Colorado § 19-2.5-903 - Deferral of adjudication.

§ 19-2.5-903. Deferral of adjudication.

(1) Except as set forth in subsection (2) of this section, in any case in which the juvenile has agreed with the district attorney to enter a plea of guilty, the court, with the consent of the juvenile and the district attorney, upon accepting the guilty plea and entering an order deferring adjudication, may continue the case for a period not to exceed one year after the date of entry of the order deferring adjudication. The court may continue the case for an additional one-year period for good cause.

(2) In a case in which the juvenile has agreed with the district attorney to enter a plea of guilty, resulting in a conviction, as defined in section 16-22-102 (3), for unlawful sexual behavior, as defined in section 16-22-102 (9), the court, with the consent of the juvenile and district attorney, upon accepting the guilty plea and entering an order deferring adjudication, may continue the case for a period of time not to exceed two years after the date of the order deferring adjudication. Upon a showing of good cause, the court may continue the case for additional time, not to exceed five years after the date of the order deferring adjudication.

(3) A juvenile granted a deferral of adjudication pursuant to this section may be placed under the supervision of a probation department. The court may impose any conditions of supervision that it deems appropriate that are stipulated to by the juvenile and the district attorney.

(4) Upon full compliance with the conditions of supervision, the plea of the juvenile or the finding of guilt by the court must be withdrawn and the case dismissed with prejudice.

(5) The district attorney or a probation officer may make an application for entry of adjudication and imposition of sentence at any time within the term of the deferred adjudication or within thirty-five days thereafter.

(6) If the juvenile fails to comply with the terms of supervision, the court shall enter an order of adjudication and proceed to sentencing pursuant to section 19-2.5-1102. Lack of compliance is a matter to be determined by the court without a jury, upon written application of the district attorney or probation department. At least seven days' notice must be given to the juvenile and the juvenile's parents, guardian, or legal custodian. The burden of proof is the same as if the matter were being heard as a probation revocation proceeding.

(7) If the juvenile agrees to a deferral of adjudication, the juvenile waives all rights to a speedy trial and sentencing.

Source: L. 2021: Entire article added with relocations, (SB 21-059), ch. 136, p. 622, § 2, effective October 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 19-2-709 as it existed prior to 2021.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.

Subsection (1) unambiguously conditions the trial court's power to defer a juvenile's sentence upon the concurrence of the prosecuting attorney. People in Interest of R.W.V., 942 P.2d 1317 (Colo. App. 1997).

Requirement for prosecution's approval of a deferred sentence does not impermissibly interfere with the judiciary's sentencing authority. People in Interest of R.W.V., 942 P.2d 1317 (Colo. App. 1997).

This section does not require the court to wait until the end of the first year of deferred adjudication to extend the deferred adjudication for a second year. The court can extend the period to two years at the time it enters the guilty plea. People ex rel. D.S., 2012 COA 199, 292 P.3d 1210 (decided under law in effect prior to 2012 amendment).

This section does not require the court to expressly state it found good cause to extend the period of deferred adjudication, but the court needs to make sufficient findings on the record to reflect its good cause determination. The court's findings were sufficient to establish good cause. People ex rel. D.S., 2012 COA 199, 292 P.3d 1210 (decided under law in effect prior to 2012 amendment).