Page v. State, 1179S327

Citation424 N.E.2d 1021
Decision Date26 August 1981
Docket NumberNo. 1179S327,1179S327
PartiesEverett "Red" PAGE, Jr., Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).
CourtSupreme Court of Indiana

Dennis Brinkmeyer, Evansville, for appellant.

Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., Janis L. Summers, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

PRENTICE, Justice.

Defendant (Appellant) was convicted in a trial by jury of Rape, Class B Felony, Ind.Code § 35-42-4-1(a)(1) (Burns 1979), and was sentenced to fourteen (14) years imprisonment. On appeal, we affirmed the conviction, but remanded the case because the record did not contain the trial court's reasons in support of the enhanced sentence. Page v. State, (1980) Ind., 410 N.E.2d 1304, 1308. On May 21, 1981, a supplemental record, consisting of the sentencing hearing of June 13, 1979, was filed in this Court.

Ind.Code § 35-4.1-4-3 (35-50-1A-3 (Burns 1979)) provides:

"Before sentencing a person for a felony the court must conduct a hearing to consider the facts and circumstances relevant to sentencing. The person is entitled to subpoena and call witnesses and otherwise to present information in his own behalf. The court shall make a record of the hearing, including:

(1) A transcript of the hearing;

(2) A copy of the presentence report; and

(3) If the court finds aggravating circumstances or mitigating circumstances, a statement of the court's reasons for selecting the sentence that it imposes."

As stated in the statute, the purpose of the sentencing hearing is to give the trial court the opportunity to consider the facts and circumstances relevant to the sentencing of the individual defendant before it. The trial court should determine those facts and circumstances by referring to the entire record of the proceedings, which includes the testimony and evidence given at trial. Harris v. State, (1979) Ind., 396 N.E.2d 674, 677.

When the trial court imposes the basic sentence for an offense, we will assume that it considered the factors listed in Ind.Code § 35-4.1-4-7(a) (35-50-1A-7(a) (Burns 1979)). Keys v. State, (1979) Ind., 390 N.E.2d 148, 152. However, if the trial court chooses to exercise its discretion, pursuant to the authority of Ind.Code §§ 35-4.1-4-7(b), (c), and (d) (35-50-1A-7(b), (c), and (d) (Burns 1979)), it must make a statement of its reasons for selecting the sentence that it imposes. Gardner v. State, (1979) Ind., 388 N.E.2d 513, 517.

The record of the trial court's finding of aggravating circumstances follows:

"Of course, there are some aggravating circumstances in this case that are set out in the statute because two or three of the statutory aggravating circumstances are in the one of the aggravating set out by the statute is the victim of the crime was mentally or physically infirm. Second, a lenient sentence of probation would depreciate the seriousness of the crime. And three, the person is in need of correctional rehabilitation treatment that can best be provided by his commitment to a penal facility. So I think there are specifically requirements that the legislature has put out in this case. I will take the recommendation of the prosecuting attorney into consideration, though."

This record merely repeats the conclusory language of the statute. It is inadequate to inform us of the facts, derived from the record, which led the trial judge to find the existence of the legal conclusions embodied in Ind.Code § 35-4.1-4-7 (35-50-1A-7 (Burns 1979)). Green v. State, (1981) Ind., 421 N.E.2d 635. The statement of reasons envisioned by Ind.Code § 35-4.1-4-3 (35-50-1A-3 (Burns 1979)) must consist of more than a mere finding that certain subsections of Ind.Code § 35-4.1-4-7 (35-50-1A-7 (Burns 1979)) are satisfied.

"When the sentencing judge is required to make a statement of the reasons for imposing a particular sentence, two important goals are served. First, the judge is confined to proper grounds for either increasing or decreasing the presumptive sentence provided for the offense; and, second, the appellate court is enabled to determine the reasonableness of the sentence imposed under the circumstances." Abercrombie v. State, (1981) Ind., 417 N.E.2d 316, 319.

In order to carry out our function of reviewing the trial court's exercise of discretion in sentencing, we must be told of his reasons for imposing the sentence which he did. Green v. State, (1981) Ind., 424 N.E.2d 1014 (On Remand). This necessarily requires a statement of facts, in some detail, which are peculiar to the particular defendant and the crime, as opposed to general impressions or conclusions. Of course such facts must have support in the record.

Although our rule for review of sentences...

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122 cases
  • Averhart v. State
    • United States
    • Indiana Supreme Court
    • 29 Octubre 1984
    ...the trial court did, in fact, give sufficient reasons and details to justify the sixty (60) year sentence pursuant to Page v. State, (1981) Ind., 424 N.E.2d 1021. Rather, North claims the evidence showed his "non-involvement" in the actual killing to the extent the trial judge was not justi......
  • Meriweather v. State
    • United States
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    ...court to determine the reasonableness of the sentence imposed. Henderson v. State (1986) Ind., 489 N.E.2d 68, 71-72; Page v. State (1981) Ind., 424 N.E.2d 1021, 1023; Abercrombie v. State (1981) 275 Ind. 407, 417 N.E.2d 316, 319; see also Linger v. State (1987) 4th Dist.Ind.App., 508 N.E.2d......
  • Games v. State
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    • 14 Marzo 1989
    ...by the record may reasonably give rise to a belief that they were overlooked and hence not properly considered. Page [v. State (1981), Ind., 424 N.E.2d 1021] at 1023. Having thoroughly examined the record in this case, we are unpersuaded that the defendant should prevail on this issue. Defe......
  • Smylie v. State
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    • Indiana Supreme Court
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    ...deemed adequate to justify adding or subtracting years. See, e.g., Henderson v. State, 769 N.E.2d 172, 179 (Ind.2002); Page v. State, 424 N.E.2d 1021, 1022-24 (Ind.1981); Gardner v. State, 270 Ind. 627, 631-36, 388 N.E.2d 513, 516-19 (1979). This flows from the words of the substantive sent......
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