State v. Ramos

¶1 We consider whether the Court of Appeals’ remand to the trial court to clarify the terms of community placement in this criminal case vested the trial court with discretion, triggering defendant Joel Ramos’s constitutional right to be present at sentencing. We grant Ramos’s petition for review and hold that the remand order calls for the trial court to exercise discretion. Therefore, a sentencing hearing should be scheduled at which Ramos must be present.

¶2 In 1993, Ramos and Miguel Gaitan, both 14 years old, murdered a family of four in the family’s home during a robbery. Gaitan killed a…