1,653 results for 'cat:"Sentencing"'.
J. Natali finds that the trial court properly upheld the defendant's obligation under sex offender laws. Other jurisdictions have rejected due process challenges to lifetime registration requirements for certain violent offenders, and no legal authority states that all sex offenders who remain offense-free will eventually reach a point at which they are no longer a risk of committing sexual offenses. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Natali, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: A-1189-21, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Jabar finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant for aggravated assault and other charges but improperly sentenced him to "five years in prison with all but twenty-four months suspended, followed by three years of probation." The court finds that two of the counts should be merged as being duplicative and the case remanded for resentencing based on the merged counts. Also, defendant argues that he was penalized during sentencing for going to trial, and the lower court's comments on the decision to stand trial were "at the very least, ambiguous," rendering the sentence invalid. Vacated in part.
Court: Maine Supreme Court, Judge: Jabar, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 2023ME32, Categories: sentencing, Assault
J. Egan finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant based on his guilty plea to drug possession and sale. After being discharged from a judicial diversion program for committing certain violations, defendant was sentenced to the maximum permissible term, which was not harsh given his criminal history and warnings he received concerning the possible sentence length. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Egan, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 111507B, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, Plea
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J. Groban finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder, though the court of appeal improperly affirmed the sentencing enhancements for his association with a criminal street gang and for firearm use. The jury was not instructed, as required by a recent Assembly Bill, that the predicate offenses must have “commonly benefited [the] criminal street gang, and the common benefit from the offenses is more than reputational.” It was not proven whether defendant’s claims of gang association were true or not, and the firearm enhancement is contingent upon the gang enhancement. The court of appeal’s affirmation of the enhancements is reversed and remanded.
Court: California Supreme Court, Judge: Groban, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: S273134, Categories: Murder, sentencing, Gangs
J. Fisher finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant based on his guilty plea to criminal sexual act for having contact with a person passed out from medication and incapable of consent. Defendant claimed his sentence was harsh, but he received the minimum prison term authorized for a violent sex offense, coupled with the longest permitted period of postrelease supervision to ensure extended supervision. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Fisher, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 111981, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender, Plea
J. Womack finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder. Defendant was observed stabbing the victim by witnesses on a two-day long excursion involving the acquisition of drugs, firearms and owed money. The arrest was made and evidence was gathered with the help of the witnesses. Certain claims of error are not preserved and are subject to no exceptions. Defendant was not prevented from testifying about the victim’s past and self-defense instructions were properly given to the jury. All evidence was properly admitted, and defendant’s habitual offender status was properly applied at sentencing. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Womack, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: CR-22-498, Categories: Evidence, Murder, sentencing
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant based on his guilty plea to burglary. The plea terms were altered following the discovery that the homeowner had been present during the burglary, but the enhancement did not render the sentence harsh. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 112116, Categories: Burglary, sentencing, Plea
J. Liu finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for six counts of forcible lewd acts on his nine-year-old cousin and one lesser included offense of attempt, handing down seven separate, consecutive sentences. The relevant California penal code, requiring that a sentencing court impose “full, separate, and consecutive term[s]” for offenses committed on separate occasions complies with the Sixth Amendment. Affirmed.
Court: California Supreme Court, Judge: Liu, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: S271828, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant based on his guilty plea to drug possession. However, because he is a predicate felony offender convicted of a drug-related felony, defendant should have been designated a second felony drug offender rather than as a second felony offender on the uniform sentence and commitment form. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 112487, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, Plea
J. Crone finds that consecutive sentences were improperly imposed upon defendant's conviction on 10 counts of invasion of privacy because letters he wrote the victim in violation of a no-contract order had not been threatening in nature. Thus, total jail time should be reduced from 3,000 to 300 days. Reversed.
Court: Indiana Court Of Appeals, Judge: Crone, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 22A-CR-2276, Categories: sentencing, Threats, Restraining Order
J. Mullins finds that defendant was properly sentenced based on his guilty plea to domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury and other charges because the lower court lacked discretion to suspend the portion of the sentence imposing fines. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mullins, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 22-0985, Categories: sentencing, Domestic Violence
J. McKeague finds that while the inmate was not represented by counsel when he was convicted and sentenced to time served for a marijuana possession charge, the trial court properly used the conviction to enhance his sentence on an assault with intent to murder conviction. There is no clearly defined principle against such an application of a previous conviction. While an uncounseled conviction that results in jail typically cannot be used for sentence enhancements, it is reasonable to conclude the inmate's possession conviction did not result in a prison sentence because he was already in prison. Therefore, the use of the conviction to enhance his current sentence did not violate his constitutional rights. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: McKeague, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 21-2799, Categories: Habeas, sentencing
J. Gould finds that the district court improperly denied defendant's habeas corpus petition challenging his conviction and 10-to-25-year sentence for second-degree murder. Defendant showed that his attorney's decision to waive closing argument was not based on strategy and that he was prejudiced by his counsel’s waiver. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Gould, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 22-15557, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Murder, sentencing
J. Tabor finds that defendant was properly denied ineffective relief from his conviction for burglary, domestic abuse assault, and other charges, because counsel was not bound to mention sex offender treatment as a potential consequence of the plea bargain because defendant did not plead guilty to a sexually motivated crime. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tabor, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 22-0523, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, sentencing, Plea
J. Tabor finds that defendant was properly sentenced to a suspended 10-year sentence for first-degree theft based on his guilty plea to taking the victim's belongings after holding him up at gunpoint, as defendant was not entitled to deferred judgment. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tabor, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 22-0931, Categories: sentencing, Theft
J. Doyle finds that defendant was properly sentenced based on his guilty plea to operating while intoxicated, third or subsequent offense, based on defendant's admission that he was a habitual offender. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Doyle, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 22-0540, Categories: sentencing, Dui, Plea
J. Gravois finds that defendant was properly sentenced to 35 years in prison on his conviction for first degree robbery and eight years for his conviction for attempted carjacking. The testimony and evidence show that defendant took a victim's car at gunpoint and then was involved in two accidents where he fled the scene. After crashing the stolen car into a truck, he injured the truck driver while attempting to drive away. Further, defendant had two prior convictions. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Gravois, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 22-KA-527, Categories: Robbery, sentencing
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly convicted defendant of four counts of hostage-taking, one of which resulted in death. Seeking compassionate release on his life sentence, defendant contends the court paid insufficient attention to how young he had been when he committed the crimes, but his involvement in a violent criminal gang that kidnapped, tortured, mutilated, and raped its victims constituted "heinous crimes" that could not be overlooked. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: 21-2595, Categories: sentencing, Gangs
Per curiam, the Supreme Court of Ohio finds the appeals court erroneously dismissed the inmate's mandamus petition based on information obtained from another court's docket and without providing the proper notice to the inmate. Therefore, the case will be remanded to give the inmate the opportunity to show his petition met certain filing requirements. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-1696, Categories: Criminal Procedure, sentencing
J. Welch finds the trial court properly convicted defendant by a no-contest plea for attempted sexual assault through the use of a communication device. Defendant answered an ad placed by investigators posing as a 15-year-old girl on a website known for prostitution. His communication showed his knowledge of the decoy’s age and his willingness to pay her for sex. All factors were properly considered and all evidence supports conviction. Though defendant lacks a criminal history, sentencing is supported by the benefit received from his plea agreement, the nature of the offense, his previous contact with an underage girl, the court’s finding that a lesser sentence would depreciate the seriousness of the offense and the fact that his sentence of 8-14 years was near the low end of the statutory range of up to 50 years’ imprisonment. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welch, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: A-22-775, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Karofsky finds the circuit court properly ordered defendant to register as a sex offender for 15 years subsequent to his conviction upon pleading guilty to five counts of possession of child pornography at the same hearing in a single case. The state's argument that defendant should have been required to register as a sex offender for life according to Wisconsin law fails, as the relevant statute's lifetime registry requirement is triggered when a person has been convicted of sex offenses "on two or more separate occasions," and the term "separate occasions" does not apply to multiple convictions within a single case under the statute's plain meaning and the common and ordinary meaning of the term. The circuit court also did not err when it determined defendant was ineligible for an earned release program because the record shows his substance abuse was not what caused his crime. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court, Judge: Karofsky, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: 2020AP001213-CR, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Wendlandt finds defendant's altered sentence must be vacated and his resentence, which was a reduced number of years in prison on indecent assault and battery convictions on a person with an intellectual disability, be reinstated. Although his resentence was illegally lower than the required minimum of years required for his convictions, the altered sentence violated double jeopardy principles. Reversed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: May 22, 2023, Case #: SJC-13294, Categories: sentencing, Assault, Double Jeopardy
J. Feuer finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for three counts of false imprisonment by violence, three counts of forcible oral copulation, three counts of forcible rape and one count of attempted forcible rape. Certain delays and procedures used due to the Covid-19 pandemic were harmless and did not interfere with defendant’s ability to defend. Recent amendments to the penal code apply retroactively, making the one-strike law inapplicable. Defendant’s custody credit must be corrected. Affirmed in part. Vacated in part and remanded for resentencing.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Feuer, Filed On: May 22, 2023, Case #: B316245, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender, Kidnapping