 2001 ME 65, 3, 769 A.2d 827, 828; State v. Cunningham, 1998 ME 167, 5, 715 A.2d 156, 157.
Rule 20 of the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure [effective January 1, 2002] governs discretionary appeals of sentences of one-year or more addressed in 15 M.R.S. §§2151 - 2157. Rule 20 replaces M.R.U. Crim. P. 40, 40A, 40B and 40C. Persons who may seek sentence reviews pursuant to Rule 20 are persons who have been sentenced to a sentence of one-year or more, where the sentence is not mandatory and not a sentence by agreement in accordance with M.R.U. Crim. P. 11A.
The application for appeal of sentence must be filed within 21 days of entry of the sentencing order. M.R. App. P. 20(b).
Practitioners should note that sentence appeals are distinct from appeals from convictions. If an individual is convicted and that individual wishes to appeal both the conviction and the sentence then: (1) to appeal the conviction, a notice of appeal must be filed in accordance with M.R. App. P. 2(b)(2)(A); and (2) to appeal the sentence, the application to allow an appeal of sentence must be filed under M.R. App. 20. A discretionary sentence appeal is not automatically considered as part of an appeal of a conviction. The Law Court must still engage in its discretionary choice as to whether an allow of a sentence appeal.
If the application to allow an appeal of sentence is granted by the Sentence Review Panel and an appeal of the conviction is also pending, the sentence appeal will be consolidated with the conviction appeal for consideration. If there is no conviction appeal pending, the merits of the sentencing appeal will be considered independently by the Law Court. If an application to allow an appeal of sentence is denied by the Law Court, the sentence appeal shall not proceed, and the denial of the application is final and subject to no further review. 15 M.R.S. §2152, M.R. App. P. 20(f).
The application for review of sentence must conform to the Judicial Branch form for sentence appeals. M.R. App. P. 20(a)(2). It must be signed by the defendant or the defendant's attorney. The application must be filed with the clerk of the court in which the sentence is imposed. The clerk will then mail a date stamped copy of the application to the court reporter. When a court imposes a sentence for which a defendant is qualified to seek sentence review, the defendant must be advised of the right to seek a sentence review. M.R. App. P. 20(a)(3). If a defendant is not represented by counsel, and requests the Court to do so, the Court must cause an application for review of sentence to be prepared and filed on behalf of the defendant.
Rule 20(c) covers docketing of the sentence appeal in the trial court and the Law Court. The rule also specifies the materials which the clerk of the trial court is to forward to the Law Court in cases where a sentence appeal is filed. As provided in 15 M.R.S. §2157, a sentence may not be stayed, and bail may not be set pending a sentence review. Thus, setting of bail or a stay of execution of sentence is only appropriate in circumstances where an appeal of the conviction is filed and a stay of sentence or bail request is considered pursuant to M.R.U. Crim. P. 38 in connection with the appeal of the conviction, not the sentence appeal.
Rule 20(d) provides that preparation of the sentencing transcript is to receive expedited consideration, with the court reporter required to prepare the transcript within 42 days from receipt of the application for sentence review. This differs from the 56 days which reporters are usually given to prepare appeal transcripts. See M.R. App. P. 6(c). Reporters may request extensions of time in appropriate circumstances.
Rule 20(e) addresses correction or modification of the record. It basically incorporates the provisions of M.R. App. 5(e), except that it allows either the Sentence Review Panel or the Law Court, on its own, to request the filing of a supplemental record if the Court determines that there are additional portions of the record that may aid its review of the sentence.
Rule 20(f) addresses denial of the application for leave to appeal sentence, noting it is final and not subject to further review. 15 M.R.S. §2152.
Rule 20(g) specifies that, where the Sentence Review Panel grants an application to allow appeal of sentence, the Clerk of the Law Court must promptly send to the clerk of the trial court in which the sentence was imposed a copy of the order granting the application. A copy of the order would also be sent to each party together with a written notice of the Law Court docket number and the date within which any further record on appeal must be filed.
After the application for leave to appeal is granted, the order granting leave is treated like a notice of appeal. Rule 20(h) specifies that the appeal shall proceed in the same manner as any other appeal under the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, except that any party desiring transcripts of the proceeding which are not already in the file must file an additional transcript order within 7 days of the notice that leave to appeal has been granted. If an appeal of the conviction is already pending under M.R. App. P. 2, the sentence appeal would be consolidated with that appeal under the same Law Court docket number.
Rule 20(i) provides that where the Law Court grants a sentence appeal and remands a case for further proceedings and resentencing, any justice or judge of the court to which the matter is remanded may act on the remanded matter unless the Law Court otherwise directs.
Restyling Notes - June 2017
Rule 20 was not subject to revision, except for changing the calculation of the 42-day deadline for filing a reporters transcript to conform to the change in in Rule 6(c)(1), and minor editing and citation correction, in the restyling process.