Opinion ID: 852394
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The State's Challenge of the Defendant's Sentence on Cross-Appeal

Text: The defendant did not request that the Court of Appeals review or revise his sentence. The State, however, on cross-appeal seeks a remand for resentencing due to the alleged inadequacy of the trial court's sentencing statement and the insufficient length of its sentence or, in the alternative, requests that the defendant's sentence be revised on appeal and a longer sentence imposed. The State's authority to appeal a trial court's sentencing determination is restricted by Indiana Appellate Rule 7(A), which provides: A defendant in a Criminal Appeal may appeal the defendant's sentence. The State may not initiate an appeal of a sentence, but may cross-appeal where provided by law. App. R. 7(A) (emphasis added). The State identifies no provision of law that authorizes it to challenge a sentence by cross-appeal under Appellate Rule 7(A). The State's cross-appeal asserts that the trial court abused its sentencing discretion and also seeks appellate revision on grounds that the sentencing is inappropriately lenient in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender. Although the State does not claim that the sentence is invalid as contrary to the trial court's statutory sentencing authority, we observe that where a trial court fails to sentence a defendant in accordance with statutory requirements, the State may raise such a claim for the first time on appeal. Stephens v. State, 818 N.E.2d 936, 939-40 (Ind.2004). We conclude that the State may not by appeal or cross-appeal (a) initiate a challenge to a trial court's criminal sentence that is within the court's sentencing authority or (b) seek appellate review and revision of such sentence. When a defendant requests appellate review and revision of a criminal sentence pursuant to authority derived from Article 7, Sections 4 or 6 of the Indiana Constitution, however, the reviewing court is presented with the issue of whether to affirm, reduce, or increase the sentence. As to this issue, the perspectives of both the defendant and the State will be helpful. Thus, the State's appellee's brief, when responding to such a request for sentence review and revision from a defendant, may, if desired, present reasons supporting an increase in the sentence without the necessity of proceeding by cross-appeal. In the present case, however, the defendant does not seek appellate review and revision of his sentence, and thus the State is precluded from seeking an increase in this sentence.