Carlini v. State

CHARLES E. MOYLAN, JR. (Retired, Specially Assigned), J.

What is an illegal sentence? That all depends upon what one means by “an illegal sentence.” There are countless illegal sentences in the simple sense. They are sentences that may readily be reversed, vacated, corrected or modified on direct appeal, or even on limited post-conviction review, for a wide variety of procedural glitches and missteps in the sentencing process. Challenges to such venial illegalities, however, are vulnerable to such common pleading infirmities as non-preservation and limitations. There is a point, after all,…