State of Utah v. Walker

----ooOoo----

State of Utah,
Plaintiff and Appellee,

v.

Lee Walker,
Defendant and Appellant.

MEMORANDUM DECISION
(Not For Official Publication)

Case No. 990198-CA

F I L E D
August 19, 1999
  1999 UT App 241 -----

Fifth District, St. George Department
The Honorable G. Rand Beacham

Attorneys:
Jim R. Scarth, St. George, for Appellant
Jan Graham and Christine Soltis, Salt Lake City, for Appellee

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Before Judges Wilkins, Billings, and Jackson.

PER CURIAM:

Walker asks that we stay this appeal and remand the matter so the trial court may rule on his motions to arrest judgment and for new trial. The State does not object. However, we are without authority to do so.

In the February 3, 1999, judgment from which Walker seeks to appeal, the trial court stayed imposition of sentence. Until a defendant has been sentenced, there is no final, appealable order. See State v. Hunsaker, 933 P.2d 415, 416 (Utah Ct. App. 1997) (per curiam) (stating that "[b]ecause defendant has not been sentenced, the appeal was not taken from a final order, and this court lacks jurisdiction to consider the appeal"); State v. Gerrard, 584 P.2d 885, 886 (Utah 1978) (stating that the sentence is the final judgment from which an appeal can be taken). Because Walker has not been sentenced, there is no final, appealable order, and we lack jurisdiction to consider his appeal.

Moreover, because no sentence has been announced Utah R. App. P. 4(c), which states that "a notice of appeal filed after the announcement of a decision, judgment, or order but before the entry of the judgment or order of the trial court shall be treated as filed after such entry and on the day thereof," does not apply. To the contrary, the trial court specifically stayed the announcement of sentence.

Accordingly, we have no alternative but to dismiss Walker's appeal for lack of jurisdiction. This dismissal is without prejudice to the filing of a new, timely notice of appeal after the trial court enters a final, appealable order.
 
 
 

______________________________
Michael J. Wilkins,
Presiding Judge
 
 
 

______________________________
Judith M. Billings, Judge
 
 
 

______________________________
Norman H. Jackson, Judge