Case Name: PEOPLE v. LATZMAN
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1986-07-08
Citations: 153 Mich. App. 270
Docket Number: Docket No. 88614
Parties: PEOPLE v LATZMAN
Judges: Before: Shepherd, P.J., and Allen and G. R. Cook, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 153
Pages: 270–276

Head Matter:
PEOPLE v LATZMAN
Docket No. 88614.
Submitted May 22, 1986, at Lansing.
Decided July 8, 1986.
Leave to appeal applied for.
Defendant, Lary L. Latzman, was convicted in the Oakland Circuit Court of manslaughter following the entry of a plea of nolo contendere to the charge. The trial court, Robert C. Anderson, J., sentenced defendant to from five to fifteen years imprisonment. Defendant appeals. Held:
1. A trial court shall articulate on the record the reasons for the sentence despite the court’s adherence to the Sentencing Guidelines. The case is remanded to the trial court so that the sentencing judge may articulate his reasons for imposing the sentence rendered.
2. The trial court did not err in scoring Offense Variable 6 of the Sentencing Guidelines. The definition of a "victim” for OV6, a "person who was placed in danger of injury or loss of life,” could properly be applied so as to include the passengers in defendant’s automobile.
3. The Court of Appeals declined to hold that a sentencing judge must provide reasons for departing from the recommendations of the Oakland County Sentencing Panel.
Remanded.
G. R. Cook, J., dissented. He would hold that the trial court met its burden of articulating on the record the reasons for the sentence imposed. He would affirm.
Opinion of the Court
1. Criminal Law — Sentencing — Sentencing Guidelines.
The Supreme Court, to aid appellate review, has mandated that trial judges articulate their reasons for imposing a given sen tence; such reasons must be articulated despite the trial court’s adherence to the Sentencing Guidelines.
References
Am Jur 2d, Appeal and Error §§ 545 et seq.
Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law §§ 525-631.
Validity of statutes prohibiting or restricting parole, probation, or suspension of sentence of cases of violent crimes. 100 ALR3d 431.
See also the annotations in the ALR3d/4th Quick Index under Sentence and Punishment.
2. Criminal Law — Appeal — Sentencing — Preserving Question.
A defendant must object at sentencing to the scoring of Offense Variables of the Sentencing Guidelines to preserve a challenge to such scoring for appellate review.
3. Criminal Law — Homicide — Manslaughter — Sentencing Guidelines — Victim.
Offense Variable 6 of the Sentencing Guidelines defines a "victim” as a "person who was placed in danger of injury or loss of life”; the definition cannot be construed so as to include a defendant convicted of manslaughter as a victim of his own crime but may be applied so as to include the passengers in the defendant’s automobile which collided with the decedent’s automobile causing his death.
4. Criminal Law — Sentencing — Sentencing Panels.
A sentencing judge in Oakland County need not provide reasons for departing from the recommendations of the Oakland County Sentencing Panel.
Dissent by G. R. Cook, J.
5. Criminal Law — Sentencing.
The Supreme Court, to aid appellate review, has mandated that a sentencing court give a reason for the sentence imposed and that the court must take into account the individual being sentenced; a sentencing court may meet this burden either directly or by obvious and clear inference.
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Louis J. Caruso, Solicitor General, L. Brooks Patterson, Prosecuting Attorney, Robert C. Williams, Chief, Appellate Division, and Thomas S. Richards, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.
Arthur J. Tarnow, for defendant.
Before: Shepherd, P.J., and Allen and G. R. Cook, JJ.
Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
On August 21, 1985, defendant entered a plea of nolo contendere to a charge of manslaughter, MCL 750.321; MSA 28.553. The factual basis for the plea was derived from the preliminary examination transcript. Witnesses testified that defendant was traveling east in the westbound lane of 1-696 when he struck another vehicle, resulting in the death of its driver. There was further testimony indicating that defendant was extremely intoxicated. On September 18, 1985, defendant was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of from five to fifteen years. Defendant appeals from his sentence as of right.
Defendant maintains that the sentencing judge failed to articulate reasons for imposing the sentence, as required by People v Coles, 417 Mich 523, 550; 339 NW2d 440 (1983). The judge merely inquired whether defendant had a prior conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol and, after receiving an affirmative response, stated:
Sir, this isn't easy for me to do. But, sir, it is the sentence of this court that based upon the file and the seriousness and the circumstances in this particular matter, I'm sentencing you to the custody of the Department of Corrections for a minimum period of time of five years and a maximum period of fifteen.
The prosecutor argues that this was a sufficient articulation of reasons, maintaining that it is apparent that the judge based the sentence on the interrelation between this crime and defendant's prior driving record. From these facts, the prosecutor deduces that the judge's reasons for imposing sentence were society's need for protection and the necessity that defendant be disciplined. We do not find that the judge's reason for imposing sentence can be so neatly inferred from the record. Although these reasons may have existed in the back of the judge's mind, Coles requires that they be stated on the record.
The prosecutor argues, in the alternative, that Coles did not contemplate the continued requirement of articulated reasons after institution of the Sentencing Guidelines. Since defendant's sentence was within the guidelines recommended minimum range of two to six years, the prosecutor maintains that the factors considered by the guidelines provide the reasons for imposing sentence, and that a recitation of reasons would be a redundant exercise.
In essence, the prosecutor is urging this panel to adopt the reasoning of People v Murray, 147 Mich App 227, 232; 383 NW2d 613 (1985), in which a panel of this Court held that a sentencing judge complied with Coles where he stated simply that he was "sentencing defendant pursuant to the sentencing guidelines." However, we believe that People v Broden, 147 Mich App 470, 473-474; 382 NW2d 799 (1985), which requires articulation of reasons despite adherence to the sentencing guidelines, is a better reasoned opinion. In Broden, the Court held that Coles required more than a mere reference to the guidelines for three reasons: (1) without a statement of reasons, this Court would be unable to determine whether the Coles criteria for imposing sentence had been followed; (2) adherence to the guidelines would provide no indication as to why a particular maximum sentence was selected; and (3) dispensing with the need for reasons would subvert a current goal of the guidelines which is to subject them to ongoing evaluation while they are still in the experimental stage. For these reasons, we believe that this case must be remanded to the trial court so that the sentencing judge may have an opportunity to articulate his reasons for imposing the sentence rendered in this case.
Defendant also asserts that the minimum guidelines range of two to six years was erroneously calculated, claiming that the sentencing judge improperly scored Offense Variable 6. Since there was no objection to the scoring at sentencing, this issue has not been preserved for appellate review. See People v Kennie, 147 Mich App 222, 226; 383 NW2d 169 (1985). In any event, we find that the facts as adduced at the preliminary examination support the judge's scoring of OV 6 and, therefore, we find no error.
Defendant was given a score of two for OV 6, indicating that there were three or more victims of this crime. Defendant argues that, at best, there were only two victims, the decedent and a passenger in the decedent's automobile. Our review of the record discloses that there were no passengers in the decedent's automobile. However, at the preliminary examination, one witness testified that there were two passengers in defendant's automobile while another witness testified that there were three passengers. The definition of victim for OV 6 is a "person who was placed in danger of injury or loss of life." While this definition cannot be construed so as to include defendant as a victim of his own crime, see People v Love, 144 Mich App 374, 377; 375 NW2d 752 (1985), we believe that it could properly be applied so as to include the passengers in defendant's automobile. Accordingly, we hold that there was no error in the scoring of this offense variable.
Finally, defendant maintains that the sentencing judge should have provided reasons for departing from an Oakland County Sentencing Panel recommendation. See People v Mills, 145 Mich App 126; 377 NW2d 361 (1985) (holding that the sentencing panel's recommendation must be disclosed to the defendant prior to sentencing). The sentencing panel apparently suggested that defendant be sentenced to a term of from three to fifteen years. Defendant argues that since the purpose of the sentencing panel is to minimize sentence disparities within Oakland County, similar to the guidelines' purpose of minimizing disparity in sentences throughout the state, reasons for deviating from the panel's recommendation should be required. However, defendant has not indicated how requiring a statement of reasons for departure from the Oakland County panel's recommendation will minimize sentence disparities. In the absence of some compelling reason to impose such a requirement, we decline to hold that a judge must provide reasons for departing from the recommendations of Oakland County Sentencing Panels.
Remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
In accord with Administrative Order No 1984-2, 418 Mich lxxxii, this Court has issued an order certifying a conflict between Murray, supra, and Broden, supra.