State v. Neal
Annotate this CaseEric Neal was convicted of second-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, endangering a child, and criminal possession of a firearm. Neal was sentenced to total incarceration of 653 months for all convictions. Neal appealed, claiming an error in his criminal history score. The court of appeals affirmed. Later, Neal filed a pro se motion to correct an illegal sentence, contending that the district court erred in (1) aggregating three previous municipal person misdemeanor convictions into one person felony for the purpose of calculating Neal's criminal history, and (2) sentencing Neal with enhancements based upon that erroneous history. The district court dismissed Neal's motions. The court of appeals affirmed, concluding that Neal's motion was procedurally barred as he was improperly using it as a substitute for a second appeal. On review, the Supreme Court reversed the decisions of the court of appeals and district court, holding (1) Neal's motion was not procedurally barred because the motion to correct an illegal sentence is not subject to the general rule that a defendant must raise all available issues on direct appeal, and (2) Neal's motion raised substantial issues of fact and law. Remanded.
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