Page v. State, 1179S327
Citation | 424 N.E.2d 1021 |
Decision Date | 26 August 1981 |
Docket Number | No. 1179S327,1179S327 |
Parties | Everett "Red" PAGE, Jr., Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below). |
Court | Supreme Court of Indiana |
Dennis Brinkmeyer, Evansville, for appellant.
Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., Janis L. Summers, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
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:
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.
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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