State v. Peake
| Decision Date | 26 April 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. C5-84-1282,C5-84-1282 |
| Citation | 366 N.W.2d 299 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Albert James PEAKE, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
A departure from the presumptive sentence is proper when the defendant's current conviction is for an offense in which the victim is injured and the defendant has a prior felony conviction in which the victim was injured, regardless of whether injury to the victim was an element of either crime.
Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Alan D. Mitchell, St. Louis Co. Atty., Mark S. Rubin, Asst. Co. Atty., Duluth, for appellant.
C. Paul Jones, Public Defender, Mollie G. Raskind, Asst. Public Defender, Minneapolis, for respondent.
Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.
Albert James Peake pled guilty to murder in the second degree. Peake's criminal history score was two; the severity level of the offense was X. His presumptive sentence under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines was 153 to 171 months. The prosecution moved for an aggravation of the presumptive sentence to 240 months. The St. Louis County District Court partially granted the request by sentencing Peake to 180 months in prison. Peake appealed to the court of appeals, which reduced his sentence to 130 months. 355 N.W.2d 498. It refused to depart from the presumptive sentence under the guidelines and retroactively applied a reclassification of second-degree felony murder from a severity level X to a severity level IX offense. The prosecution now appeals to this court. We reverse the court of appeals and reinstate the 180-month sentence imposed by the trial court.
In February of 1983, Albert Peake and Bernadette Brigan, his girl friend, spent most of the evening together, during which Peake drank heavily. At some point, Brigan brought up the subject of an old girl friend of Peake's for whom Brigan cared little. An argument ensued, followed by blood-letting rage. Peake grabbed Brigan by the throat and throttled her until she was blue and motionless.
When he realized he had murdered Brigan, Peake thought first of committing suicide, but could not. Instead, he went to a bar not far from Brigan's apartment and called the police, telling them to meet him there. He took the officers to the apartment and, in a statement taken later, confessed to the killing.
Several years before he murdered Brigan, Peake had, likewise in a drunken rage, murdered a woman who had been his girl friend. For this offense, he was convicted of first-degree manslaughter.
The trial court justified its durational departure for Peake's current conviction because:
A. The current conviction was for an offense in which the victim was injured and died;
B. The Petitioner had been previously convicted for an offense in which the victim was injured and died.
In its memorandum, the trial court explained that "the interests of justice and the rights of the public mandated that the Petitioner spend a minimum of ten years in custody, and thus the 180 month sentence was imposed." Examining the reclassification of second-degree felony murder, the trial court refused to lower the sentence since it represented less than a 50 percent upward durational departure even under the new classification.
The issues raised on appeal are:
1. Were there substantial and compelling circumstances to justify an upward departure from the presumptive sentence under the guidelines?
2. Was Peake entitled to a retroactive reduction of his presumptive sentence?
The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines provide presumptive sentences for crimes based on the offender's criminal history score and the seriousness of the offense. The presumptive sentence will be applied in most cases. However, the trial court has discretion to depart from the presumptive sentence when the offense involves "substantial and compelling circumstances." State v. Garcia, 302 N.W.2d 643 (Minn.1981). Substantial and compelling...
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Cooper v. State
..."substantial and compelling circumstances," which make the facts of a particular case different from the typical case. State v. Peake, 366 N.W.2d 299, 301 (Minn.1985) (citation omitted). Generally, in a case in which an upward departure is warranted, the upper limit is double the presumptiv......
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State v. Petschl, A031803.
...conviction for a crime involving injury to a victim alone may be sufficient to justify an upward durational departure. State v. Peake, 366 N.W.2d 299, 301 (Minn.1985). "This is so because repeated crimes against persons pose a greater threat to society than repeated property crimes." State ......
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Dillon v. State, No. A09-1026.
...and compelling circumstances" are factual circumstances that significantly distinguish the case, making it atypical. State v. Peake, 366 N.W.2d 299, 301 (Minn.1985); State v. Back, 341 N.W.2d 273, 276 (Minn. 1983). Conduct that constitutes proof of the criminal offense cannot be a circumsta......
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State v. Petschl
...conviction for a crime involving injury to a victim alone may be sufficient to justify an upward durational departure. State v. Peake, 366 N.W.2d 299, 301 (Minn.1985). "This is so because repeated crimes against persons pose a greater threat to society than repeated property crimes." State ......