Vickla v. State

• Decision Date: 26 January 2011
• Docket Number: No. A09-830.,A09-830.
• Citation: 793 N.W.2d 265
• Parties: William Paul VICKLA, Respondent, v. STATE of Minnesota, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

793 N.W.2d 265

William Paul VICKLA, Respondent,

v.STATE of Minnesota, Appellant.

No. A09-830.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Jan. 26, 2011.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Under Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4 (2010), a district court may impose a statutory-maximum sentence on a defendant who qualifies as a repeat-felony offender.

2. Under Minn.Stat. § 244.11, subd. 2(b) (2010), an appellate court may review a statutory-maximum sentence imposed under the repeat-felony-offender statute, Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4 (2010), to determine if the sentence is inconsistent with statutory requirements, unreasonable, inappropriate, excessive, unjustifiably disparate, or not warranted by the findings of fact issued by the district court.

3. The district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing a 240-month statutory-maximum sentence for offering forged checks when the defendant qualified as a repeat-felony offender under Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4 (2010), because the sentence was not unreasonable, excessive, inappropriate, unjustifiably disparate, or not warranted by the findings of fact issued by the district court.

David W. Merchant, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Ngoc Nguyen, Assistant State Public Defender, St. Paul, MN, for respondent.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, MN; and James C. Backstrom, Dakota County Attorney, Kevin J. Golden, Assistant Dakota County Attorney, Hastings, Minnesota, for appellant.

OPINION

DIETZEN, Justice.

After pleading guilty to offering forged checks in an amount greater than $35,000, waiving his right to a jury trial on the sentencing issues, and admitting he qualified as a career offender under Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4 (2010), respondent William Paul Vickla received the statutory-maximum sentence of 240 months.¹ Vickla filed a petition for postconviction relief, arguing that the district court erred when it imposed the statutory-maximum sentence for his conviction. The postconviction court denied the petition, but the court of appeals reversed and remanded for resentencing. The principal issue raised in this appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion when it sentenced Vickla to the statutory-maximum sentence under the repeat-felony-offender statute. Because we conclude the 240-month statutory-maximum sentence imposed on Vickla is not unreasonable, excessive, inappropriate, unjustifiably disparate, or not warranted by the findings of fact issued by the district court, we reverse the decision of the court of appeals and reinstate the 240-month sentence ordered by the district court.

In an amended complaint, Vickla was charged in Dakota County District Court with offering forged checks in an aggregate amount greater than $35,000, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.631, subds. 3 and 4(1) (2010); possession of counterfeit checks, in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.528, subd. 2 (2010); and aiding and abetting the offering of forged checks in an amount greater than $2,500, in violation of Minn.Stat. §§ 609.05, 609.631, subds. 3 and 4(2) (2010). The State also gave notice that it intended to seek an upward durational sentencing departure under the repeat-felony-offender statute, Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4.

In March 2007, pursuant to a plea agreement, Vickla pleaded guilty to one count of offering forged checks in an aggregate amount greater than $35,000 and waived his right to a jury trial on the sentencing issues. The State agreed todismiss the other two counts. No agreement was made on the sentence.

At his guilty-plea hearing, Vickla testified that between April and October 2004 he received checks from Africa with an aggregate value of around $35,000; that he knew or had a strong suspicion the checks were counterfeit; and that he took the counterfeit checks to the bank to deposit into his bank account knowing he was not entitled to the funds. He also admitted he had five or more prior felony convictions and the current offense formed a pattern of criminal conduct with those prior felony convictions. The district court accepted Vickla's guilty plea and ordered a presentence investigation (PSI) report.

The PSI report set forth Vickla's entire criminal history, including his eleven felony convictions since 1970.² Vickla's criminal-history score, however, was only three because nine of his prior felony convictions were too old to be included when calculating his criminal-history score. See Minn. Sent. Guidelines II.B.1.f (establishing a 15-year decay factor for convictions in computing a criminal-history score). As a result, the presumptive sentence was 33 months. The PSI report recommended Vickla be sentenced as a career criminal under Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4, and noted that, as a career criminal, he could be sentenced to the statutory maximum of 240 months.

At the sentencing hearing, Vickla made a motion for a downward dispositional departure and asked for a 66-month stayed sentence. The State requested imposition of the 240-month statutory-maximum sentence. The district court denied Vickla's motion for a downward dispositional departure, determined Vickla was a career offender, and sentenced him to the statutory maximum of 240 months in prison.³ The court reasoned Vickla's 35-year history of criminal activity, which included a pattern of criminal conduct, and Vickla's prior prison sentences that had not caused him to change his conduct, justified imposition of the statutory-maximum sentence. Instead, Vickla had continued to commit crimes and had failed to take reasonable steps to address his depression, which he claimed caused his criminal conduct.

Vickla did not file a direct appeal. In January 2009, he filed a petition for postconviction relief, arguing his sentence was excessive and should be reduced to the presumptive guidelines sentence of 33 months. The postconviction court denied the petition without a hearing, and Vickla appealed. The court of appeals reversed and remanded for resentencing. Vickla v. State, 778 N.W.2d 354, 361 (Minn.App.2010). The court of appeals relied on Neal v. State, 658 N.W.2d 536 (Minn.2003), to conclude that district courts "should consider sentences imposed in other cases for the same offense to ensure that a sentence is proportional to the gravity of the offense and not unreasonable or excessive." Vickla, 778 N.W.2d at 359. After comparing Vickla's sentence to sentences imposed inother forgery- and theft-related cases, the court concluded Vickla's sentence was not "commensurate with the gravity of the crime and therefore is unreasonable and excessive." Id. at 361. We granted review.

The State argues that Vickla is a repeat-felony offender under Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4, and that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing the statutory-maximum sentence. Thus, the State urges that we reverse the court of appeals. Vickla argues the 240-month statutory-maximum sentence imposed is excessive, unreasonable, and unjustifiably disparate, and therefore the court of appeals' decision to remand for resentencing should be affirmed.

Statutory interpretation is a question of law that we review de novo. State v. Engle, 743 N.W.2d 592, 593 (Minn.2008). We review a district court's decision to depart from the presumptive guidelines sentence for an abuse of discretion. State v. Edwards, 774 N.W.2d 596, 601 (Minn.2009). If the reasons given are "legally permissible and factually supported in the record," then we will affirm the departure. Id.

Minnesota Statutes § 609.1095, subd. 4, states that a court "may impose an aggravated durational departure from the presumptive sentence up to the statutory maximum" when the defendant qualifies as a repeat-felony offender. To qualify as a repeat-felony offender, the defendant must have "five or more prior felony convictions" and "the present offense [must be] a felony that was committed as part of a pattern of criminal conduct." Id. The statute does not limit the court's discretion and does not require any additional findings before sentencing a defendant to the statutory maximum. See id. Moreover, the Sentencing Guidelines provide that a defendant's status as a "career offender" under section 609.1095, subdivision 4, is a sufficient reason to depart from the presumptive sentence. Minn. Sent. Guidelines II.D.2.b.(9). But a court departing under the repeat-felony-offender statute "must provide written reasons that specify that the requirements of the statute have been met." Minn. Sent. Guidelines cmt. II.D.204.

Previously, we concluded that the United States Supreme Court's decision in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 303-04, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), applies to sentences imposed under the repeat-felony-offender statute, Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4. State v. Henderson, 706 N.W.2d 758, 762 (Minn.2005). Thus, other than a prior conviction, any fact that increases the sentence for a crime beyond the presumptive sentence established by the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines for a particular crime must be submitted to the jury and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Shattuck, 704 N.W.2d 131, 136, 142 (Minn.2005). A defendant's admissions, however, may be used to increase the sentence above the presumptive guidelines sentence, provided that the admissions are accompanied by a "knowing waiver of [defendant's] Sixth Amendment right to a jury determination of facts supporting an upward sentencing departure." State v. Dettman, 719 N.W.2d 644, 655 (Minn.2006).

Here, Vickla validly waived his right to a Blakely trial to determine whether he satisfied the criteria of a repeat-felony offender under Minn.Stat. § 609.1095, subd. 4. Specifically, Vickla admitted at his guilty-plea hearing he "had five or more prior felonies" and "that this particular offense forms a pattern with those offenses." See id.

Initially, the State argues the repeat-felony-offender statute is a legislativelycreated ground for departure that gives district courts broad discretion to sentence...