State v. Hardin

429 S.W.3d 417, 2014 WL 1687974, 2014 Mo. LEXIS 113
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedApril 29, 2014
DocketNo. SC 93555
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 429 S.W.3d 417 (State v. Hardin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Hardin, 429 S.W.3d 417, 2014 WL 1687974, 2014 Mo. LEXIS 113 (Mo. 2014).

Opinion

MARY R. RUSSELL, Chief Justice.

Appellant Kartez Hardin appeals from his convictions for forcible rape, aggravated stalking, and violating a protective order, claiming that his sentence for forcible rape exceeds the maximum sentence for that offense and that his convictions for aggravated stalking and violating a protective order violate double jeopardy. The judgment is affirmed.

Factual and Procedural Background

In November 2010, Hardin’s wife, H.H., obtained an ex parte order of protection after repeated instances of domestic violence. Hardin was served with notice of the protective order. Then, on December 4, Hardin abducted H.H. and her son and raped her. After Hardin was arrested, he violated the protective order five times by calling or writing H.H. from jail.

Hardin was charged with 14 offenses, including one count of forcible rape, one count of aggravated stalking, and five counts of violating a protective order. He was convicted and sentenced on all counts. He now appeals.1

Sentence for Forcible Rape

Hardin was sentenced to a 50-year term of imprisonment for forcible rape under section 566.030.2, RSMo Supp.2009, which provides that “[fjorcible rape ... is a felony for which the authorized term of imprisonment is life imprisonment or a term of years not less than five years.... ” He claims his sentence exceeds the maximum sentence for this offense. Although he failed to preserve the issue for appeal by not objecting at the sentencing hearing, being sentenced to a punishment greater than the maximum sentence for an offense constitutes manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice meriting plain error review. See Rule 30.20; State v. Severe, 307 S.W.3d 640, 642 (Mo. banc 2010).

Hardin contends that section 566.030.2 authorizes a range of punishment from 5 years to life imprisonment. His proposed reading, however, is inconsistent with the statute’s plain language. To determine what punishment is authorized by the statute, this Court looks first for the legislature’s intent as reflected in the plain and ordinary meaning of the statute’s words. Severe, 307 S.W.3d at 643. Each word or phrase must be given meaning if possible. State v. Moore, 303 S.W.3d 515, 520 (Mo. banc 2010). If the plain language of a criminal statute is ambiguous, it will be construed in the defendant’s favor. State v. Liberty, 370 S.W.3d 537, 547 (Mo. banc 2012).

Section 566.030.2 authorizes a sentence of “life imprisonment or a term of years not less than five years.” The two phrases describing the authorized term of imprisonment — “life imprisonment” and “a term of years not less than five years”— are separated by the word “or.” The plain and ordinary meaning of “or” is disjunctive, and its use indicates the legislature’s intent that sentencing courts may sentence defendants to either life imprisonment or a term of years not less than five years. See Council Plaza Redevelopment Corp. v. Duffey, 439 S.W.2d 526, 532 (Mo. banc 1969) (“The disjunctive ‘or’ ... in its ordinary sense marks an alternative which generally corresponds to the word ‘either.’ ”).

[420]*420Hardin’s proposed reading is inconsistent with this plain language. He would rewrite section 566.030.2 to read “life imprisonment to a term of years not less than five years,” inserting the preposition “to” where the legislature used the disjunctive “or.” But “[t]his Court enforces statutes as they are written, not as they might have been written.” Turner v. Sch. Dist. of Clayton, 318 S.W.3d 660, 667-68 (Mo. banc 2010). Further, if the legislature intended to authorize a sentence of a limited term of years, it could have done so. See, e.g., section 589.425, RSMo Supp. 2006 (authorizing a sentence “of not less than ten years and not more than thirty years”). It could have also authorized a sentence of life imprisonment or a sentence of a limited term of years. See section 558.011.1(1), RSMo 2000 (authorizing a sentence of “a term of years not less than ten years and not to exceed thirty years, or life imprisonment”). Here, however, the legislature chose two types of sentences — (1) life imprisonment and (2) a term of years limited only by a statutory minimum — and linked them by the word “or.” The plain and ordinary meaning of this language in section 566.030.2 provides sentencing courts with two options: life imprisonment or an unlimited term of years not less than five years. See State v. Maples, 306 S.W.3d 153, 157 & n. 4 (Mo.App.2010).

Hardin argues that this reading of section 566.030.2 renders the phrase “life imprisonment” meaningless. The crux of his argument is that “life imprisonment” and an unlimited term of years are identical sentences. This may be true in some cases; for example, a 100-year sentence and a sentence of life imprisonment may both result in the prisoner being incarcerated for the remainder of his life. But this is not true with every sentence of a term of years not less than five years. For example, a sentence of 40 years could result in the prisoner being released during his lifetime. A life sentence and a sentence of a term of years also have different consequences for parole. Under section 558.019.4, RSMo 2000, for parole purposes, a life sentence is calculated to be 30 years, while any sentence greater than 75 years is calculated to be 75 years. Regardless, the plain and ordinary meaning of the statute indicates that the legislature intended to give sentencing courts two options — life imprisonment or an unlimited term of years not less than five years — and this plain meaning is supported by the differences between the two options.

Hardin points out that court of appeals decisions have stated that life imprisonment is the maximum sentence authorized by section 566.030. He relies principally on State v. Williams, 828 S.W.2d 894 (Mo.App.1992), in which the court of appeals held that a 100-year sentence exceeded the statutory maximum because “[t]he maximum sentence authorized for forcible rape ... under section 566.030 is life imprisonment.” Id. at 903. See also State v. Anderson, 844 S.W.2d 40, 42 (Mo.App.1992).2 Williams and Anderson, however, offered no reasoning to support their holdings. In light of the plain language of section 566.030.2, these cases are unpersuasive. Insofar as they suggest that section 566.030.2 does not authorize a sentence of an unlimited term of years, they should no longer be followed.3

[421]*421Hardin farther argues that “life imprisonment” should be construed to mean 30 years; thus, his 50-year sentence exceeds the statutory maximum. He bases this argument on section 558.019.4, RSMo 2000, which provides that “[a] sentence of life shall be calculated to be thirty years” for parole eligibility purposes. This argument is without merit: first, because the plain language of section 566.030.2 authorizes a sentence of an unlimited term of years and, second, because section 558.019.4 is not applicable in this case.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
429 S.W.3d 417, 2014 WL 1687974, 2014 Mo. LEXIS 113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hardin-mo-2014.