AGUILAR v. STATE (2020)

ORDER OF AFFIRMANCE

In his motion, Aguilar claimed the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to impose his sentence because Nevada falls under the Treaty of Guadalupe C. Hidalgo and the Nevada Revised Statutes were not properly enacted. He also claimed faithful performance bonds were not filed in the county clerk's office, his strawman CUSIP bond was used illegally, and he was restrained in violation of his right to due process.

NRS 176.555 states a district “court may correct an illegal sentence at any time.” A motion to correct an illegal sentence, however, may only challenge the facial legality of the sentence: either the district court was without jurisdiction to impose a sentence or the sentence was imposed in excess of the statutory maximum. Edwards v. State, 112 Nev. 704, 708, 918 P.2d 321, 324 (1996). “A motion to correct an illegal sentence presupposes a valid conviction and may not, therefore, be used to challenge alleged errors in proceedings that occur prior to the imposition of sentence.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

Aguilar's claims fell outside the narrow scope of claims permissible in a motion to correct an illegal sentence because they did not implicate the jurisdiction of the district court, see Nev. Const. art 6, § 6(1); NRS 171.010; United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 630 (2002) (“[The term jurisdiction means ․ the court's statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate the case.” (internal quotation marks omitted)), and his sentence was facially legal, see NRS 193.165(1) (1995); NRS 200.030(4)(b)(1); NRS 207.010(1)(a). Accordingly, the district court did not err by denying his motion,¹ and we

ORDER the judgment of the district court AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

1.   Although the district court erred by applying the successive and time bars set forth in NRS chapter 34 to Aguilar's motion to correct an illegal sentence, see Edwards, 112 Nev. at 707, 918 P.2d at 323-34, we conclude the district court reached the right result by denying his motion, see Wyatt v. State, 86 Nev. 294, 298, 468 P.2d 338, 341 (1970).