American Fork v. Singleton

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American Fork City,
Plaintiff and Appellee,

v.

Larry J. Singleton,
Defendant and Appellant.

MEMORANDUM DECISION
(Not For Official Publication)

Case No. 20010135-CA

F I L E D
June 1, 2001 2001 UT App 178 -----

Fourth District, American Fork Department
The Honorable Howard H. Maetani

Attorneys:
Noall T. Wootton, American Fork, for Appellant
James "Tucker" Hansen and Brian K. Haws, American Fork, for Appellee

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Before Judges Greenwood, Billings, and Davis.

PER CURIAM:

Appellant Larry J. Singleton appeals from a conditional plea agreement to Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, a Class B misdemeanor, in violation of Section 44-6-44 of American Fork, Utah Ordinances. This case is before the court on a sua sponte motion for summary dismissal.

Singleton filed a notice of appeal purportedly taken from the conditional plea agreement; however, he has not been sentenced, and the record contains no signed judgment. It is well-established that "[i]n criminal cases, the sentence itself is the final judgment from which an appeal can be taken." State v. Hunsaker, 933 P.2d 415, 416 (Utah Ct. App. 1997) (per curiam); see also State v. Gerrard, 584 P.2d 885, 886 (Utah 1978) ("It is the sentence itself which constitutes a final judgment from which appellant has the right to appeal."). Nothing in State v. Sery, 758 P.2d 935 (Utah Ct. App. 1998), alters the general requirement that an appeal must be taken from a final judgment based on the sentence entered pursuant to a conditional guilty plea. Any stay of the sentence pending appeal must be obtained through an application for a certificate of probable cause made to the trial court pursuant to Rule 27 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure.

We dismiss the appeal without prejudice to a timely appeal taken following sentencing, and the entry of a signed judgment incorporating the sentence.
 
 

______________________________
Pamela T. Greenwood,
Presiding Judge
 
 

______________________________
Judith M. Billings, Judge
 
 

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James Z. Davis, Judge