Anglemyer v. State

868 N.E.2d 482, 2007 Ind. LEXIS 490, 2007 WL 1816813
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJune 26, 2007
Docket43S05-0606-CR-230
StatusPublished
Cited by1,824 cases

This text of 868 N.E.2d 482 (Anglemyer v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anglemyer v. State, 868 N.E.2d 482, 2007 Ind. LEXIS 490, 2007 WL 1816813 (Ind. 2007).

Opinion

RUCKER, Justice.

Summary

In this opinion we discuss the respective roles of Indiana trial and appellate courts under the 2005 amendments to Indiana’s criminal sentencing statutes. We hold that where a trial court imposes sentence *485 for a felony offense it is required to issue a sentencing statement that includes a reasonably detailed recitation of the trial court’s reasons for the sentence imposed. The standard of review is abuse of discretion.

Facts and Procedural History

Around 10:00 p.m. on May 14, 2005, Alexander J. Anglemyer telephoned a local restaurant and ordered a pizza. He advised the person taking the order that the delivery driver should bring change for a one hundred dollar bill. Anglemyer provided the address to a vacant house located at the end of a residential street. When the driver arrived Anglemyer walked up to him with his hands behind his back. The driver thought that Anglemyer was reaching for his wallet, but “the next thing [the driver] kn[e]w, [he] got hit in the head.” App. at 30. The driver fell to the ground where Anglemyer continued to beat and kick him while shouting “[g]ive me your money.” Id. The driver tossed Anglemyer a pouch containing cash and checks. As a result of the attack the driver suffered severe pain, a broken right arm, and a laceration to his head requiring seven staples. Id. at 7.

Anglemyer was arrested shortly thereafter and later charged with Count I, robbery as a Class B felony, and Count II, battery as a Class C felony. Under the terms of a written plea agreement, Angle-myer agreed to plead guilty as charged. Among other things the agreement provided that the “sentence will not exceed sixteen (16) years executed. Each count’s sentence shall run consecutive.” Id. at 8. The trial court accepted the agreement, and Anglemyer pleaded guilty pursuant to its terms. At the sentencing hearing the trial court imposed a ten-year sentence for the Class B felony conviction and a six-year sentence for the Class C felony conviction. Ordering the sentences to run consecutively, the trial court imposed a total term of sixteen years.

Appealing his sentence Anglemyer raised a single issue, “Whether the maximum possible sentence imposed under the Plea Agreement is inappropriate in light of Anglemyer’s character and the nature of the offenses.” Br. of Appellant at 2. The Court of Appeals declined to address this claim. 1 However, because in the argument section of his brief Anglemyer focused upon alleged trial court error in identifying and weighing aggravating and mitigating factors, the Court of Appeals addressed these claims. Concluding, among other things, that under the amended statutory scheme any error related to the trial court’s findings of aggravating and mitigating circumstances is harmless, the court affirmed the trial court’s judgment. Anglemyer v. State, 845 N.E.2d 1087, 1090-92 (Ind.Ct.App.2006). We previously granted transfer, thereby vacating the Court of Appeals’ opinion. See Anglemyer v. State, 855 N.E.2d 1012 (Ind.2006) (Table); Ind. Appellate Rule 58(A). We now affirm the judgment of the trial court, but for reasons slightly different from those of our colleagues.

Background

In order to produce more uniform sentences the Indiana Legislature adopted a sentencing scheme in 1977 that included a fixed term presumptive sentence for each class of felonies. See Ind.Code §§ 35-50-2-3 to -7 (West Supp.1977). These stat *486 utes also created upper and lower limits for each class of felony offenses. Id. In deciding whether to depart from the presumptive sentence, the trial judge was required to consider five enumerated factors and could consider various other aggravating and mitigating factors. See I.C. § 35-4.1-4-7 (West Supp.1977). The upper and lower limits were revised over the years, but from the time this sentencing arrangement was adopted, our courts understood it as requiring a given presumptive term for each class of crimes from which a judge could deviate upon a finding of aggravating or mitigating circumstances deemed adequate to justify adding or subtracting years. See, e.g., Henderson v. State, 769 N.E.2d 172, 179-80 (Ind.2002); Gardner v. State, 270 Ind. 627, 388 N.E.2d 513, 516-19 (1979). 2 To facilitate this sentencing arrangement we determined that when a trial judge deviated from the fixed term presumptive sentence, it was required to “(1) identify all significant mitigating and aggravating circumstances; (2) state the specific reason why each circumstance ha[d] been determined to be mitigating or aggravating; and (3) articulate the court’s evaluation and balancing of circumstances.” Prickett v. State, 856 N.E.2d 1203, 1207 (Ind.2006); see also Harris v. State, 659 N.E.2d 522, 527-28 (Ind.1995); Hammons v. State, 493 N.E.2d 1250, 1254 (Ind.1986); Robinson v. State, 477 N.E.2d 883, 886 (Ind.1985).

In 2000 the United States Supreme Court decided Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). Apprendi involved a New Jersey “hate crime” statute that authorized a trial court to increase the sentencing range for a crime when the court found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant’s purpose in committing the crime was to intimidate an individual or a group because of race, color, gender, handicap, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. Id. at 468-69, 120 S.Ct. 2348. Finding this statute unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause,, the Court announced the rule that “[ojther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348.

Four years later in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), the Supreme Court reiterated, “Other than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 301, 124 S.Ct. 2531 (quoting Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348). However, the Court clarified that “the ‘statutory maximum’ for Apprendi purposes is the maximum sentence a judge may impose solely on the basis of the facts reflected in the jury verdict or admitted by the defendant.” Id. at 303, 124 S.Ct. 2531 (emphasis omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
868 N.E.2d 482, 2007 Ind. LEXIS 490, 2007 WL 1816813, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anglemyer-v-state-ind-2007.