People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo. Ct. App. 1997). · Go Syfert
People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo. Ct. App. 1997). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
23 citation events (15 in the last 25 years) across 3 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: People v. Martinez-Huerta (coloctapp, 2015-05-21)
Treatment trajectory · 1998 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1998 2012 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 15 distinct citers. How cited ↗
discussed Cited as authority (rule) People v. Martinez-Huerta
Colo. Ct. App. · 2015 · confidence medium
People v. White, 981 P.2d 624, 626 (Colo. App. 1998) (ignorance of the time bar does not constitute justifiable excuse); People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589, 591 (Colo. App. 1997) ("ignorance of the law" does not amount to a sufficient showing of justifiable excuse); Slusher, 48 P.8d at 651 (The "recent discovery of a legal basis for. a collateral attack on a conviction does not constitute excusable neglect.").
discussed Cited as authority (rule) People v. Owens
Colo. Ct. App. · 2004 · confidence medium
See People v. Mershon, 874 P.2d 1025, 1036-37 (Colo.1994)(rejecting claim that defendant had no present need to attack his prior convictions until charged as an habitual criminal); People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589, 591-92 (Colo.App.1997)(defendant’s indigence, ignorance of the law, and lack of legal assistance did not constitute justifiable excuse or excusable neglect).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) People v. Clouse
Colo. Ct. App. · 2002 · confidence medium
See People v. Ambos, supra; People v. Vigil, supra, 983 P.2d at 809-10 (incarceration not justifiable excuse or excusable neglect); People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589, 591-92 (Colo.App.1997)(indigence and lack of legal assistance do not constitute excusable neglect).
cited Cited "see" People v. Torres
Colo. Ct. App. · 2016 · signal: see · confidence high
White, 981 P.2d at 626 ; see Vigil, 955 P.2d at 591-92 . 10 ¶ 22 But Chavez-Torrez has not alleged he should be excused simply because he was unaware of a statutory deadline.
cited Cited "see" People v. Chang
Colo. Ct. App. · 2007 · signal: see · confidence high
See People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo.App.1997).
cited Cited "see" People v. McPherson
Colo. Ct. App. · 2001 · signal: see · confidence high
See People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo.App.1997).
cited Cited "see" People v. Shepherd
Colo. Ct. App. · 2001 · signal: see · confidence high
See People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589, 592 (Colo.App.1997).
discussed Cited "see" People v. Slusher
Colo. Ct. App. · 2001 · signal: see · confidence high
See People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo.App.1997); see also People v. Rowe, 837 P.2d 260 (Colo.App.1992)(defendant's arguments that he had only a limited education, was unaware that his convictions could be attacked, and had not been advised of that fact by his counsel were insufficient to constitute exeusable neglect), rev'd on other grounds, 856 P.2d 486 (Colo.1993).
cited Cited "see" St. Jude's Co. v. Roaring Fork Club, L.P.
Colo. Ct. App. · 1999 · signal: see · confidence high
See People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo.App.1997).
cited Cited "see" People Ex Rel Ape
Colo. Ct. App. · 1999 · signal: see · confidence high
See People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo.App.1997).
discussed Cited "see" People v. Collie (2×)
Colo. Ct. App. · 1999 · signal: see · confidence high
See People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo.App.1997).
discussed Cited "see" People v. Vigil
Colo. Ct. App. · 1999 · signal: see · confidence high
See People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo.App.1997) (defendant’s indigence, ignorance of the law, and his previous counsel’s failure to advise him concerning collateral relief did not establish justifiable excuse or excusable neglect).
cited Cited "see" People ex rel. A.P.E.
Colo. Ct. App. · 1999 · signal: see · confidence high
See People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo.App.1997).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Peo v. Brooks
Colo. Ct. App. · 2025 · signal: see also · confidence low
See People v. Baker, 104 P.3d 893, 896 (Colo. 2005) (To establish excusable neglect, the circumstances must show that “there has been a failure to take proper steps at the proper time, not in consequence of carelessness, but as the result of some unavoidable hindrance or accident.” (citation omitted)); see also People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589 (Colo. App. 1997) (a defendant’s indigence, ignorance of the law, or lack of legal counsel do not amount to justifiable excuse or excusable neglect for an untimely filed collateral attack). 5 ¶ 13 Thus, we perceive no error in the district court’s …
discussed Cited "see, e.g." v. Jiron
Colo. Ct. App. · 2020 · signal: see also · confidence medium
See Wiedemer, 852 P.2d at 434 (“It is well settled that states may attach reasonable time limits to the assertion of federal constitutional rights.”); see also People v. Vigil, 955 P.2d 589, 591 (Colo. App. 1997) (holding that a lack of counsel does not amount to justifiable excuse or excusable neglect under section 16-5-402).
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Joseph D. VIGIL, Defendant-Appellant
96CA0425.
Colorado Court of Appeals.
Oct 2, 1997.
955 P.2d 589
Gale A. Norton, Attorney General, Martha Phillips Allbright, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Richard A. Westfall, Solicitor General, Matthew S. Holman, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, for Plaintiff-Appellee., David F. Vela, Colorado State Public Defender, Anthony Viorst, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, for Defendant-Appellant.
Casebolt, Kapelke, Ruland.
Cited by 21 opinions  |  Published

Opinion by

Judge CASEBOLT.

Defendant, Joseph D. Vigil, appeals the trial court’s order denying his Crim. P. 35(c) motion for post-conviction relief. We affirm.

Defendant pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in 1977. In 1991, he filed this Crim. P. 35(e) motion seeking collaterally to attack the conviction on the ground that the plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered because he was not adequately advised pursuant to Crim. P. 11.

The trial court denied defendant’s motion as time-barred under § 16-5-402, C.R.S. 1997, without conducting a hearing. Defendant appealed that ruling and, in People v. Vigil, (Colo.App. No. 91CA1302, Sept. 2, 1993) (not selected for official publication), a division of this court vacated the trial court’s order and remanded with directions to allow defendant an opportunity to establish justifiable excuse or excusable neglect based on the factors announced in People v. Wiedemer, 852 P.2d 424 (Colo.1993).

While his initial appeal was pending, defendant discharged his sentence and was released from prison. Thereafter, he was charged in the federal district court with armed robbery. Based in part on the conviction in this case, defendant was designated a career offender under the federal sentencing guidelines, which subjected him to a greater sentence than he would otherwise have been required to serve. Before sentencing in that case, defendant attempted collaterally to attack, in federal court, the conviction in this case. However, that court declined to allow the attack.

On the remand from this court in this case, defendant filed a supplemental motion to vacate his conviction, contending that Custis v. United States, 511 U.S. 485, 114 S.Ct. 1732, 128 L.Ed.2d 517 (1994), requires that state courts consider attacks on state convictions, when those convictions are being used to enhance a federal sentence, without regard to state statutes of limitation for such attacks.

The trial court conducted a hearing, ruled that Custis v. United States, supra, was inapplicable, and further ruled that defendant had failed to establish justifiable excuse or excusable neglect. Defendant appeals that order.

I.

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in finding that the time bar[*591] contained in § 16-5-402, C.R.S.1997, could be applied to his claims. We disagree.

Section 16-5-402(1), C.R.S.1997, as applicable here, provides that a defendant may collaterally attack a prior conviction within three years of the conviction. In order to avoid constitutional infirmities, the supreme court, in People v. Fagerholm, 768 P.2d 689 (Colo.1989), construed § 16-5-402 to include a grace period of five years from the effective date of the statute within which convictions could be challenged without regard to the statutory exceptions. Thus, persons who had sustained convictions prior to the effective date of the statute were given until July 1, 1989, to attack their convictions.

Here, defendant’s motion was filed after the five-year grace period had expired. Therefore, defendant had to establish excusable neglect or justifiable excuse. See § 16-5 — 402(2)(d), C.R.S.1997; People v. Stephens, 837 P.2d 231 (Colo.App.1992).

Defendant contends, however, that under Custis v. United States, supra, state courts are obligated to entertain all collateral attacks by criminal defendants who are subject to federal sentencing enhancement without regard to the timeliness of those challenges under state limitations statutes. We reject this contention.

In Custis, the Supreme Court held that a federal criminal defendant, subject to mandatory enhanced sentencing under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) (1994), was not permitted collaterally to challenge his underlying state convictions in the federal courts on any ground other than a total deprivation of the right to counsel. Although the Supreme Court stated that such persons may attack their state convictions in state court, it did not in any way require state courts to ignore or abrogate any statutes of limitation governing a federal defendant’s right to pursue such collateral attacks in the state courts.

Therefore, defendant’s contention that the Supremacy Clause mandates that he must be able collaterally to attack his state court convictions, without regard to state statutes of limitation for such attacks, fails.

II.

We are not persuaded by defendant’s alternative suggestion that, in light of Custis, he is entitled to a grace period akin to the five-year grace period of Fagerholm. The grace period of Fagerhplm was developed to preserve the right to collateral relief for a class of defendants who would otherwise have been permanently foreclosed from seeking such relief. No such potential inequity exists here because defendant could have asserted a timely collateral attack in the Colorado courts at any time until July 1, 1989.

Furthermore, we reject defendant’s claim that, before the Custis decision in 1994, he was justified in postponing his collateral attack because he believed that, if the need arose, he could assert his claim in the context of a federal sentencing proceeding. See People v. Mershon, 874 P.2d 1025 (Colo.1994).

III.

We reject defendant’s remaining contention that he demonstrated justifiable excuse or excusable neglect.

Whether a defendant has demonstrated justifiable excuse or excusable neglect is a question of fact to be resolved by the trial court. People v. Wiedemer, supra. Deference is to be given to the trial court’s findings of fact, and, when there is record support for them, a reviewing court will not overturn those findings. People v. Thomas, 853 P.2d 1147 (Colo.1993).

In People v. Wiedemer, supra, the supreme court set forth several factors which must be considered in determining whether excusable neglect or justifiable excuse exists. Here, the trial court examined the appropriate factors and found, with record support, that defendant had failed to establish justifiable excuse or excusable neglect. It concluded that defendant’s indigence, ignorance of the law, and lack of legal assistance did not amount to a sufficient showing of justifiable excuse or excusable neglect under § 16-5-402(2)(d), C.R.S.1997.

[*592] Our review of the record reveals that defendant demonstrated no unavoidable hindrance which would cause a reasonably prudent person to neglect to pursue timely collateral relief. See People v. Rowe, 837 P.2d 260 (Colo.App.1992), rev’d on other grounds, 856 P.2d 486 (Colo.1993) (no justifiable excuse or excusable neglect shown where defendant alleged ignorance of the law, lack of funds, and previous counsel’s failure to advise concerning collateral lief).

The order is affirmed.

RULAND and KAPELKE, JJ., concur.