# FILED Sep te mb er 2 0, 19 95 Cec il Crow son , Jr . Ap p e l l a te C o u rt C l e rk IN T HE C OU RTOF C RI MI NA L A PPEA LS OF T EN NE SSEE A T J ACK SON JUN E 1995 SES SION

STA TE OF T EN NE SSEE, ) ) C. C. A. N o. 02 C01 -9 503- CR -0 0056 Ap pel lee , ) ) Shel by C ounty V. ) ) Ho n . L . T . L a f

fe rt y, Ju d ge ) PHILLIP D. BELL, ) (U nla wful Pos ses si on of a C ontroll ed ) Subst ance w ith Int entto Sell or Deliv er) Ap pel lan t. )

FO R THE A PPELLA NT: FO R THE A PPELLE E: How ard L. W ag er man Cha rl es W . Bu rs on How ard B. Man is Atto rney General & Repo rter Atto rn ey s a t Law The W ag er man Law

F ir m Cy ri l V. F ra ser Sui te 20 03, 1 00 N orth M ain Cou nsel for t he St ate Me mphis , TN 38103 Cr imi nal Ju sti ce Di v is ion 450 J ames R ober

tso n Par kw ay Nas hv il le, TN 37243- 0493 John W . Pi erotti Di str ict Attor ney

Gene ra l Jam es A. W ax, Jr
. Ass t. Di st. Att or ney

Gene ra l 201 Po pla r, 3rd F loo r Me mphis , TN 38103

OPIN ION F ILED :

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_ A FF IR ME D AS M OD IF IED PA UL G. SU MM ER S, Ju d ge-2- O P I N I O N Phillip D. Bell, the defend ant , pled g uilty to po ssession of cocaine , less than .5 g ra ms, w it h i ntentto sel l. The C ri minal C our t atShel by

C ounty sent enced hi m to s er

v e 180 day s i n the Shel by C ounty C or re cti onal C enter follo w ed by

fiv e ( 5) y ears p ro bati on. On ap peal , t he defendant cont ends that the tr ial co urt er re d i n fail ing to sus pend hi s e nti re se ntenc e or , al ter nati v ely , i n fail ing to al low se rv ic e of the sent ence on w eeken ds.
W e modi fy and affirm the j udg ment of the tr ial co urt.
T he Dep artm entof

Correction investigation repo rt indicate s thatmem bers of the Org ani z ed C ri me U nitex ecut ed a search w ar ra nt ata l ocat ion w here the def end antw as be liev ed to be storing and selling cocain e. W hen the po lice entered th e apar

tment, the defendant ent ered th e bat hroom and attempt ed to flush a pl ast icbag dow n the toi let
. The bag co ntai ned 2. 96 g ra ms of co cai ne. The defendant pl ed g uil ty and ag re ed to a s entenc e of four y ears i n the Shel by Cou nty C or re cti onal C enter

w it h s uspen si on of hi s s entenc e to be det er mined after a hear ing
. T h e tri a l co u rtde n ie d th e de fe n d a n t s tr a igh t p ro b a ti o n , s ta ti n g:
Now the rea son you're notg oing to get straight probat ion is becau se ex act ly

w hat y ou di d. Y ou ende av ored to se ll co cai ne. You w ere a kno w n coca ine seller. You had a busine ss g oing in operati on. So, y ou're notg oin g to w alk throug h tho se doors a nd be put o n probati on bec ause y ou s ay y ou hav e c hang ed th e patter ns of y our w ay s. Good
. And w hat s tr uck

me i n thi s repor

t w as w hen t hey

tr ied to find out w here y ou liv ed, they contacty our au nt, sh e says, 'N o,' you don 't li v e the re , y ou j ustco me by onc e i n a w hil e. That i s a l ittl e odd.

W hen a defendant app eal s a se ntenc ing i ss ue, t his C our t s hal l condu ct a de nov o rev iew

on t he record w it h the presumpt ion thatthe deter minat ion s made-3- by the tr ial co urt are c or re ct. T.C .A. § 40- 35- 401( d) ( 1990) ; St ate v . By rd , 861 S.W .2d 377 , 379 (Ten n. Crim. Ap p. 19 93). T his presum ption of correctne ss is cond itione d up on a n af f irmative showi ng in the record th at th e trial court consid ered the sen ten cing principles and all relevant facts an d circumst ance s. Stat e v . As hby , 823 S.W .2d 1 66, 1 69 ( Tenn. 1991 ). The defendant is presumed to be a favorable can dida te for alterna tiv e sen ten cing i n the abse nce o f ev iden ce to t he c ontrar

y . See T.C .A. § 39- 17- 417( C) (2 ) (S upp. 1994) ; T.C .A. § 40- 35- 102( 5) , ( 6) ( 1990 &Supp. 1994)
. W it h al l due respect, the record fail s t o aff ir mati v ely

sh ow thatthe tr ial co urt beg an hi s a nal y si s b y co nsi der ing thatthe defendant i s p re sumpti v ely su bje ct to al ter nati v e s entenc ing
. It appears t hat t he c o u rtim p o s e d in c a rc e ra t io n a n d t h e n e xp la in e d wh y a se n t e n c e le s s re s t ri c t ive tha n incarcera tion would notbe ap prop riate. Accord ingly , w e revi ew the record de nov o.
T h e d e fe n d a n tis p re s u m e d t o b e a fa vo ra b le ca n d id a t e fo r a lt e rn a t ive sent enci ng , abs ent e v ide nce to t he c ontrar y . Ev ide nce to t he c ontrar y i ncl udes (1) ev iden ce of

a nee d to pro tect so ciety by restraining a def end antw ho h as a long history of

criminal cond uct, (2) a ne ed to av oid de preciat ing the seriousn ess of the offense, ( 3) a ne ed to dete r others l ik ely to commi t s imi lar

offenses , and (4 ) ev ide nce that measures les s rest ri cti v e tha n c onfinement hav e freq uentl y or recen tly bee n ap plied to the de fend ant . T.C.A . § 40-3 5-10 3(1)(A),(B)&(C) (1 990)
. Other

factors appl ic abl e t o the defendant' s p eti ti on for sus pensi on of his se ntenc e i ncl ude t he defendant' s p astand presentmental and phy si cal condi ti on, S tate v . G re ar , 568 S.W .2d 2 85, 2 86- 87 ( Tenn. 1978 ), and the defendant' s t ru thfulnes s a t t ri al or a s entenc ing hear ing
. Stat e v . J enki ns, 733 S.W .2d 5 28, 5 35 ( Tenn. C ri m. App. 1987)
. The defendant' s p otent ial or l ack of pot ent ial for rehab ilitation sh ould also be co nside red. T .C.A. § 4 0-35 -103 (5). In de ny ing probati on, t he tr ial co urt emphas iz ed th e nat ure of the offense. Before a tr ial co urt c an deny probati on bas ed s ole ly on t he nat ure of the offense, the a ct must be es peci all y v iol ent, offensi v e, or

othe rw is e of an ex ces si v e or1 A l th o u g h i n d i c te d fo r fe l o n i o u s s a l e o f c o c a i n e p o s s e s s i o n g re a te r th a n fi v e g ra m s , a cl ass B f el ony , t he d ef endan t was al l owed t o pl ead t o a cl ass C f el ony i n a pl ea b ar gai n. -4- e xagge ra te d de gre e ; a n d th is fa ct o r m u stou twe igh al l o th e r fa ct o rs fa vori n g probati on. Stat e v . Trav is , 622 S.W .2d 5 29, 5 34 ( Tenn. 1981 ). The de fendant tes ti fied th at he w as not a "bi g -t ime" dr ug se ll er but that he had deal t w it h app rox ima tely $40 0.0 0 w orth of cocaine
. He admitt ed th at th e of f icers 1 re cov ered a g un, tw o w alk ie- tal ki es and a beeper w atc h at the l ocat ion w here the search w ar ra nt w as ex ecut ed. The defendant t est ified thathe h ad th e w alk ietal ki es and t he beep er

to w atc h outfor t he pol ic e. The defendant' s o ffense, how ev er , w as nonv iol ent; there w as no i nju ry or deat h i nv olv ed. The defendant is a y out hf ul of

fend er, tw ent y -one y ears old. He admits to having arrests as a juvenile for expired ta gs, v iolation of curfew and patron iz ing prostitution . Since his arrest, he has foun d em ploymen t and enrolled in a program to ob tain h is GED
. He say s t hat h e i s remors eful for his cr imes
. He tes ti fied th at he does not tak e dr ug s.
In deny ing probati on, t he tr ial co urt reli ed upon the defendant' s l ack of cand or in add ition to the na ture of the of fense . W ith the ex cept ion of the cou rt's findi ng thatthe defendant t old i nv est ig ators t hat h e l iv ed w it h hi s a unt w hen he app aren tly

did not , the defend antw as can did w ith the court. He adm itted his inv olv ement w it h c ocai ne and the d eg re e of hi s i nv olv ement.

This i s a cl ose cas e. Our rev iew l eads us to be li ev e tha t t he defendant w as a k now n dr ug deal er and the p oli ce caug ht hi m. H e recei v ed a g ood neg oti ated ple a, bu t hi s p ri or adul t record i s u nbl emis hed. W e do bel iev e tha t 1 8 0 d a ys o f

sh o c kco n f in e m e n twil l a s s is th im in re h a b il it a t io n . He o u gh tt o h a ve the o ppor

tuni ty to hol d a j ob and prog re ss tow ard a G ED , how ev er . Therefore,-5- we a f f ir m t h e t ri a l c o u rt ' s se n t e n c e b u tm o d ify itt o t h e e xt e n tt h a tt h e 1 8 0 d a ys inc arcerati on w il l be s er v ed i n per iod icco nfinement as desi g nated by the tr ial judge to allow the def end antto w ork and g o to GE D training. The 180 days w ill be s er v ed bas ed upon a 24 hour day as the tr ial j udg e ordered.
A FF IR ME D AS M OD IF IED

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___ PAU L G. SU MM ER S, J UD GE-6- CONCUR:

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_ W ILLIA M M. BAR KER , J UD GE

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_ MA RY BETH LEI BOW ITZ, SPEC IAL JU DG E