State v. Shideler

• Citation: 651 P.2d 527,103 Idaho 593
• Decision Date: 16 September 1982
• Docket Number: No. 13638,13638
• Parties: The STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Dale SHIDELER, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Idaho

Page 527

651 P.2d 527

103 Idaho 593

The STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Dale SHIDELER, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 13638.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

Sept. 16, 1982.

Stewart A. Morris, Boise, for defendant-appellant.

David H. Leroy, Atty. Gen., Lynn E. Thomas, Sol. Gen., Boise, for plaintiff-respondent.

McFADDEN, Justice.

Dale Shideler was charged by information with committing the offenses of armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. The information was subsequently amended to include only the charge of armed robbery. I.C. § 18-6503. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge of armed robbery, and was subsequently sentenced to the Idaho State Correctional Institution for an indeterminate term not to exceed twenty years. The defendant has appealed to this court, contending that the sentence imposed is excessive.

It is well established in this state that the primary responsibility for sentencing rests with the trial judge, and that its discretion in the matter will not be disturbed on appeal in the absence of a showing of an abuse of discretion. State v. Delin, 102 Idaho 151, 627 P.2d 330 (1981); State v. Dillon, 100 Idaho 723, 604 P.2d 737 (1979). Nonetheless, as was recently observed in State v. Nice, --- Idaho ---, ---, 645 P.2d 323, 324 (1982), it is also true that "in exercising that discretion reasonableness is a fundamental requirement, State v. Dillon, 100 Idaho 723, 604 P.2d 737 (1979), and this court must examine the circumstances of each case to determine whether the punishment imposed is excessive. State v. Weise, 75 Idaho 404, 273 P.2d 97 (1954); State v. French, 95 Idaho 853, 522 P.2d 61 (1974) (Shepard, J., dissenting)." In this regard, the scope of review in cases where a sentence is alleged to be excessive in length requires that this court make an independent examination of the record, "having regard to the nature of the offense, the character of the offender and the protection of the public interest." State v. Wolfe, 99 Idaho 382, 384, 582 P.2d 728, 730 (1978). See ABA Standards Relating to Appellate Review of Sentences, at 7-8 (Approved Draft 1968).

With the foregoing in mind, we now turn to an examination of the facts of the instant case as disclosed by the record:

Nature of the Offense and Protection of the Public Interest. On December 29, 1978, the defendant and Gary States robbed the Idaho First National Bank, Statehouse Branch, in Boise, of approximately $22,000.00. During the commission of the robbery the defendant exhibited a shotgun. The defendant and States left the scene of the robbery in States' van, with States driving the van and the defendant serving as a lookout. The defendant fired two shotgun blasts from the van in the direction of a pursuing pickup truck being driven by the husband of one of the bank employees. The man was not injured.

Without question, robbery is among the most serious of crimes, and the display of a firearm during the robbery and subsequent use of the firearm while fleeing clearly aggravates the serious nature of the defendant's offense. Although nobody was injured by the defendant's actions, we deem it appropriate to take into consideration the threatened harm of his conduct. In sum, the seriousness of the offense is inconsistent with a sanction other than a substantial sentence of imprisonment. Additionally, the protection of the public interest requires a substantial sentence of imprisonment in this case to reflect the community's condemnation of the defendant's behavior and to deter other members of society from engaging in similar conduct. See State v. Stormoen, --- Idaho ---, 645 P.2d 317 (1982).

Character of the offender. At the time of the robbery, the defendant was thirty-two years old, twice divorced, and unemployed. He had no prior involvement in any criminal activity.

During the sentencing hearing held in this case, Shideler testified that he remembered being involved in the armed robbery, but could not recall having any motive for the crime. Shideler also testified that for at least a year prior to the robbery, and up to the time of the robbery, that he was in poor mental and physical health. His poor mental and physical health were said to have arisen from his abuse of medications prescribed to him for the treatment of juvenile diabetes and injuries arising from an automobile accident. At the time of the robbery, Shideler had open prescriptions for the following substances: Quaalude, Valium, Empirin 3's and 4's, Darvon, and Darvoset-N100. Shideler stated that as a result of his abuse of these prescription drugs he...