Title: State v. Wilkerson

State: tennessee

Issuer: Tennessee Supreme Court

Document:

905 S.W.2d 933 (1995) STATE of Tennessee, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Timothy Michael WILKERSON, Defendant-Appellant. Supreme Court of Tennessee, at Jackson. August 21, 1995. Charles W. Burson, Attorney General and Reporter, Kimbra R. Spann, Assistant Attorney *934 General, Nashville, C. Phillip Bivens, District Attorney General, Dyersburg, Rose Mary Drake, Assistant District Attorney General, Nashville, for plaintiff-appellee. Martin L. Howie, Charles Agee, Jr., Dyersburg, for defendant-appellant. REID, Justice. Timothy Michael Wilkerson appeals his classification as a dangerous offender upon pleas of guilty to driving a motor vehicle on a revoked license, vehicular homicide, and four charges of vehicular assault, and the imposition of a consecutive sentence for the vehicular homicide conviction. The case is remanded to the trial court for resentencing. Even though the appellant agreed to stipulate at the sentencing hearing that he was a dangerous offender within the meaning of Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-115(4) (1990), the trial judge found him to be a dangerous offender on the proof, and sentenced him to serve 20 days on the charge of driving on a revoked license, three years on each charge of vehicular assault, to be served concurrently, and four years as a standard offender, Range I, on the charge of vehicular homicide, to be served consecutive to the vehicular assault sentences. The total effective sentence was seven years. The appellant contends that the record does not support the finding that he is a dangerous offender, and, therefore, the trial judge erred in imposing a consecutive sentence. He relies on State v. Woods, 814 S.W.2d 378 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1991). The State responds that Woods should be overruled as contrary to the statute, and further, that the appellant fits the definition of dangerous offender even under Woods. The burden of showing that the sentence is improper is upon the appellant. State v. Ashby, 823 S.W.2d 166, 169 (Tenn. 1991). This Court's review of sentencing is prescribed by the Criminal Sentencing Reform Act of 1989. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-117 (1990). The procedure was summarized in State v. Jones, 883 S.W.2d 597, 599-600 (Tenn. 1994): The trial judge in this case performed on the record a careful analysis of the facts, the enhancing and mitigating factors, and the principles of sentencing. Accordingly, review by this Court is de novo with a presumption of correctness under Section 40-35-401(d), which states, The presumption of correctness imposes upon the appealing party the burden of showing that the sentence rendered is improper. The Sentencing Commission Comments to Section 40-35-401 state, In reviewing the sentence imposed, the Court must review separately the factual findings *935 and the legal conclusions of the trial court. Appropriate deference must be given to the trial court's factual determinations based on the testimony of witnesses heard in open court. However, the appellate court must make an independent analysis of the relevant legal issues and the conclusions of fact and law. Unless this review and analysis of the record show that the punishment imposed is improper, the judgment of the trial court will be affirmed. If the reviewing court finds, as in this case, that the sentencing principles applicable to the facts and circumstances of the case were not considered by the trial judge, remand for resentencing is the appropriate relief. Prior to passage of the Tennessee Criminal Sentencing Reform Act of 1989, there were no statutory guidelines for a trial judge to use in determining whether to impose concurrent or consecutive sentences. Consequently, the Court in Gray v. State, 538 S.W.2d 391 (Tenn. 1976), set forth some standards for imposing consecutive sentences. The Court, relying upon provisions of the Model Penal Code, began by stating the underlying principle: Id. at 393. In Gray, the Court defined five classifications of offenders for which consecutive sentencing should be reserved: persistent offenders, professional criminals, multiple offenders, dangerous mentally abnormal persons, and dangerous offenders. The Court defined a "dangerous offender" as one whose crimes, Id. However, the Court stated further: Id. Consequently, under Gray, a defendant could be found to be a dangerous offender subject to consecutive sentencing only upon the initial finding that consecutive sentences are necessary to accomplish the underlying purpose of protecting the public from further criminal conduct by the defendant, and the further findings that the defendant's offenses indicate that "he has little or no regard for human life, and no hesitation about committing a crime in which the risk to human life is high," and that the offenses involve aggravating circumstances in addition to the fact that two or more dangerous crimes were committed. In State v. Taylor, 739 S.W.2d 227, 230 (Tenn. 1987), the Court expanded the classifications appropriate for consecutive sentencing to include "defendants convicted of two or more statutory offenses that involve sexual abuse of minors." The Court held: Id. The Court then added the cautionary note applicable to all cases: Id. These decisions, Gray and Taylor, were the only guidance available for imposing consecutive *936 sentences until the enactment of the Criminal Sentencing Reform Act of 1989. The Act set forth the statutory criteria for concurrent and consecutive sentencing found in Section 40-35-115. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-115. The Act did not invalidate the decisions in Gray and Taylor. In fact, the Sentencing Commission Comments indicate that the Act was intended to codify the standards set forth by the Court in those cases and expand the classifications to other cases considered by the legislature to be deserving of extended sentences. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-115 Sentencing Commission Comments (1990). The statute identifies in subsections (b)(1-5) those offenders who may be incarcerated for an extended time in order to protect the public against further criminal conduct, it defines in subsections (b)(6) and (7) two additional categories of offenders deserving of *937 extended sentences, and it provides in sub-section (d) that sentences shall be ordered to run concurrently if the criteria noted in those prior subsections are not met. The statutory definition of dangerous offenders was taken from Gray v. State: offenders "whose behavior indicates little or no regard for human life, and no hesitation about committing a crime in which the risk to human life is high... ." Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-115(b)(4). The first issue is whether the record supports the trial judge's finding that the appellant is a dangerous offender, subject to consecutive sentences. The offender in this case was a 27-year-old third year law student at Memphis State University. At the time of the offense, he had no prior criminal record. However, in the three months preceding the offense, his family and friends noticed that he had changed from a somewhat reserved, responsible person to one who talked incessantly, related ideas which bordered on the bizarre, and began drinking intoxicants excessively. He was arrested for driving under the influence on January 11, 1992. Two weeks before the accident which gave rise to the indictment and convictions, the appellant, at the urging of his family, was seen by a psychiatrist. The results of tests performed did not become available until after the offense in this case had been committed, but the appellant was diagnosed as manic-depressive and placed on medication. As the result of treatment, he began functioning normally again prior to the sentencing hearing. The length of time during which his conduct was not responsible and law abiding, was less than four months. However, on the morning of March 14, 1992, the appellant, while driving north in the south bound lanes of U.S. Highway 51, struck another vehicle head-on. The appellant was intoxicated. One adult passenger in the other vehicle was killed, another passenger incurred permanent and seriously debilitating injuries, and the remaining passengers sustained minor injuries. Prior to the accident, the appellant's driver's license had been revoked for failing to pay a fine for a traffic violation. The appellant entered guilty pleas to all of the charges and submitted to the court for sentencing. As stated previously, the trial court sentenced the appellant to four years on the vehicular homicide conviction, to be served consecutive to the three year concurrent sentences on the vehicular assault charges. The appellant first contends that he is not a dangerous offender according to the definition stated in Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-115(b)(4). He apparently concedes the trial court's finding that his behavior indicates little or no regard for human life, but contends that adjudication as a dangerous offender also requires a finding that he had no hesitation about committing a crime in which the risk to human life is high. This same measure of culpability, stated as an enhancement factor in Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-114(10), was discussed by the Court in State v. Jones, 883 S.W.2d 597, 602 (Tenn. 1994): And further: Id. "Lack of hesitation" is semantically close to "reckless indifference" and signifies a conscious lack of concern for foreseeable consequences. The defendant's conduct in this case demonstrated an indifference to the high probability of calamitous consequences to himself and the motorists whom he was certain to encounter as he drove in the wrong direction on a heavily travelled divided highway while intoxicated. He created a high risk of death or serious bodily injury to every motorist on that road. Death or serious bodily injury was almost inevitable. His conduct clearly satisfies the condition stated in *938 Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-115(b)(4) and defines the defendant as a dangerous offender. The State says that proof of this requirement is all that is necessary to support the imposition of consecutive sentences. The appellant says that Gray and Taylor require the further findings that consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public against further criminal conduct, that aggravating circumstances exist, and that the aggregate length of the sentences reasonably relates to the offenses of which the appellant was convicted. The appellant relies upon the analysis of the statute and prior decisions of this Court made by the Court of Criminal Appeals in State v. Woods, 814 S.W.2d 378, 380 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1991). The decision in Woods is approved only to the extent that it applied the principles set forth in this opinion. As stated above, the Act essentially codified the holdings of the Court in Gray and Taylor. Section 40-35-115 requires proof of particular facts defining an offender subject to consecutive sentences. The rationale for consecutive sentences stated in Gray and Taylor is that they be reasonably related to the severity of the offenses committed and serve to protect the public (society) from further criminal acts by those persons who resort to aggravated criminal conduct. This statement of principle cannot be separated into a set of discrete findings of fact which in every case would justify the imposition of consecutive sentencing. It does, however, recognize those limitations on consecutive sentencing established by the Court, that consecutive sentences cannot be imposed unless the terms reasonably relate to the severity of the offenses committed and are necessary in order to protect the public from further serious criminal conduct by the defendant. Proof that an offender's behavior indicated little or no regard for human life and no hesitation about committing a crime in which the risk to human life was high, is proof that the offender is a dangerous offender, but it may not be sufficient to sustain consecutive sentences. Every offender convicted of two or more dangerous crimes is not a dangerous offender subject to consecutive sentences; consequently, the provisions of Section 40-35-115 cannot be read in isolation from the other provisions of the Act. The proof must also establish that the terms imposed are reasonably related to the severity of the offenses committed and are necessary in order to protect the public from further criminal acts by the offender. In addition, the Sentencing Reform Act requires the application of the sentencing principles set forth in the Act applicable in all cases. The Act requires a principled justification for every sentence, including, of course, consecutive sentences. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 40-35-102(1); XX-XX-XXX(1)(2); XX-XX-XXX; XX-XX-XXX (1990 & Supp. 1994). Unfortunately for ease of application, "sentencing is inescapably a human process that neither can nor should be reduced to a set of fixed and mechanical rules."[1] It appears from the record that even though the trial judge performed a careful analysis of the facts, the enhancing and mitigating factors and the principles of sentencing, the trial judge, considered that proof that the defendant was a dangerous offender was sufficient basis on which to impose consecutive sentences. In imposing a consecutive sentence on the conviction for vehicular homicide, the trial judge stated: *939 As previously stated in this opinion, the imposition of consecutive sentences on an offender found to be a dangerous offender requires, in addition to the application of general principles of sentencing, the finding that an extended sentence is necessary to protect the public against further criminal conduct by the defendant and that the consecutive sentences must reasonably relate to the severity of the offenses committed. Consequently, this case is remanded to the trial court for resentencing pursuant to the principles recognized in this opinion. The costs are taxed to the State. ANDERSON, C.J., DROWOTA, J., and FONES and HOLDER, Special Judges, concur. [1] 3 American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice, Sentencing Alternatives and Procedures, p. 18.11 (2nd ed. 1986).