Title: State v. Hamik

State: nebraska

Issuer: Nebraska Supreme Court

Document:

635 N.W.2d 123 (2001) 262 Neb. 761 STATE of Nebraska, Appellant, v. Craig J. HAMIK, Appellee. No. S-00-787. Supreme Court of Nebraska. November 2, 2001. *125 Andrew J. McMullen, Buffalo County Attorney, Melodie Turner Bellamy, and Melanie Young, Kearney, for appellant. Clarence E. Mock and Michael J. Tasset, of Johnson and Mock, Oakland, for appellee. HENDRY, C.J., WRIGHT, CONNOLLY, GERRARD, STEPHAN, McCORMACK, and MILLER-LERMAN, JJ. STEPHAN, J. Following a jury trial in the district court for Buffalo County, Craig J. Hamik *126 was convicted of first degree sexual assault, a Class II felony, and sentenced to 5 years' probation to be served consecutively to a sentence of incarceration imposed in another case. Pursuant to Neb.Rev.Stat. § 29-2320 (Reissue 1995), the State has appealed on grounds that the sentence is excessively lenient, both factually and as a matter of law. We moved the case to our docket on our own motion pursuant to our authority to regulate the dockets of the appellate courts of this state. See Neb.Rev.Stat. § 24-1106(3) (Reissue 1995). The issues presented for our review are whether the district court was prohibited by Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-105(4) (Reissue 1995) from placing Hamik on probation and, if not, whether the sentence imposed was excessively lenient. Hamik was charged with first degree sexual assault in violation of Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-319(1) (Reissue 1995). At trial, a female under the age of 16 testified that Hamik, who had been her neighbor, touched and digitally penetrated her on multiple occasions while she was present in his home for the purpose of playing with his children. Hamik testified in his own defense and denied that he ever touched the girl. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, upon which the district court entered a judgment of conviction on May 9, 2000. In June 1999, prior to the trial of this case, Hamik was charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child in violation of Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-320.01 (Reissue 1995), a Class IV felony. He initially entered pleas of not guilty to both counts. At a hearing on July 17, 2000, Hamik entered a guilty plea to one of these counts as part of a plea agreement. In return for the plea, the State agreed to dismiss the other pending count and to recommend that any sentence imposed for the Class IV felony be concurrent with the sentence to be imposed in this case. The district court accepted the plea and entered a judgment of conviction on the Class IV felony. With the agreement of the parties, the district court then conducted a sentencing hearing and imposed sentences in both cases. Because it is central to the issues presented in this appeal, we quote verbatim the reasoning of the district judge from the record of the sentencing hearing: Mr. Mock has pointed out that the Legislature envisioned offenses that had a great latitude in punishment because the nature and the type of the offenses that are involved have a great latitude in the degree of violence and the degree of harm that is occasioned. Whenever the Legislature basically says that the Court has a period of 1 to 50 years to play with in sentencing an individual, the suggestion is that some cases are right for one-year sentence and some cases are for 50 and many cases are for in between. *127 And it's the discretion of the Court to try to find the right place to put each individual case. Ms. Young has suggested that the Court sentence you to what would be effectively a period of ten years of incarceration. I will tell you that if I sentenced [you] to ten years of incarceration, you would be out free from your commitments within five years. You will have spent that five years accomplishing little if anything through the auspices of the State of Nebraska Department of Corrections. Partially because their program is difficult to get into, it's questionably effective. More importantly as you stand at this point, I don't see an attitude on your part that suggests that you think it's necessary to make changes in yourself in your life. I will suggest to you from what I have seen in the court I have sat through the trial and what I have read, that you do need to reevaluate yourself, you do need *128 to reevaluate your personality, you do need to reevaluate your relationship to other people and you do need to bring your life under control. And no matter how many people love you in your family, the fact that they will not say that to you does not mean that it doesn't need to be done. I will require that you comply with the standard and traditional terms and conditions of probation that will be placed on your probation order. Those will include such things as reporting to the probation officer when required, maintaining suitable employment or career situation, doing theabiding by all of the terms and conditions of probation including not being involved in any and I stress the word "any law violations in the future." A violation of the probation will lead to you being *129 brought back to be resentenced under the 1-to 50-year program. The State argues, restated, (1) that Hamik was ineligible for probation under § 28-105(4) and (2) that in any event, a sentence of probation was excessively lenient in this case. Interpretation of a statute presents a question of law, in connection with which an appellate court has an obligation to reach an independent conclusion irrespective of the decision made by the court below. State v. Spurgin, 261 Neb. 427, 623 N.W.2d 644 (2001); State v. Decker, 261 Neb. 382, 622 N.W.2d 903 (2001). When the State appeals from a sentence, contending that it is excessively lenient, an appellate court reviews the record for an abuse of discretion, and a grant of probation will not be disturbed unless there has been an abuse of discretion by the sentencing court. State v. Harrison, 255 Neb. 990, 588 N.W.2d 556 (1999). All crimes in Nebraska are statutory in nature. State v. White, 256 Neb. 536, 590 N.W.2d 863 (1999). Sentences imposed upon persons convicted of a crime are also statutory. Id. Thus, in order to resolve the question of whether Hamik was eligible to be sentenced to probation on his Class II felony conviction, it is necessary to examine those Nebraska statutes pertaining to criminal penalties and eligibility for probation. The starting point for our analysis is § 28-105, which provides in pertinent part: (1) For purposes of the Nebraska Criminal Code and any statute passed by the Legislature after the date of passage of the code, felonies are divided into eight classes which are distinguished from one another by the following penalties which are authorized upon conviction: Also pertinent to our analysis is Neb.Rev.Stat. § 29-2260(2) (Reissue 1995), which provides in part: The State contends that § 28-105(1) imposes a mandatory minimum term of incarceration for persons convicted of a Class II felony and that Hamik is therefore ineligible for probation under § 28-105(4). This presents an issue of statutory interpretation, which we must resolve in accordance with long-established principles. A fundamental principle of statutory construction requires that penal statutes be strictly construed. State v. Hochstein and Anderson, ante 262 Neb. 311, 632 N.W.2d 273, (2001); State v. Bjorklund, 258 Neb. 432, 604 N.W.2d 169 (2000). In construing a statute, a court must attempt to give effect to all of its parts, and if it can be avoided, no word, clause, or sentence will be rejected as superfluous or meaningless; it is not within the province of the court to read anything plain, direct, and unambiguous out of the statute. State v. Bottolfson, 259 Neb. 470, 610 N.W.2d 378 (2000); State v. Kelley, 249 Neb. 99, 541 N.W.2d 645 (1996). Likewise, it is not for the courts to supply missing words or sentences to a statute to make clear that which is indefinite, or to supply that which is not there. State v. Woods, 255 Neb. 755, 587 N.W.2d 122 (1998). Under principles of statutory construction, the components of a series or *131 collection of statutes pertaining to a certain subject matter may be conjunctively considered and construed to determine the intent of the Legislature so that different provisions of the act are consistent, harmonious, and sensible. State v. Hochstein and Anderson, supra; State v. Seberger, 257 Neb. 747, 601 N.W.2d 229 (1999). As is readily apparent from the plain language of § 28-105(1), the Legislature utilized different language in specifying the lower limit of a term of incarceration for specific felony classifications. For Class IC and Class ID felonies, the statute prescribes a "[m]andatory minimum" term. For other classifications, including Class IB, Class II, and Class III felonies, the statute prescribes a "[m]inimum" term of incarceration. Section 28-105(4) provides that a person convicted of a felony for which a "mandatory minimum" sentence is prescribed shall not be eligible for probation. However, neither this nor any other statute states that a person such as Hamik who is convicted of a felony for which a "minimum" sentence is prescribed is ineligible for parole. Equating a "minimum" sentence with a "mandatory minimum" sentence, as the State urges, would require that we regard the Legislature's use of the word "mandatory" to be superfluous, contrary to our established principles of statutory construction. The State argues that the statutory structure for classifying penalties for felonies is incongruous if we do not read the term "minimum" as "mandatory minimum," because then, persons convicted of relatively less serious offenses would require a mandatory minimum sentence without the option of probation, while those convicted of more serious offenses could be sentenced to probation without any incarceration. If any such incongruity exists, it is wholly within the province of the Legislature to resolve as a matter of policy. Accordingly, we conclude that the State's first assignment of error is without merit. Alternatively, the State argues that even if a sentence of probation could lawfully be imposed for a Class II felony, its imposition on the facts of this case resulted in an excessively lenient sentence. Pursuant to § 29-2320, the State may appeal a sentence imposed following a finding or plea of guilty "if such [county] attorney reasonably believes, based on all of the facts and circumstances of the particular case, that the sentence is excessively lenient." Whether the sentence imposed is probation or incarceration is a matter within the discretion of the trial court. State v. Spurgin, 261 Neb. 427, 623 N.W.2d 644 (2001). Whether an appellate court is reviewing a sentence for its leniency or its excessiveness, a sentence imposed by a district court that is within the statutorily prescribed limits will not be disturbed on appeal unless there appears to be an abuse of the trial court's discretion. State v. Harrison, 255 Neb. 990, 588 N.W.2d 556 (1999). A judicial abuse of discretion exists only when the reasons or rulings of a trial judge are clearly untenable, unfairly depriving a litigant of a substantial right and denying a just result in matters submitted for disposition. State v. Decker, 261 Neb. 382, 622 N.W.2d 903 (2001); State v. Harrison, supra. Having concluded that probation was a legally permissible sentence in this case, we turn to the question of whether the sentence was excessively lenient under the facts reflected in the record. Neb.Rev.Stat. § 29-2322 (Reissue 1995) provides that where the State challenges a sentence as excessively lenient, the appellate court should consider: In State v. Harrison, supra, we recognized that where the sentence alleged to be excessively lenient is one of probation, it is also necessary for the trial court and the reviewing appellate court to consider the provisions of § 29-2260, which states in relevant part: In State v. Harrison, 255 Neb. 990, 588 N.W.2d 556 (1999), a case concerning the prosecution for motor vehicle homicide involving a driver impaired by alcohol, we determined that there was competent evidence received at the sentencing hearing *133 which supported the sentence of probation. This evidence included a statement by the defendant expressing deep remorse for her conduct and a promise to maintain sobriety in the future; letters from members of the community attesting to the defendant's sincere attempts to rehabilitate herself; and, of particular importance to the sentencing judge, a letter from relatives of the two victims expressing their opinion that the defendant's remorse and efforts at rehabilitation were genuine. We noted that this evidence established that the defendant was unlikely to commit another crime, that she was likely to respond affirmatively to probationary treatment, and that imprisonment would entail excessive hardship to her children. In this case, the district court reasoned that consecutive sentences of 20 months' to 5 years' imprisonment on the Class IV felony and 5 years' probation on the Class II felony would result in Hamik's being subject to the State's supervision for a longer period than under the concurrent sentences of incarceration proposed by the State, thus providing Hamik with a better opportunity to alter his attitude and behaviors. While this rationale seems reasonable on its face, it does not square with the record. Hamik did not offer evidence or personally address the court at the sentencing hearing. Unlike the defendant in Harrison, he did not acknowledge his criminal conduct or express any remorse. Indeed, during the sentencing hearing, the district court specifically noted that it could not discern in Hamik's attitude any appreciation of a need to make changes in his life. Although the court characterized Hamik as a "predator" who "prey[s] upon the trust of young girls," it concluded that "absent the opportunity, the likelihood of your reoffending is not great." This conclusion is not supported by the presentence investigation report (PSI) which describes several instances of aggressive and violent conduct on the part of Hamik. For example, the PSI indicates that in October 1999, Hamik instituted an altercation with another individual while both were in a post office, and then said to the individual, "You better watch your kids, I'm going to get them, they're mine." In reviewing the record, we find none of the grounds favoring probation which are enumerated in § 29-2260(3). Regarding § 29-2260(3)(a) and (b), the crime clearly caused serious psychological harm to the victim. The victim's counselor diagnosed her as suffering from significant trauma from the abuse and stated that she would be "at high risk for needing additional psychological services periodically throughout her lifetime." There is no claim or evidence to suggest that Hamik did not contemplate that his conduct would cause such harm. With respect to § 29-2260(c) through (f), there is no evidence that Hamik acted "under strong provocation" or under circumstances tending to excuse or justify his conduct; or that the victim, who because of her age was incapable of consent, "induced or facilitated commission of the crime." With respect to § 29-2260(f), the PSI reflects that the victim's parents incurred unreimbursed expenses for her counseling and medical services. The PSI reflects that Hamik was convicted of third degree assault in 1986, as well as the conviction on one count of first degree sexual assault on a child for which he was sentenced contemporaneously with the sentence here under review. As noted above, the record does not support a conclusion that the "crime was the result of circumstances unlikely to recur"; that Hamik's "character and attitudes" make him unlikely to reoffend; or that he is likely to "respond affirmatively to probationary treatment." See § 29-2260(h), (i), and (j). Finally, the record does not support a finding that imprisonment would *134 constitute "excessive hardship" to Hamik's dependents within the meaning of § 29-2260(k). As we stated in State v. Harrison, 255 Neb. 990, 588 N.W.2d 556 (1999), the sentencing court is not limited in its discretion to any mathematically applied set of factors. The appropriateness of a sentence is necessarily a subjective judgment and includes the sentencing judge's observation of the defendant's demeanor and attitude and all the facts and circumstances surrounding the defendant's life. Id.; State v. Riley, 242 Neb. 887, 497 N.W.2d 23 (1993). However, there must be some reasonable factual basis for imposing a particular sentence. Here, while we believe that the trial court was attempting in good faith to fashion a sentence which would both punish Hamik and afford him an opportunity to rehabilitate himself, the record simply does not reflect statutory or other grounds for the imposition of probation. Accordingly, we determine that the sentence constituted an abuse of discretion. For the reasons stated, we conclude that a sentence of probation in this case was legally permissible but excessively lenient. Accordingly, pursuant to Neb.Rev.Stat. § 29-2323(1)(a) (Reissue 1995), we vacate the sentence of probation and remand the cause to the district court with directions to impose a greater sentence. Sentence vacated, and cause remanded for resentencing.