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Isaiah Morris appealed the district court’s order revoking his sentence to the youthful offender system of the Department of Corrections and imposing his previously suspended DOC sentence.
Morris argued that the court misunderstood its discretion under the YOS statute because it had the discretion to not revoke his YOS sentence due to an alleged behavioral or mental health disorder.
The Colorado Court of Appeals disagreed. According to the opinion, under the YOS statute, when, as in this case, the DOC returns an offender to the district court for failure to comply with the YOS terms and conditions, the offender stipulates that he failed to comply and the revocation procedures meet the requirements of DOC regulations and the YOS statute, the offender “shall receive imposition of the original sentence” to the DOC.
The appeals court also concluded that any error in the district court’s finding about Morris’s mental health history was harmless because, without a diagnosis opining that Morris is “incapable of completing” a YOS sentence due to a behavioral or mental health disorder, the YOS statute mandates imposition of the original suspended DOC sentence.
The appeals court affirmed.