State v. Misquadace, C4-01-81.

• Decision Date: 09 May 2002
• Docket Number: No. C4-01-81.,C4-01-81.
• Citation: 644 N.W.2d 65
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Petitioner, Appellant, v. Keith Edward MISQUADACE, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

644 N.W.2d 65

STATE of Minnesota, Petitioner, Appellant, v. Keith Edward MISQUADACE, Respondent.

No. C4-01-81.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

May 9, 2002.

Mike Hatch, Minnesota Attorney General, Robert A. Stanich, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, Bradley C. Rhodes, Aitkin County Attorney, Aitkin, for appellant's.

John M. Stuart, Minnesota State Public Defender, Michael F. Cromett, Assistant State Public Defender, Office of the State Public Defender, Minneapolis, for Respondent's.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

BLATZ, Chief Justice.

Respondent Keith Edward Misquadace was charged with multiple crimes and entered a plea to four offenses in exchange for the state's agreement to a total combined sentence of 266 months, which represented three upward dispositional departures and three upward durational departures. On the sentences for three of the offenses, the district court departed from the guidelines sentence "pursuant to the plea agreement" without stating any other reason for the departures. On appeal, Misquadace argued that the departures on two of these sentences were not authorized under the guidelines. The court of appeals held that the agreement of the parties was insufficient grounds to depart on the two sentences. We affirm and remand to the district court for resentencing in accordance with this opinion.

I.

Upon allegations that he committed numerous crimes in Aitkin County from June 1995 to August 1999, respondent Keith Edward Misquadace was indicted for first-degree premeditated murder and was charged by five separate complaints with additional offenses including third-degree burglary, felony theft, third-degree criminal damage to property, motor vehicle theft, fleeing a peace officer, introducing contraband into a jail, and six counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The first case set for trial was the first-degree murder charge. After voir dire, Misquadace entered a negotiated plea¹ to four offenses, under which the state would recommend an aggregate sentence of 266 months, as follows:

(1) 180 months, executed, for first-degree manslaughter, Minn.Stat. § 609.20(2) (2000)—the statutory maximum and an upward durational departure from the presumptive 86-month sentence;

(2) 13 months, executed and consecutive, for fleeing a peace officer, Minn. Stat. § 609.487, subd. 3 (2000)—an upward dispositional and durational departure from the presumptive stayed 12-month sentence;

(3) 60 months, executed and consecutive, for third-degree burglary, Minn. Stat. § 609.582, subd. 3 (2000)—an upward dispositional and durational departure from the presumptive stayed concurrent sentence of 18 months; and

(4) 13 months, executed and consecutive, for introduction of contraband into a jail, Minn.Stat. § 641.165, subd. 2(b) (2000)—an upward dispositional and downward durational departure from the presumptive stayed concurrent sentence of 21 months.

Misquadace submitted to the court a Rule 15 petition acknowledging his willingness to exchange Alford pleas for the sentencing recommendation. See Minn. R.Crim. P. 15.01. He also appeared in court and agreed with characterizations of the sentencing agreement as "advantageous," "good," that it "clears the slate," and that it was what he wanted to do.

Several weeks later, at the sentencing hearing, Misquadace made an oral motion to withdraw his pleas, apparently on the basis that he had changed his mind. The court found no valid reason to allow withdrawal of the pleas and proceeded with sentencing. The court cited both the plea agreement and aggravating factors set forth in the pre-sentencing report in support of the upward durational departure for the manslaughter sentence, but cited only the plea agreement as grounds for departing from the sentencing guidelines for the burglary, fleeing a peace officer, and introducing contraband into a jail sentences.

Misquadace appealed to the court of appeals on the basis that there was no valid reason for departure on either the burglary or contraband sentences.² The court of appeals reversed, holding that the agreement of the parties was an insufficient basis on which to depart from the presumptive burglary and contraband sentences. State v. Misquadace, 629 N.W.2d 487, 490-91 (Minn.App.2001). The court noted that this court held in State v. Givens, 544 N.W.2d 774 (Minn.1996), that a defendant could waive sentencing under the guidelines, but that the statute underlying this court's reasoning in Givens was subsequently changed by the legislature. Misquadace, 629 N.W.2d at 490. Specifically, Minn.Stat. § 244.09 (2000), which authorized the sentencing guidelines, was modified by the legislature in 1997 to provide that: "Sentencing pursuant to the sentencing guidelines is not a right that accrues to a person convicted of a felony; it is a procedure based on state public policy to maintain uniformity, proportionality, rationality, and predictability in sentencing." Act of May 6, 1997, ch. 96, § 1, 1997 Minn. Laws 694, 695. Consequently, the court of appeals held that "under current statutory law, a sentencing court must support any departure from the presumptive sentence with substantial and compelling reasons and it is not sufficient that the defendant merely accede to the departure in a plea bargain." Misquadace, 629 N.W.2d at 491. Thus, because the sentencing departures for the burglary and contraband charges were based solely on Misquadace's consent, the court of appeals reversed the burglary and contraband sentences, and remanded the entire case for resentencing under the guidelines. Id.

II.

A district court's decision to depart from the sentencing guidelines is within that court's discretion, and will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion. State v. Schmit, 601 N.W.2d 896, 898 (Minn.1999). However, in this case, the sentencing raises an issue regarding interpretation of Minn.Stat. § 244.09. This court reviews statutory interpretation, an issue of law, de novo. State v. Murphy, 545 N.W.2d 909, 914 (Minn.1996).

The power to fix the limits of punishment for criminal acts lies with the legislature. State v. Osterloh, 275 N.W.2d 578, 580 (Minn.1978). However, the imposition of a sentence in a particular case within those limits is a judicial function. State v. Olson, 325 N.W.2d 13, 18 (Minn. 1982). In light of a court's discretion in sentencing, the sentencing guidelines were created to assure uniformity, proportionality, rationality, and predictability in sentencing. See Minn.Stat. § 244.09, subd. 5(2) (2000).

The purpose of the sentencing guidelines is to establish rational and consistent sentencing standards which reduce sentencing disparity and ensure that sanctions following conviction of a felony are proportional to the severity of the offense of conviction and the extent of the offender's criminal history. Equity in sentencing requires (a) that convicted felons similar with respect to relevant sentencing criteria ought to receive similar sanctions, and (b) that convicted felons substantially different from a typical case with respect to relevant criteria ought to receive different sanctions.

Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines I; see also State v. Garcia, 302 N.W.2d 643, 646-47 (Minn. 1981)

(describing sentencing guidelines grid, which factors into the sentence criminal history score and the severity level of offense). As other states and the federal government have done, the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission uses as its primary relevant sentencing criteria the offense of conviction and the offender's criminal history. Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines I and II; see also U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual ch. 5, pt. A (2001); Del.Code Ann. tit. 11, § 6580(c) (2001); Wash. Rev.Code Ann. § 9.94A.010(1) (West Supp.2002). Because the presumptive sentence is a function of the offender's criminal history and the offense for which he or she is sentenced, offenders committing the same offense with the same criminal history receive approximately the same sentence. In this way, the guidelines are designed to predictably achieve rational and consistent sentences. See Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines I; Garcia, 302 N.W.2d at 647.

To maintain consistency, departures from the guidelines are discouraged. Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines I. The reasons for a departure, while nonexclusive, are intended to apply to a small number of cases, and each departure must be based on the offense of conviction rather than charges that were dropped or never alleged. Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines II.D.2, II.A.01 cmt., and II.D.01 cmt. The guidelines commission believes the latter provision is necessary because allowing uncharged or dropped charges to affect the sentence would result in prosecutors and defense attorneys being less accountable in plea negotiations. Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines II.A.01 cmt.

Nonetheless, any rational system of sentencing must allow for different sentences to be imposed when substantial and compelling circumstances warrant different treatment. See Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines II.D. Thus, a court may depart from the presumptive sentence provided that the court finds and makes a record of a substantial and compelling justification for a departure. Williams v. State, 361 N.W.2d 840, 844 (Minn.1985); see also Minn.Stat. § 244.10, subd. 2 (2000) (requiring district courts to provide written reasons justifying a departure). The question presented to the sentencing court when considering a departure is whether the defendant's conduct in the offense of conviction was significantly more or less serious than that typically involved in the commission of the crime in question. State v. Cox, 343 N.W.2d 641, 643 (Minn.1984). Thus, the nonexclusive reasons for departure outlined by the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission include such factors as whether the victim was the aggressor in the incident (a mitigating factor) or whether the victim was particularly...