1,653 results for 'cat:"Sentencing"'.
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly dismissed an inmate's request to compel recalculation of two sentences to run concurrently. Defendant was serving time for a previous crime when he was sentenced as a second felony offender for a new crime, and thus the law required that the sentences run consecutively. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: CV-23-0814, Categories: sentencing
J. Hudson finds the circuit court properly denied defendant's petition for writ of mandamus seeking to withdraw his guilty plea for his conviction on a charge of attempting to furnish a prohibited article into a correctional facility. Separate from his murder, assault, burglary and kidnapping charges, defendant attempted to introduce a cell phone battery into his jail cell while awaiting trial. After a guilty plea conviction, the conviction and sentence cannot be modified. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Hudson , Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: CR-23-646, Categories: sentencing, Smuggling, Plea
J. Rowland finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for two counts of murder, sentencing him to death. Defendant became the prime suspect after a bank employee notified police of a series of transactions on the victim's debit card after her and her young son's deaths at their home. Defendant was identified by ATM photos and the testimony of the victim's sister, as well as testimony of multiple witnesses of preceding events. Even if the "knowingly creating a great risk of death" aggravator is invalid on certain counts, the remaining valid aggravating factor outweighs mitigating evidence and supports the sentence. The jury's finding the murder was especially heinous or cruel, as well as defendant's high risk for reoffending, is well supported. Affirmed.
Court: Oklahoma Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Rowland , Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: D-2019-542, Categories: Death Penalty, Murder, sentencing
J. Kelsey grants the defendant's habeas petition and order his early release. A law passed in Virginia's legislature amended the earned-sentence credit program. Under the new early-release program, prisoners with qualifying convictions are eligible to receive credits at a higher rate of up to 15 days of credit for every 30 days served. The amendment specifically excludes those with murder convictions but not attempted murder convictions.
Court: Virginia Supreme Court, Judge: Kelsey , Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 230514, Categories: Habeas, Murder, sentencing
J. Kemp finds the circuit court properly denied defendant's petitions for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and for extraordinary writs. Defendant was sentenced to 72 months in prison on his no-contest plea conviction on sexual assault charges. He does not plead the facial invalidity of the judgment or the trial court’s lack of jurisdiction, as necessary, having not pleaded his actual innocence. Defendant has not properly alleged illegal detainment. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Kemp , Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: CR-22-450, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender, Plea
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Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant based on his guilty pleas to drug possession in two indictments. Defendant contends the concurrent parts of his sentence were harsh, but he secured a "highly advantageous" plea agreement despite having an extensive criminal history. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 112056, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, Plea
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant based on his guilty plea to robbery for forcibly taking a wallet from a woman outside a store, as defendant's claim that his sentence was harsh was precluded by his valid appeal waiver. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 113230, Categories: Robbery, sentencing, Plea
J. Ledet finds that defendant was properly sentenced to a cumulative 65 year sentence on his guilty plea to a sixteen-count indictment arising from a drunk driving incident that took place after a parade where he drove into a crowd, including seven bicyclists, fatally injuring two of the bicyclists. Although defendant did not have a prior criminal conviction, his criminal history included a DWI that involved drinking and driving at a parade route. Further, the circumstances of his first degree negligent injuring offenses involved inflicting injury on six victims, excluding the two fatality victims, the vehicular negligent injuring victim, and property damage, and those sentences were ordered to run concurrently, not consecutively. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Ledet, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 2023-KA-0591, Categories: sentencing, Vehicular Homicide
J. Gremillion finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant to 25 years in prison for one count of third-degree rape, two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and one count of pornography involving a juvenile. Defendant's sentence was not excessive because he consistently targeted girls between the ages of 13 and 16 to get them drunk and perform sexual acts with them. He entered his guilty plea knowing that it waived his right to appeal his convictions. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Gremillion, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: KA-23-621, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
[Modified.] J. Streeter makes three changes to a previously published opinion with no change in judgment. The lower court properly denied defendant’s petition for relief. Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted robbery and sentenced to 50 years to life. He was granted a resentencing hearing after a lower court found he was denied counsel, and though the same errors were repeated during the resentencing hearing, the instant court finds them harmless. Evidence is sufficient to support defendant’s convictions and sentence, along with associated enhancements. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Streeter, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: A166001, Categories: Murder, sentencing, Self Representation
J. Virden finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for sexual assault and rape committed against his minor grandchildren based on sufficient evidence. The children testified the abuse, including vaginal and oral penetration, seemed like normal life. Defendant told one of the children that if she told anyone she would be committed to a mental institution, also threatening to hurt her pets. Witness credibility was properly considered, and the court properly elected to run the sentences consecutively. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Virden , Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: CR-23-581, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Hellman finds the trial court properly denied defendant post-conviction relief. “Petitioner did not prove that counsel failed to exercise reasonable professional skill and judgment when counsel did not consult with and introduce testimony from a medical expert for any of the purposes that petitioner identified.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Hellman, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: A177101, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, sentencing
J. Hutchison affirms the lower court's order denying defendant's motion to correct its order for a six-month suspended sentence on a misdemeanor charge of joyriding in lieu of 10-days of actual jail time followed by one-year unsupervised probation to reflect time-served for good behavior. The judge did not abuse his discretion by instructing defendant to file a separate civil suit against the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation within three months, then denying her motion when she failed to provide notice of a suit.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hutchison, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 22-685, Categories: Burglary, sentencing, Vehicle
J. Schlegel finds that defendant was properly convicted of domestic abuse battery by strangulation. Defendant does not show that a juror should have been disqualified from serving for not disclosing a prior felony. In this case, the juror admitted that he had been convicted of possession of methamphetamine in 2010, but he thought he had received “a pardon when [he]was taken off of probation." However, defendant's sentence as enhanced by the multiple offender bill is illegally lenient for not restricting parole. Affirmed in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Schlegel, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-KA-393, Categories: Jury, sentencing, Domestic Violence
J. Moore finds that although defendant was involved with his girlfriend in the scheme whereby she traded sexual favors for painkillers and used some of the drugs "purchased" through the setup, there was sufficient evidence to convict him of sex trafficking through force or coercion. The dealer routinely assaulted the victim and threatened her with guns on several occasions. Meanwhile, the trial court properly applied a "vulnerable victim" enhancement to defendant's sentence because his girlfriend's addiction to opioids and physical ailments placed her squarely in the category. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Moore, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-3179, Categories: Evidence, sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Brathwaite Nelson finds that the lower court properly considered defendant's prior juvenile delinquency adjudication from New Jersey in determining his sex offender risk level designation. Precedent does not permit consideration of prior juvenile delinquency adjudications out of New York, but New Jersey does not have a comparable proscription on the use of its juvenile delinquency adjudications. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Brathwaite Nelson, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 02071, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Staab finds that defendant, who was convicted of killing one student and seriously injuring three others at Freeman High School, must be resentenced. Defendant was 15 years old at the time of the crime and was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison. However, because defendant was under the age of 16 at the time of the shooting, he should have been sentenced to 25 years to life. Vacated.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Staab, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 39185-0-III, Categories: Murder, sentencing
J. Arterburn finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for criminal mischief. Surveillance video from the vandalized outpatient clinic, which was properly admitted, showed defendant breaking windows. All sentencing factors involving the costs incurred by the clinic and defendant's record of previous offenses were properly and fully considered. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Arterburn , Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: A-23-510, Categories: Evidence, sentencing, Vandalism
J. Colvin finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, aggravated battery, violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and other offenses. Any error the trial court committed in barring defendant from making a closing argument about the sentences his co-defendants avoided by pleading guilty was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt. Defendant admitted to stabbing the victim and another witness testified that defendant told her he shot the victim. The trial court correctly overruled defendant's objection that the prosecutor personally attacked his counsel during closing arguments in saying that the defense's theory of the case insulted the victim's memory. However, the trial court incorrectly failed to merge some of the counts against defendant for sentencing. Affirmed in part.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Colvin, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: S24A0125, Categories: Murder, sentencing, Gangs
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to 120 months in prison for possession of a firearm as a felon after rejecting a binding plea agreement providing for a 96-month sentence. Defendant was fully aware that the acceptance of defendant's guilty plea did not ensure the acceptance of the binding plea agreement, and there is no merit to the claim that the court improperly inserted itself into the plea negotiation process. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 22-2364, Categories: Firearms, sentencing, Plea
J. Lawrence finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant on two counts of manslaughter and other charges stemming from a multi-vehicle accident that allegedly "resulted in the death of two drivers." Defendant was sentenced to 30 years, "with all but twenty-five years suspended," and he now argues that the sentence was not "proportioned to the offense." However, the lower court correctly considered the facts of the case, including that defendant was allegedly driving a loaded tractor-trailer while "ill, fatigued, and under the influence of prescription drugs and alcohol." Affirmed.
Court: Maine Supreme Court, Judge: Lawrence, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 2024ME26, Categories: sentencing, Dui, Manslaughter
J. Arterburn finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for operating a motor vehicle during revocation. Though defendant was observed in the driver's seat before the traffic stop, upon making contact officers found him lying down between seats, with a woman driving. Though defendant argues the woman's testimony was consistent with his claim he was never driving, jurors found the officers' testimony more credible, and credibility findings will not be reviewed. Affirmed in part.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Arterburn , Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: A-23-435, Categories: Evidence, sentencing, Vehicle
J. Stevens upholds a trial court judgment denying the appeal of a convicted felon whose eight-year suspended sentence for illegal possession of a firearm was revoked. Defense counsel found no genuine issues to justify an appeal, and, upon review of the record, no reversible error exists. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 06-23-157-CR, Categories: Firearms, sentencing, Restitution
J. Seely finds the trial court improperly denied post sentencing motions for a defendant charged with burglary when he challenged his sentence on the grounds of double jeopardy. The state argues the trial court no longer had jurisdiction to consider a post-sentencing request. The trial court does not have jurisdiction because the case had begun, and the defendant failed to file his post-sentencing motion within the time period allowed to rule on the motions. This case is remanded for further proceedings to dismiss the motions. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Seeley, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: AC46463, Categories: Burglary, sentencing, Jurisdiction