Colorado § 16-12-208 - Supreme court - rules.

§ 16-12-208. Supreme court - rules.

(1) No later than January 1, 1998, the Colorado supreme court shall adopt rules to establish procedures, including time limits, for the postconviction review and unitary appeal process created by this part 2.

(2) The rules adopted by the Colorado supreme court pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall address, but are not limited to:

(a) Filing and resolution of motions for new trial;

(b) The timing of the advisement hearing described in section 16-12-204 (2);

(c) The preparation of transcripts for postconviction review and unitary appeal;

(d) Filing and resolution of motions for postconviction review, including but not limited to provisions for determining whether evidentiary hearings are necessary to resolve such motions;

(e) Reciprocal discovery for the defendant and the prosecution during the postconviction review process;

(f) Prompt access by new postconviction counsel to trial counsel's files and materials;

(g) Waiver of a defendant's right to postconviction review and appeal of a conviction and sentence of death;

(h) Resolution of claims of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal by way of a petition for rehearing;

(i) Filing of notices of appeal in the supreme court;

(j) Certification of the appellate record to the supreme court;

(k) Filing of briefs in the supreme court;

(l) Establishment of expedited procedures for resolving second or subsequent requests for relief filed by a defendant after conclusion of the process established by this part 2, including but not limited to motions filed under section 16-12-209;

(m) Creation of meaningful sanctions for violations of the rules promulgated by the supreme court; and

(n) Issuance and dissolution of stays of execution.

(3) The supreme court rules adopted pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall ensure that all proceedings for postconviction review, the certification of the record, and all appellate briefing shall be completed within two years after the date upon which the sentence of death is imposed. There shall be no extensions of time of any kind beyond the two-year period.

(4) Unless otherwise provided in this part 2, the Colorado appellate rules govern the procedures to be followed in appeals to the Colorado supreme court of trial court rulings under this part 2.

(5) The general assembly urges the Colorado supreme court to render its decisions expeditiously in review of class 1 felony convictions where the death penalty has been imposed and any order by the trial court granting or denying postconviction relief in such cases. It is the general assembly's intent that the Colorado supreme court give priority to cases in which a sentence of death has been imposed over all other cases before the court, except to the extent of any conflict with the requirement that the court give the highest priority to enforcement actions brought in accordance with section 20 (1) of article X of the state constitution.

Source: L. 97: Entire part added, p. 1580, § 1, effective June 4.

ANNOTATION

Subsection (3) does not impose an absolute two-year time limit on presenting a unitary appeal to the supreme court. Rather the statute directs the supreme court to create the limit in court rules. An absolute two-year time extension prohibition does not exist either in statute or rule. Crim. P. 32.2 implements the legislature's direction by imposing a series of highly specific time limits designed to meet the two-year goal when it can be accomplished without violating the defendant's constitutional rights or the legislature's expressly articulated goals. People v. Owens, 228 P.3d 969 (Colo. 2010).