State v. West, SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 2018-049
| Decision Date | 01 February 2019 |
| Docket Number | SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 2018-049 |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
| Parties | State of Vermont v. Randy A. West* |
Note: In the case title, an asterisk (*) indicates an appellant and a double asterisk (**) indicates a cross-appellant. Decisions of a three-justice panel are not to be considered as precedent before any tribunal.
Superior Court, Washington Unit, Criminal Division
Trial Judge: Howard E. Van Benthuysen
In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:
Defendant appeals his sentence following a conviction for violating a condition of release. On appeal, he argues that the sentence is grossly disproportionate to his crime and that the court impermissibly imposed an incarcerative sentence in lieu of a fine based one on an assumption that defendant lacked an ability to pay a fine. We affirm.
In December 2016, defendant was arraigned on one count of aggravated domestic assault. He was released on conditions, including one requiring him to report to the police department within seven business days for photographing and fingerprinting. In April 2017, the State charged him with violating his conditions of release (VCR) by failing to report to the police station as required. A jury found defendant not guilty of aggravated domestic assault and guilty of violating his conditions of release.
The court proceeded to sentencing. A VCR conviction is subject to a maximum penalty of a fine of $1000 or imprisonment of six months. 13 V.S.A. § 7559(e). The State requested a sentence of six months to serve. The State explained that defendant had a lengthy criminal history and a record of failing to abide by court orders, including nine prior convictions for violating court orders, four prior felony convictions, thirty-one prior misdemeanor convictions, eleven violations of probation, and nine violations of parole. Given defendant's record of violating court orders, the State argued that defendant was not a good candidate for supervision on probation. Defendant argued that the suggested sentence was unprecedented and inappropriate given the technical nature of the violation and defendant's eventual compliance with the condition. Defendant asked the court to impose a fine.
The court acknowledged that defendant's conviction "if viewed in a vacuum" was not serious, but determined that the sentence should include some deterrent effect given that defendant had "an absolutely horrendous record" of violating court orders. The court concluded that some punishment was a reasonable response to defendant's repeated behavior of not complying with court orders and sentenced defendant to two-to-six months to serve. Defendant filed a motion to reconsider his sentence, arguing that it was disproportionate to his offense under both the U.S. and Vermont Constitutions. The court denied the motion, explaining that the sentence for defendant's offense was appropriate and necessary "when viewed against the backdrop of his lengthy and serious criminal record, especially his chronic violation of orders of the Court." Defendant appeals.
On appeal, defendant argues that his punishment is grossly disproportionate to his crime and violates both the U.S. and Vermont Constitutions. See U.S. Const. amend. VIII; Vt. Const. chap. II, § 39. To determine if a punishment is grossly disproportionate, this Court employs a three-part test.
"[A] court's proportionality analysis under the Eighth Amendment should be guided by objective criteria, including (i) the gravity of the offense and the harshness of the penalty; (ii) the sentences imposed on other [similarly situated] criminals in the same jurisdiction; and (iii) the sentences imposed for commission of the same crime in other jurisdictions."
State v. Venman, 151 Vt. 561, 572 (1989) (alteration in original) (quoting Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277, 292 (1983)). The second and third factors need not be reached if a threshold comparison of the crime committed and the sentence imposed does not lead to an inference of gross disproportionality. In re Stevens, 2014 VT 6, ¶ 7, 195 Vt. 486.
Therefore, we begin with the gravity of the offense in relation to the harshness of the penalty. Defendant asserts that his failure to appear for fingerprinting and photographing is a minor offense that deserves a much less severe sentence. In assessing the gravity of an offense, a court must consider not just the present conviction, but a person's criminal history. Ewing v. California, ...
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