Opinion ID: 2633639
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Imposition of Multiple Enhancements

Text: Kerrigan argues the district court erred in imposing two sentence enhancements to his single substantive conviction for aggravated battery. Idaho Code § 19-2520 permits a district court to enhance a sentence for a violation of I.C. § 18-907 (aggravated battery) for the use of a firearm, but Kerrigan argues it does not allow a court to enhance a sentence that has already been enhanced by I.C. § 18-915 (assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer). Section 18-915 is not referenced as an enhanceable offense in I.C. § 19-2520. In addition, Kerrigan notes that both I.C. §§ 18-915 and 19-2520 are designed to increase the maximum penalty for a violation of I.C. § 18-907. Under either enhancement, asserts Kerrigan, the maximum penalty becomes thirty years. Thus, Kerrigan contends that even if both enhancements are applied they must be applied against I.C. § 18-907 and the resulting maximum penalty is still thirty years. He concludes it was error to sentence him to forty-five years, that the statutes do not permit a district court to stack enhancements on each other and if the statutes were meant to allow this then I.C. § 19-2520 would reference I.C. § 18-915. Kerrigan notes that Idaho law is silent on the question of whether multiple sentence enhancements may be attached to a single substantive conviction. From this, Kerrigan concludes the district court was without authority to do so. Kerrigan is incorrect for two reasons. First, the district court had statutory authority for each sentence enhancement considered separately. In 1991, I.C. § 18-915 (assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer) provided for the doubling of Kerrigan's fifteen year sentence for aggravated battery. Idaho Code § 19-2520 (extended sentence for use of firearm or deadly weapon) provided for an additional fifteen year sentence for Kerrigan's use of a firearm in the commission of his offense. The pertinent statutes contained no language prohibiting both enhancements from being attached to a sentence for a single substantive crime. Kerrigan is correct that I.C. § 18-915 is not referenced as an enhanceable offense in I.C. § 19-2520, but I.C. § 19-2520 need not enhance I.C. § 18-915; it can enhance I.C. § 18-907 directly. Second, the two enhancements added to Kerrigan's sentence were not duplicative, and the application of both enhancements to a single substantive offense thereby serves the legislature's intent to deter the conduct proscribed by each of them. The firearms enhancement serves to discourage the use of deadly weapons in the commission of other crimes, while the enhancement for assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer is designed to protect those who preserve the public welfare. Since they deter and punish separate aspects of the criminal conduct to which Kerrigan pleaded guilty, each serves a separate and legitimate purpose.