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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket No. 34092 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DOUGLAS SHARP, Defendant-Respondent. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Boise, January 2008 Term 2008 Opinion No. 7 Filed: January 25, 2008 Stephen W. Kenyon, Clerk

Certified question of law from the United States District Court for the District of Utah, Northern Division. Brett L. Tolman, United States Attorney, District of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, for appellant. Elizabethanne Stevens argued. Steven B. Killpack, Utah Federal Public Defender, Salt Lake City, Utah, for respondent. Scott K. Wilson argued.

EISMANN, Chief Justice. We have accepted the following question of law certified by the United States District Court for the District of Utah, Northern Division: "Does an outstanding withheld judgment based on a guilty plea qualify as a conviction under Idaho law?" We answer the question in the affirmative.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On December 23, 1997, Douglas Sharp pled guilty to felony burglary in the State of Idaho. At the sentencing hearing on February 13, 1998, the district court granted Sharp a withheld judgment and placed him on probation for three years. The conditions of probation included that Sharp pay fines, court costs, and restitution, and that he not possess a firearm.

Sharp successfully completed his probation, but did not move to have his guilty plea set aside and his case dismissed pursuant to Idaho Code

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Idaho Law