Title: State v. Torgerson

State: minnesota

Issuer: Minnesota Supreme Court

Document:

329 N.W.2d 63 (1983) STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Ross E. TORGERSON, Appellant. No. C4-82-913. Supreme Court of Minnesota. January 28, 1983. *64 C. Paul Jones, Public Defender, and Mollie G. Raskind, Asst. Public Defender, Minneapolis, for appellant. Hubert H. Humphrey III, Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Thomas L. Johnson, County Atty., and William Neiman, Asst. County Atty., Minneapolis, for respondent. Considered and decided by the court en banc without oral argument. AMDAHL, Chief Justice. This is an appeal from judgment of conviction of aggravated robbery that raises only one issue, whether the trial court erred in computing the defendant's criminal history score for sentencing purposes. If the defendant had a criminal history score of one, as the trial court determined, then the trial court correctly sentenced defendant to 32 months in prison. If, on the other hand, defendant's true criminal history score was zero, then defendant's sentence duration should have been 24 months. Specifically, at issue is Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines and Commentary, II.B.4. (1982), which governs the use of a defendant's juvenile record in determining his criminal history score. Holding that defendant's true criminal score was zero, we reduce defendant's sentence to 24 months. Defendant was arrested on January 18, 1982, shortly after he and an accomplice committed an aggravated robbery of a gas station. Defendant subsequently pleaded guilty to an amended complaint charging him with using a knife in committing the robbery, thereby subjecting himself to a 1 year and 1 day mandatory minimum term under Minn.Stat. § 609.11, subd. 4 (1982). Previously defendant had been arrested and charged with committing the offenses of burglary and aggravated criminal damage to property on July 29, 1981, but defendant was diverted into Operation De Novo. Therefore, defendant had not been convicted on either of those offenses and those offenses could not be considered in determining his criminal history score. Defendant also had been through juvenile court in 1978 for a large number of felonies and one misdemeanor offense committed the day he became 16. These offenses apparently all did not occur at the same time and place that day. Defendant appeared in juvenile court on April 10, 1978, and admitted to two burglaries, one theft, and three aggravated forgeries and was adjudicated delinquent. He was then sentenced to Camp Thistledew. Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines and Commentary, II.B.4. (1982) provides: The parties agree that defendant committed the acts after he became 16 and that he had not attained the age of 21 at the time he committed the current offense. Looking behind the single adjudication of delinquency, the trial court concluded that defendant had committed multiple acts as a juvenile that would have been felonies if committed by an adult and that therefore the single adjudication of delinquency should count as two or more adjudications of delinquency. We hold otherwise. *65 The Comments to II.B.4. state in relevant part as follows: According to the Comments, a defendant should receive a criminal history point based on his juvenile record only if his juvenile record is one of "repeated felony-type behavior." The apparent intent is to allow use of a defendant's juvenile record in determining his criminal history score only if the defendant has twice been through the juvenile court system and twice been adjudicated delinquent on the basis of felony-type behavior. Defendant only went through the system once and apparently was not a repeat juvenile offender. Therefore, defendant's criminal history score should have been zero and he should have received a sentence of 24 months. Accordingly, we reduce defendant's sentence to 24 months. Affirmed as modified.