Penick v. State
| Citation | 659 N.E.2d 484 |
| Decision Date | 19 December 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 17S00-9404-CR-389,17S00-9404-CR-389 |
| Parties | Jimmie Lee PENICK, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below). |
| Court | Supreme Court of Indiana |
Jimmie Lee Penick pled guilty to one count of murder, and was sentenced to sixty (60) years, the maximum allowed under his plea agreement, to be served consecutively to a prior Ohio sentence. He now appeals from this sentence.
The issue on appeal is whether the trial court, in determining the sentence, considered improper aggravating factors and failed to consider mitigating factors which were supported by the record.
Penick, Mark Goodwin, Keith Lawrence, and David Lawrence were all workers for amusement companies, and were working at the DeKalb County Free Fall Fair. All were involved in Satanic practices. William Anthony Ault, also a co-worker, wanted to join the Satanic Church. Since Ault knew about a previous murder committed by Penick, defendant and the others wanted to scare him in order to keep him from talking about it.
On September 25, 1991, Brenda Ferguson, a friend, was asked to help Goodwin find a secluded place where they could initiate Ault into the Satanic Church. After the carnival closed for the evening, Ferguson drove the five men to a secluded farm building, and dropped them off. Ault was asked to lie down on a door, which was being used as an altar. He was then tied up and gagged. Keith Lawrence read an invocation to Satan. Using Keith Lawrence's knife, Penick made a deep cut on Ault from the neck to the stomach. Goodwin and the Lawrences also made cuts on Ault's chest and abdomen in the form of an inverted cross, as well as other cuts. Penick then asked Ault if he were ready to die, and when Ault answered, Penick slit his throat. Penick, Goodwin and Keith Lawrence cut off Ault's head and hands, and attempted to burn them. After disposing of the remains, the members of the group and Ferguson used money stolen from Ault to purchase food at Arby's.
Keith Lawrence pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, and received a fifty year sentence, with 20 years suspended. His brother, David Lawrence, pled guilty to assisting a criminal, and received eight years. Mark Goodwin pled to assisting a criminal and battery committed by means of a deadly weapon. He received eight years for each charge, to be served concurrently. [R. 1331-32].
On November 23, 1993, Defendant pled guilty to murder. In exchange, the state withdrew its request for the death penalty. Both sides agreed that the trial court would sentence defendant, with the State and defendant free to argue the sentence. Defendant was sentenced to sixty years, and now appeals from that sentence.
In this case, the trial judge found ten aggravating factors, and one mitigating factor. The aggravating factors are:
(9) Defendant Jimmie Lee Penick committed this murder after careful planning and after luring the victim to the murder site for the purpose of killing him and after conspiring with at least three (3) other persons in planning and accomplishing the murder, and
(10) This was the second time that Defendant Jimmie Lee Penick has murdered someone because previously in August of 1991 he murdered a man in Fulton County, Ohio also cutting his throat with a knife.
[R. 1223-24, 1414-18]. Aggravating factors (1), (2), and (3) are express statutory factors under § 35-38-1-7.1(b). The other aggravators are permitted under subsection (d), which allows the trial judge to consider factors other than those which are expressly listed.
The one mitigating circumstance found by the trial judge is that the Defendant Jimmie Lee Penick was cooperative and appeared to be open and truthful in the pre-sentence investigation process. [R. 1224].
Only one aggravator is necessary in order for the trial court to impose an enhanced sentence. Reaves v. State (1992), Ind., 586 N.E.2d 847, 852; Fugate v. State (1993), Ind., 608 N.E.2d 1370, 1374. Factors 1, 4, 8, 9, and 10 go unchallenged by the defendant. These factors alone are enough to support an enhanced sentence. Pruitt v. State (1993), Ind., 622 N.E.2d 469, 474, reh'g denied, (history of criminal activity alone is enough to support an enhanced sentence). Therefore, even if we were to conclude that the challenged factors are inappropriate, sufficient aggravating factors would still remain to support the sentence imposed by the trial court. However, because the trial court must engage in a balancing process in order to reach the sentence, it is appropriate for us to address the challenged factors.
Defendant first argues that the court considered several aggravating factors which are not supported by the record. The first of these is that Penick is in need of correctional or rehabilitative treatment that can best be provided by commitment to a penal facility. Penick argues that the trial court must state why a defendant would be best served by commitment to a penal facility, and he claims that the trial court did not do that. However, the trial court explained that prior multiple probations and multiple incarcerations have not caused the defendant to cease criminal activity and be rehabilitated. [R. 1223-24]. This is more than a mere perfunctory recitation, and is sufficient to support this aggravating factor. See Shackelford v. State (1993), Ind.App., 622 N.E.2d 1340, 1345.
Penick next argues that aggravator (5), the death was painful and torturous, is inappropriate. Penick does concede that the victim suffered some pain, but argues that virtually all murders involve pain or torture, so this is not an element particular to the facts of this case which can be used to justify imposition of enhanced and consecutive sentences. However, infliction of grave injury and pain over an extended period of time is sufficient to support an aggravating factor. Loveless v. State (1994), Ind., 642 N.E.2d 974, 977. Penick's own words describe how the victim's chest and abdomen were cut open, how Goodwin tried to cut out the victim's heart before he died, and how the victim remained conscious throughout this and responded to questions from the defendant. [R. 1300]. Only after defendant slit the victim's neck did the torture end. There is sufficient evidence on the record to support this aggravator.
Defendant also argues that aggravator (3), "imposition of a reduced or suspended sentence would depreciate the seriousness of the crime," is applicable only when the court is considering the imposition of a reduced sentence, not when considering whether the defendant should receive less than the maximum enhanced sentence. See I.C. § 35-38-1-7.1(b)(4). Defendant is correct that this statutory factor focuses on imposition of a reduced sentence and it may be used only when considering the imposition of a sentence which is shorter than the presumptive sentence. E.g., Walton v. State (1995), Ind., 650 N.E.2d 1134, 1136-37. Thus, the trial court improperly applied this aggravator. However, due to the large number of remaining aggravators, we cannot say that the trial court was in error in imposing an enhanced sentence.
Finally, defendant argues that aggravators (6) dismemberment of victim's head and hands, and (7) concealing victim's body, are one in the same. Even if defendant is correct, this would not be sufficient error to require modification of the sentence. The balancing performed by the trial judge is qualitative, not quantitative. "It is for the trial judge to determine the sentencing weight to be given the aggravating or mitigating factors." Gilley v. State (1989),...
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