Everybody on this planet makes mistakes…. Even judges. There is a remedy for correcting illegal sentences. If the court does determine that the sentence is illegal it must be corrected, the court is empowered to either amend the sentence or to remand the case to the trial court for resentencing. However, if the sentence is determined that a correction by a certain court may upset the sentencing scheme envisioned by the trial court, the better practice is to remand.
If a trial court errs in a case where there is more than one charge against someone, then all the sentences for all the counts will be vacated so the court can restructure their sentencing scheme. This is held true even if a defendant appeals only one illegal sentence because it would affect the original sentencing scheme that the court imposed during the original trial. The court generally has 30 days after the original sentence to correct an illegal sentence if no appeal has been taken. This has happened in the case of Commonwealth v. Klein.
In this case Mr. Klein was found guilty of many different charges, but was only found guilty because of incorrect evidence. The defendant Mr. Klein appealed his sentence based on the incorrect evidence and won the appeal. Later the case was remanded and Mr. Klein was resentenced to a correct sentence. To find out more about this case; the site is Commonwealth v. Klein 566 Pa 396 (Pa. 2001). If you have been illegally sentenced please call your Bucks County criminal lawyer.