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Telford v. State BoP&P Case No. 20000807-CA, Filed March 22, 2001
IN THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS
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Travis Edward Telford,
Petitioner and Appellant,

v.
State Board of Pardons and Parole,
Respondent and Appellee.
MEMORANDUM DECISION
(Not For Official Publication)
Case No. 20000807-CA

F I L E D
March 22, 2001


Third District, Salt Lake Department The Honorable Leon A. Dever
Attorneys: Travis Edward Telford, Draper, Appellant Pro Se Mark L. Shurtleff and Sharel S. Reber, Salt Lake City, for Appellee
Before Judges Greenwood, Jackson, and Davis.
PER CURIAM:
Travis Edward Telford (Telford) appeals the trial court's dismissal of his petition for extraordinary relief. Telford argues that the Board of Pardons (Board) exceeded its authority by setting his parole date for 2018 and that the Board wrongly extended his parole date because he refused to testify against his co-defendant. We reject both arguments.
Telford was convicted of murder, a first degree felony. His 2018 parole date is within the indeterminate range of his sentence--five years to life. See Preece v. House, 886 P.2d 508, 512 (Utah 1994) (stating "so long as the period of incarceration decided upon by the board of pardons falls within an inmate's applicable indeterminate range, e.g., five years to life, then that decision, absent unusual circumstances, cannot be arbitrary and capricious"). Accordingly, Telford's constitutional rights were not violated by the Board's decision. Moreover, in exercising its parole power, the Board was not engaged in a sentencing function, nor did it violate the separation of powers. The Utah Supreme Court has held that "the Board's exercise of its parole power in setting determinate parole dates does not violate the separation of powers doctrine of article V, section 1 of the Utah Constitution." Padilla v. Utah Bd. of Pardons and Parole, 947 P.2d 664, 669 (Utah 1997).
Evidence was introduced at Telford's original parole hearing, including Telford's own admission, that he refused to testify at his co

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