State v. Saykhamchone
| Citation | 112 Idaho 1128,739 P.2d 427 |
| Decision Date | 17 June 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 16620,16620 |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Somphiane SAYKHAMCHONE, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Van G. Bishop, Nampa, for defendant-appellant.
Jim Jones, Atty. Gen., Lynn E. Thomas, Sol. Gen., Myrna A.I. Stahman, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, for plaintiff-respondent.
Somphiane Saykhamchone was found guilty by a jury of first degree murder for the shooting death of a fellow employee at a dairy in Canyon County, Idaho. Following the verdict, Saykhamchone pled guilty to a companion charge of using a firearm in the commission of the homicide, I.C. § 19-2520. The court sentenced Saykhamchone to an indeterminate life term for the murder and to a "consecutive" indeterminate ten-year term for the use of a firearm.
On appeal Saykhamchone challenges his sentence. He contends the court erred by imposing two separate, consecutive sentences rather than imposing a single sentence for the homicide, enhanced by an additional term for the use of a firearm as required by I.C. § 19-2520. He asserts that where two sentences are imposed, the Commission of Pardons and Parole requires the first to be fully served before the second may begin and parole may be considered. This would effectively bar parole in his case, creating in essence a fixed life sentence. We disagree and affirm the judgment.
At the sentencing hearing, the court stated:
Therefore, this Court, in addition to the Judgment announced as to the charge of murder, enters a Judgment of conviction on Mr. Saykhamchone for using a firearm in the perpetration of a felony; and this Court on that conviction imposes an enhanced sentence of ten years an in--an indeterminate ten years to the State Board of Corrections to run consecutive to the sentence of indeterminate life for murder.
The judgment entered after the court's oral pronouncement of the sentence referred to the murder charge as Part I of the Information and to the firearm offense as Part II of the Information. It stated the following:
IT IS ADJUDGED that the defendant be sentenced to the custody of the State Board of Corrections for an indeterminate period of time, not to exceed life on Part I of the Information with credit on that sentence for the 366 days served pending final disposition. And for an indeterminate period not to exceed ten years on the Part II, Use of a firearm charge to run consecutive to the sentence on Part I.
We have considered the relationship between an underlying sentence and its enhancement where the enhancement was infected with error. In that context, we said:
We are next presented with the question of whether the whole sentence is to be vacated or merely the enhancement portion. It has been established that the firearm enhancement statute, I.C. § 19-2520, does not define a separate substantive offense, but rather provides for a single, more severe penalty when an offense is committed with a firearm.... The enhancement statute for use of a firearm has been construed to mean that the underlying sentence and the enhancement sentence are to be viewed as one continuous sentence with two distinct segments.... The enhancement statute imposes an additional term instead of an additional sentence....
It has been held that a sentence imposed under a firearm enhancement statute, similar to Idaho's statute, "cannot be bifurcated from the basic sentence imposed on defendant." ... "Multiple sentences are not involved; what is involved, under the [firearm enhancement and habitual offender] statutes, is the computation of a single sentence for one crime."
A review of the construction of I.C. § 19-2520 and similar statutes reveals that a sentence enhanced by the statute remains one sentence. Whe...
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Saykhamchone v. State
...the murder. Saykhamchone appealed only his sentence, alleging it was illegal. The Court of Appeals affirmed in State v. Saykhamchone, 112 Idaho 1128, 739 P.2d 427 (Ct.App.1987). In May 1992, Saykhamchone filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of c......
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State v. Snapp
...and release the prisoner on parole from the second sentence. Such a suggestion was made by our Court in State v. Saykhamchone, 112 Idaho 1128, 739 P.2d 427 (Ct.App.1987). An arguable difficulty with this approach is that some statutes mentioning discharge also refer to the existence of paro......
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Lopez v. State
...as one continuous sentence." State v. Vega, 113 Idaho 756, 757, 747 P.2d 778, 779 (Ct.App.1987). See also State v. Saykhamchone, 112 Idaho 1128, 739 P.2d 427 (Ct.App.1987); State v. Money, 109 Idaho 757, 710 P.2d 667 State v. Camarillo, 116 Idaho 413, 414, 775 P.2d 1255, 1256 (Ct.App.1989).......
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State v. Camarillo, 17567
...as one continuous sentence." State v. Vega, 113 Idaho 756, 757, 747 P.2d 778, 779 (Ct.App.1987). See also State v. Saykhamchone, 112 Idaho 1128, 739 P.2d 427 (Ct.App.1987); State v. Money, 109 Idaho 757, 710 P.2d 667 Accordingly, we have held that the mere choice of an inappropriate word do......